National Day of Catalonia
The National Day of Catalonia ( , ) is a day-long festival in Catalonia and one of its official national symbols, celebrated annually on 11 September. It commemorates the fall of Barcelona during the War of the Spanish Succession in 1714 and the subsequent loss of Catalan institutions and laws. History After the evacuation of the pro-Habsburg armies from Spain at the end of the War of the Spanish Succession, as a result of the Peace of Utrecht (1713) in which the Bourbon pretender Philip V was recognized king of the Iberian dominions of the Spanish Monarchy, the Principality of Catalonia unilaterally decided to remain in the war by decision of its Junta de Braços (Catalan assembly of Estates) on 9 July 1713, in order to protect the Catalan constitutions and lives from the expected repression. After months of intense fighting, the Army of Catalonia raised for that purpose, as well the Coronela (urban militia) of Barcelona were finally defeated at the Siege of Barcelona by the combined Spanish and French armies on 11 September 1714 after 14 months of siege, in which the Head Councillor (mayor) of Barcelona, Rafael Casanova, was severely wounded during the defence of the wall.