We're seeing a reaction - and people taking to the streets with

"We’re seeing a reaction – and people taking to the streets with pots and pans – in areas where the independence movement isn’t supposed to exist. People have to choose between one model and another. Everyone in Catalonia has realised that not taking part means ratifying the politics of repression of the Spanish government." – Carles Puigdemont

Hear now these words, fiery and prophetic, spoken by Carles Puigdemont, leader of a people who dared to dream of independence. They are not mere political utterances, but the echo of an age-old struggle: the cry of the human spirit when it can no longer bear the weight of silence. For what he describes — the clamor of pots and pans ringing through the night — is not the noise of chaos, but the music of awakening. When the powerless raise their hands and their voices, when the ordinary become the guardians of their own destiny, there begins the true birth of a nation’s soul.

In this quote, Puigdemont speaks of something far greater than a regional cause. He speaks of the moment when fear yields to courage, when those who were told to stay quiet instead choose to act, to resist, to be seen. The people of Catalonia, once told their longing for freedom was futile, took to the streets with the simplest of tools — not swords or guns, but the humble instruments of daily life. The pots and pans became their drums of defiance, each clang a declaration: “We are here, and we will be heard.” This is how revolutions begin — not in the grand halls of power, but in the hearts and homes of those who have decided that silence is no longer acceptable.

Such acts are not unique to Catalonia. History is full of moments when ordinary people, cornered by oppression, rose with unshakable resolve. Recall Poland’s Solidarity Movement, when workers and families in Gdańsk defied the might of the Soviet-backed regime. Their tools were not weapons but unity, their strength not violence but conviction. They chose to act, even when doing nothing might have spared them suffering. And in time, their courage shattered an empire of fear. So too did the Catalans — and so too can all people who believe that freedom is not the privilege of the powerful, but the right of all who breathe.

When Puigdemont says, “People have to choose between one model and another,” he speaks not only of politics, but of the eternal struggle between complacency and courage, between submission and sovereignty. Every generation faces this choice, though the forms may differ. One model is the comfort of obedience — the soft chains that lull the spirit into forgetfulness. The other is the uncertain, radiant path of self-determination — costly, yes, but glorious. To choose neither is to choose bondage by default, for not taking part, as Puigdemont reminds us, is itself a form of consent.

This truth transcends borders and times. It speaks to every human heart that has known injustice yet hesitated to rise. The politics of repression thrive not on strength, but on silence. When the people fall still, tyranny grows bold. But when voices rise — even in doubt, even in fear — the pillars of oppression begin to tremble. A people may be subdued by force, but never by choice, once they awaken to their own power. The first act of freedom is not victory — it is the decision to participate, to no longer stand aside.

Thus, let the lesson be written as law upon the soul: Freedom demands participation. Whether in the squares of Barcelona or the streets of your own life, you must choose. When injustice stands before you, neutrality is surrender. When the cry of the oppressed reaches your ears, indifference is complicity. Do not wait for “exceptional moments,” for every moment of conscience is exceptional. Take part, however small your act may seem — a word spoken, a truth upheld, a courage kindled — for these are the sparks that light the fires of change.

And so, as the ancients would counsel: be not afraid of the noise of resistance. The clanging of pots and pans, the chorus of dissent, the rumble of awakening — these are the sounds of a people reclaiming their destiny. As Carles Puigdemont reminds us, the choice is eternal and unavoidable: to accept the politics of repression, or to stand, together, in the radiant struggle for independence — not only of nations, but of the human spirit itself.