Committees for the Defense of the Republic
The Committees for the Defence of the Republic (Catalan: Comitès de Defensa de la República), or CDR, previously named Committees for the Defense of the Referendum, are a network of committees that function on a local, regional and national level in Catalonia. Its initial purpose was to facilitate the Catalan independence referendum. After the referendum, they adopted the new objective to fight for the Catalan Republic, and publicly called for violent protests and civil disobedience. The Committees for the Defense of the Republic have also made acts of sabotage, blocking railway lines and the Barcelona–El Prat Josep Tarradellas Airport.
| Committees for the Defense of the Republic | |
|---|---|
| Comitès de Defensa de la República | |
| Foundation | 2017 |
| Country | Catalan Republic |
| Motives | Defend the Catalan Republic through civil disobedience and sabotage |
| Major actions | Assault, occupation and seize of institutional Catalan buildings and infrastructures. |
| Notable attacks | Sabotage, blocking railway lines and the Barcelona–El Prat Josep Tarradellas Airport. |
| Allies | Catalonia (Formerly) |
| Designated as a terrorist group by | Spain |
| Flag | |
The CDR was created in September 2017 as voluntary groups founded by a diverse collective of popular associations. Their initial goal was to collaborate with the implementation of the Catalan independence referendum (1-O) which had been suspended by the Spanish Constitutional Court. After the referendum, the Committees promoted demonstrations against the Spanish police and organized several actions during the general strike of October 2017.
On June 17 2021, Spanish Guardia Civil (National Guard) concluded an investigation that defined the CDR as a "criminal organisation with terrorist purposes [and] capacity of assault, occupation and seize of institutional Catalan buildings and infrastructures."