Catalan Independence Movement Google Trends

4.1.2.1 Catalan Independence Movement Google Trends Results

Figure 24 “Votarem” in Spain from 2014 to 2018

Sep 10, April 14, May 14, June 14, Sept 14, Oct 14, Nov 14, Dec 14, Jan 15, Sep 15, Aug 16, May 17, Jul 17, Aug 17, Sep 17 (peak), Oct 17, Nov 17, Dec 17, Jan 18, Feb 18, Mar 18, May 18

This first graph looks at the prominence of the term “votarem” from 2004 to now. The first spike was in June 2006 which was when there was a constitutional referendum (June 18) regarding whether or not people approved of the Statue of Autonomy of Catalonia Bill. 48% of voters turned out and 78.1% said yes. The next breakout is in June 2009 when there was a vote for a nonbinding Catalan Independence Referendum. The first was in Arenys de Munt on September 13, and 166 municipalities followed. There was also a spike in October 2009 when they wanted to organize votes then December 13, 2009 when they chose to do the next round of voting in 167 municipalities. The next spike is in April 2010 which was the fourth stage of consultations in 211 municipalities as well as referendums on April 24 and 25. In January 2013 there was a declaration of sovereignty.

The next big surge is between September and November 2014.

In March, Spain had ruled that a referendum was unconstitutional, then in April parliament rejected a proposal to hold the referendum. After, in September president Artur Mas called another referendum in November and in October it was rejected but

153

Catalunya decided to continue. In November they voted for independence. In January 2015 new elections were called. In 2017 there was the highest surge in history. In September there were many protests for the referendum that was declared to occur on October 1. The referendum happened and became violent when Spanish military attacked the voters. The majority voted for independence for Catalunya. And on October 3, 2017 Puigdemont decided that they would act on the referendum and declare independence.

Then on the 9^th, he went in front of the Spanish parliament to make that known. In December, the pro-independence party won the election. In 2018 there have been fewer protests and less excitement, but people were still passionate. People protested for the release of political leaders who have been locked up since they declared that they were pro-independence. They are incarcerated to this day.

Figure 25 “Votarem” in Spain in 2018

This period was filled with activity and it started with the call for a referendum on October 1. The call for referendums started in September. Spanish police raided the Catalan headquarters on September 20 and 14 officials were arrested, On October 1, the referendum was held, and they voted for independence, after that on October 10, Puigdemont declared independence. On October 21, Rajoy invoked Article 155 causing another spike. Spain then requested a new parliament of Catalonia which was elected on December 21 however, the winners were also pro-independence. In January and February spikes were around Puigdemont getting captured and seeking asylum in Switzerland.

154

Figure 26 “Independència” term in Spain from 2004-2018

When you look at this graph you can see that even though there are many spikes over the last 14 years, there has been no constancy with the movement for independence. People have consistently wanted independence however their activity is only based on current events, not their actual feelings about the movement. The highest spikes are in 2014 and 15 when there was a call for elections an also in 2017 when there was a call for a referendum, and there were subsequent protests and activism.

Figure 27 “Independència” in Spain from 2017-2018

In these12 months you can see there is also no consistency. There is a large spike in October when the referendum was supposed to take place and due to the aftermath of that event and the remaining tension, it stays high for a while. Then slowly people lose interest and get tired of fighting and involvement tapers off.

155

Figure 28 “Catalan Independence Movement” in Spain from 2004-2018

For this independence movement you can see the spikes since 2004 at the times when they called for a referendum. The highest spike and coinciding highest levels of participation occurs in October of 2018 which is when social media usage was at an all-time high and involvement in the referendum was larger and more effective than ever before.

Figure 29 “Catalan Independence Movement” in Spain from 2017-2018

The same goes for the Catalan independence movement in 2017 and 2018. The biggest spike occurring in the graphic happens in October which was when there was a referendum and many subsequent related events which had a huge impact on the movement.

156

Figure 30 “Referendum” from 2017-2018 in Spain

This graphic demonstrates very well that there is a lot inconsistency. Spikes coincided with the main events of the year relating to the movement as stated before.

Figure 31 Cataluña in Spain from 2017-2018

Once again there is a clear amount of inconsistency in the graphic and each spike coincides with a significant event including the ones stated earlier.

157

Figure 32 Puigdemont” in Spain from 2017 to 2018

Carles Puigdemont was the president of Catalunya and the spikes coincide with both the referendum and subsequent events as well as his exile and the changes in power and leadership.

Figure 33 “Democracia” in 2017-2018

The search term “democracia’ was entered because many people were adamant that the Spanish government denied them their right to democracy and that was part of what they were fighting for. There are two very clear spikes coinciding with the results of the referendum and petition for it then there is almost zero mention of democracy in the weeks afterward.

158

4.1.2.2 Analysis of Google Trends for Catalan Independence

The analysis of trends in the Catalan Independence Movement was mainly to see if participation online was consistent because that shows the level of interest of participants, level of importance of participation to participants and their level of commitment to the movement and the success of the movement. An analysis of the trends also helps to show how the movement has not only been sustained in terms of maintenance of participation and motivation to participate, but how it has grown throughout the years.

Figure 24 shows the overall level of online participation in the Catalan Independence Movement between 2004 and 2018. There were several spikes in the graph but for each spike, as expected there was an event, that coincided with it. The first spike was in June 2006 which was in line with when there was a constitutional referendum (June 18) regarding whether or not people approved of the Statue of Autonomy of Catalonia Bill and wanted Independence for Catalunya. At that time, 48% of voters turned out to vote and 78.1% said yes they wanted independence while 31.9% said that they did not. A few people were concerned about the accuracy of the votes because less than half of voters actually voted. The next breakout and increase in participation were in June 2009 when there was a vote for a nonbinding Catalan Independence Referendum. The first was in Arenys de Munt on September 13 and 166 municipalities followed. There was also a spike in October 2009 which was when the Catalan people wanted to organize votes, then once again on December 13, 2009 when they chose to do the next round of voting in 167 of the municipalities. The next spike occurred in April 2010 which was during the fourth stage of consultations in 211 municipalities as well as referendums on April 24 and 25 of that year. Following that, in January of 2013 there was a declaration of sovereignty. The next big surge happens between September and November of 2014. In March, Spain had ruled that a referendum was unconstitutional, then in April the parliament rejected a proposal to hold the referendum. Afterwards, in September, President Artur Mas called another referendum in November and one month prior in October it was rejected but Catalunya decided to try and continue anyway. In November they voted for independence. In January 2015 new elections were called and there was a coinciding increase in participation. Another highlight of the graph was in 2017 when there was the highest surge in participation in history. In September 2017 there were many protests for

159

the referendum that was declared to occur on October 1. The referendum happened and became violent when Spanish military attacked the voters. The majority voted for independence. And on October 3, 2017 Puigdemont decided they would act on the referendum regardless of the decision of the Spanish government and declare independence for Catalunya which did not last very long. Then on the 9th, he went in front of parliament to discuss what had happened. In December, the pro-independence party won the election. In 2018 there were fewer protests and less excitement, but people were still passionate. People had protested for the release of political leaders who have been locked up since they declared that they were pro-independence. They are incarcerated to this day. Every spike in the graph corresponds with one of the events listed above which indicates that as expected, the participation is not very consistent in general and is affected by unusual events pertaining to the movement.

To take a closer look at the events and levels of participation in 2017 (when the most recent referendum occurred) and 2018, there was an analysis done on online participation for the movement during those specific years (Figure 25). This period was filled with a lot activity related to the movement for Catalan Independence and it started with the call for a referendum to take place on October 1. The call for a referendum occurred in September. Spanish police then forcefully raided the Catalan headquarters on September 20 and 14 Catalan officials were arrested and taken into custody. On October 1, the referendum was held in spite of the fact that the Spanish government explicitly forbade it and the Catalan people voted for independence. After that on October 10, Puigdemont declared independence. On October 21, Rajoy invoked Article 155 causing another spike.

Spain then requested a new parliament of Catalonia which was elected on December 21 however, the winners were also pro-independence. In January and February spikes were around Puigdemont getting captured and seeking asylum in Switzerland.

Since the movement focuses on Catalan Independence, a Google Trend with the term

“Independència” which means “Independence” in Spanish, was analysed for the period 2004-2018 (Figure 26) and one glimpse of the graph shows how consistently inconsistent the movement has been. There has a ben little to no maintenance of participation levels within the movement and it tragically demonstrates a possible reason as to why there has not been any official change. People have consistently wanted independence however they have not consistently fought for independence. Their activity is only based on current events which when in relation to the movement, incite them to participate until the events

160

are no longer current and they forget. Participation does not seem to be indicative of the participants’ actual feelings about the movement but more so about their effort and perhaps also their attitude towards it. The highest spikes are in 2014 and 15 when there was a call for elections an also in 2017 when there was a call for a referendum, and there were subsequent protests and activism.

Figure 27 shows the prominence of the term “Independència” between 2017 and 2018 to focus a bit more closely on the most active year of activism online for the movement for Catalan Independence and the subsequent year. It is important to analyse the movement at its most successful in order to identify potential traits that may have contributed to success which would enable the movement and others to identify what might enable them to have increased success in terms of quantities of participation. There is a large spike in October when the referendum was supposed to take place and due to the aftermath of that event and the remaining tension, it stays high for a while. Then slowly people lose interest and get tired of fighting and involvement tapers off. This is another example of inconsistency.

In order to be more specific to Catalunya, the search term “Catalan Independence Movement” was analysed for the period 2004 to 2018 (Figure 28). For this Google Trend, you can see the many spikes since 2004 at the times when the citizens of Catalunya called for a referendum. The highest amount of participation seen in the graph is in October 2017 as expected which is when social media usage was at an all-time high and involvement in the referendum was larger and more effective than ever before. This same term was analysed for 2017-2018 (Figure 29) and there is once again a huge spike during the time of the referendum as was expected based on what has been seen in the other graphs.

Other terms that were analysed especially during the time period 2017-2018 which was when things were most active, were “Cataluña’ which is the region where they wanted to gain independence, “Puigdemont” who was the ex-leader of Catalunya and is now exiled and unable to return to Spain, and additionally, ”Democracia” which means “Democracy”

in Spanish and was analysed because it was a buzzword during the time. “Democracy’

was a buzzword because people were criticizing the Spanish government for not allowing the referendum which would allow for democracy and enable the people to exercise their constitutional rights. This word rang particularly severely for the Catalan people and Spanish people in general because of the history with Spanish government after Franco.

161

With the Google Trends results for the Catalan Independence Movement it is evident that consistency is an issue and when looking at those results alongside the results for the survey that was given to movement participants one could draw a few conclusions on why that consistency is lacking. Some of those reasons could be those stated in the question about why there was a lull in participation online. It is only logical, as mentioned earlier, that consistency and the ability for those in power to take movements seriously are directly proportional and as such when there is consistent effort, efforts will be taken seriously, and when efforts are taken seriously, those with the power to make change will make the changes requested if possible. All in all, based on levels of participation and reasons for participation, it could be assumed that participants continue to use Facebook and other social media tools for activism like the Catalan Independence Movement because they perceive it to be effective in achieving the goals of activism.