13 simultaneous rallies attract thousands for the Galician language

Thousands take to the streets across Galicia in 13 simultaneous rallies (A Coruña, Ferrol, Carballo, Lugo, Burela, Monforte, Ourense, Pontevedra, Vigo, A Estrada, Cangas, Compostela and Lalín) to call for 'freedom, justice and equality' for the Galician language under the slogan ‘More than never, we want Galician’. The Plataforma Queremos Galego, (Platform We Want Galician), a grassroots movement born in 2009 organized the successful rallies.

On May 17^th Galicia celebrates every year the “Dia das Letras Galegas”, which could be roughly translated as ‘Galician Literature/Language Day’. This festivity was first introduced in 1963 making the best of a partial relaxation of the Francoist (Spanish) Dictatorship. Hence in its origin it was symbolic yet, at the same time, it also was a vindication for anything and everything Galician.
Things began to change again after the dictator died, when the date openly took more political overtones. Later on, and to make a long story short, it became an official public holiday in Galiza in 1991. The 1963 celebration commemorated the centenary of the publication of “Cantares Galegos”, the first piece of work written in Galician language by renowned author and absolute national muse Rosalia de Castro (1837-1886). This was, as a matter of fact, one of the first publications in Galizan (in Galizan territory) in centuries, defying the Spanish control. It marked the beginning of the so-called Rexurdimento (Renaissance) period, that is to say, a social and cultural movement that openly and directly opposed Spanish colonialism, censorship and, above all, sought vindication for the Galician culture.