«Democratic Tsunami» as an online stage of the Catalan independence movement

Abstract

Introduction. Catalan independence is an issue that has shaken Spanish politics not even for years, but for centuries. In 2012, an overwhelming majority in parliament was received by MPs who announced the Declaration of Sovereignty. In 2017, the Catalan Parliament declared independence from Spain. In turn, the Spanish authorities arrested the initiators of this decision. Protesters took to the streets against the jailing of Catalan separatist leaders. Thus, it led to the emergence of a new protest group “Democratic Tsunami” that left a significant imprint in the struggle for the independence of the region. Research aims. To describe the “Democratic Tsunami” from the points of origins, its members, organizational structure, strategies and tactics, published content, symbols, ideology, impact and state response. Methodology. The main methods are secondary data analysis (two stages) and qualitative content analysis (649 tweets). The research period is from August 2019 to February 2020. The necessary data were collected from mass media websites and social media platforms. Results. The available data allow us to single out the communication strategies of the “Democratic Tsunami” and present their examples. The scientific article describes the operation of various online communication tools (social media, mobile application) that were used by the movement to achieve its goals. It is important to note that the Spanish authorities were not ready to confront new technologies. The studied practices can be borrowed and used in any country of the world for similar purposes and processes. Conclusions. Although the “Democratic Tsunami” lasted only six months, it was able to take the pro-independence movement to a new level of development. The main feature was the work with social media platforms and the mobile application. These movement’s tools simplified the process of mobilization and coordination between leaders and protesters. They created the mechanism to transform the Catalan independence movement into a more private and highly protected protest community.