The sun and warm temperatures accompanied that Sunday morning, but few wanted to miss one of the day’s central symbols: the scarf. Groups of young people handed them out on the streets leading to the square, while attendees wore them around their necks, as sashes, on their heads or held in their hands. After the manifesto was read came one of the event’s most memorable images, with scarves held aloft and the cry, “No to the water transfer!”
The mobilization brought together people from different parts of Aragon, including Caspe, Huesca, Teruel and Castiliscar. “We came here because it is our duty,” explained Julio, a resident of Caspe, while another attendee from the same town said: “They want to take our water away, and we cannot allow it.”
The stage was set up in front of the Fuente de la Hispanidad, dominated by a large banner bearing the slogan “Aragon: Water and Future.” Representatives of all political parties except the PP took the stage, along with social organizations, agricultural groups and members of the Platform in Defense of the Ebro. Journalist Lola Campos hosted the event and recalled that, despite the year that had passed, neither the central government nor Aragon’s representatives had changed their positions.
Zaragoza-born writer Soledad Puértolas was responsible for reading the manifesto, while music by Aragonese singer-songwriters accompanied a day that left behind the image of thousands of scarves raised in Plaza del Pilar. This is how Aragón Digital covered it 25 years ago, in the original report on the mass Fiesta del Agua protest against the water transfer.
