The Barcelona City Council plans to remove the name of San José de Calasanz from one of its squares in the street directory, replacing it with that of “Turtle Square”, in a decision that reinforces the consistory’s political line aimed at eliminating Christian references from public spaces.
A strategy to eliminate Christian tradition
According to Aciprensa, since taking power in June 2023, Mayor Jaume Collboni has promoted a systematic policy of removing names linked to the Catholic faith in the city.
The first measures affected streets such as Santa Magdalena, Santa Ana, Santa Rosa, and Santa Ágata, marking the beginning of a sustained strategy backed by the secessionist party Junts per Catalunya.
From saints to ideological figures
The replacement of Christian references is not limited to eliminating them, but in some cases involves replacing them with ideological figures. This is the case of Plaza Urquinaona, whose name—linked to Bishop José María Urquinaona—has been replaced by that of the anarchist and Freemason Francisco Ferrer y Guardia.
The intention to now remove the name of San José de Calasanz, founder of the Piarist Schools, confirms the continuity of this policy, which affects key figures in religious and educational history.
They denounce a “radical secularism” against the faith
The Observatory for Religious Freedom and Conscience (OLRC) has denounced that these decisions respond to a plan with “a radical secularist objective that seeks to eliminate religion, especially Christianity, from the public sphere”.
The organization has launched a campaign to demand that the City Council stop these actions, which it considers aimed at erasing the city’s historical identity.
Additionally, it warns of other initiatives underway, such as the attempt to change the name of gardens dedicated to the priest Jacinto Verdaguer to hide his clerical status, or the removal of a cross in Turó de la Peira park.