Hundreds of students braved the rain in central Barcelona on Friday, marching for what they termed an “anti-fascist and revolutionary feminism” on the eve of International Women’s Day. The Guàrdia Urbana estimated around 600 people attended the protest, which served as a vocal precursor to the city’s main 8M demonstrations, setting a defiant tone with a message that intertwined feminist demands with broader anti-racist, anti-capitalist, and international political causes.
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The Sindicat d’Estudiants (Students’ Union) and the feminist platform Lliures i Combatives organised this annual demonstration. It serves as an early call to action ahead of 8th March, a day with deep historical roots in the fight for women’s rights. This date has evolved into a major event in Spain, often highlighting the country’s vibrant and politically engaged feminist movement. This year’s student march signals the start of a weekend of activism. Several large-scale events are planned across the city, including two distinct marches that reveal ideological divisions within the local movement.
A Route Through the City Centre
The march began at midday in Plaça de la Universitat, a traditional starting point for student protests. From there, the demonstrators, huddled under umbrellas, made their way through Plaça Catalunya and down the historic Via Laietana. The procession concluded nearly two hours later in Plaça Sant Jaume, the political heart of the city, which houses both the Barcelona City Council and the Palau de la Generalitat, the seat of the Catalan government.
Throughout the route, chants echoed between the buildings. Cries of ‘Visca, visca, visca, la lluita feminista’ (Long live the feminist struggle) and ‘Tots els dies són 8 de març’ (Every day is March 8) resonated. More confrontational slogans, like ‘Vox, escucha, seguimos en la lucha’ (Vox, listen, we are still in the fight), also targeted the far-right. Protesters carried placards displaying messages including, “Feminists are anti-fascists,” “Be thankful we want justice and not revenge,” and “I want my friends to come home alive when they come home alone.”
“The Feminist Struggle is also Anti-Fascist”
Speeches and the manifesto underscored a message explicitly linking gender equality with global politics and anti-fascist principles. Lua Millet, spokesperson for the Sindicat d’Estudiants, sharply criticised international leaders and the Spanish government.
“Iranian women will never be saved by Trump, who is accused of crimes on the Epstein list, or by Netanyahu, who is perpetuating a genocide of the Palestinian people,” Millet declared to the crowd, as reported by Europa Press. She positioned the movement against a rising global right wing.
“We have an increasingly reactionary international [movement] that seeks to attack and crush us, but we are here to say that they will not pass and that the feminist struggle is also anti-fascist, also anti-racist, and also the struggle for the rights of the LGTBIQ+ collective.”
Millet also accused Spain’s central government of hypocrisy. The official manifesto echoed this sentiment, claiming that while institutions lament gender-based violence, “when it comes to the crunch, they do nothing and allow everything,” as reported by Tot Barcelona.
The manifesto, titled ‘Feminist student strike! They harass us, they rape us and they kill us! Enough is enough!’, decried the daily reality of male violence. “Machismo hits us in our institutes and faculties, at work, in the family, and on the streets. We are fed up,” it stated.
The protest culminated in Plaça Sant Jaume with emotional testimonies. A representative from ‘Las Kellys,’ the union for hotel maids, spoke. Additionally, a woman who survived gender-based violence and now faces eviction after forcing her abuser out of her home shared her testimony. Their presence grounded the political slogans in the lived experiences of women facing economic and physical precarity.
