El Born Centre de Cultura i Memòria

The exhibition “Until we prevail!” recounts the events of the War of the Spanish Succession, a conflict that involved the whole of Europe in which the Spanish and French armies fought as allies against Catalonia. The siege of the Phillip V’s Bourbonic troops resulted in the surrender of Barcelona on 11 September 1714.

In the collective memory, the date and the events leading up to the loss of Catalonia’s liberties are associated with a national defeat. But when reconstructed with historical rigour and the aid of documentary sources, the episode becomes a symbol of the heroic fight to defend the country’s constitutions and institutions. It was not for nothing that Voltaire spoke of “the great love of liberty of the people of Barcelona”.

On the site of the events

The attack of 11 September began in the morning through seven breaches in the wall,and the fierce, bloody conflict dragged on for hours. There were thousands of casualties and the Chief Councillor, Rafael Casanova, was wounded near the bastion of Sant Pere, from where he had led the resistance under the flag of Saint Eulàlia.

Before deciding to surrender at 2 o’clock in the afternoon, General Antoni de Villarroel led the Catalan cavalry in a last counterattack. The attack was launched through El Bornet and across the plain of En Llull, the same ground that lies under the central dome of the old Born Market that houses the cultural centre today.

“Until we prevail!”, recreates a number of small battles, the armies’ organisation and resources, their military tactics and the development of the siege. And all at the very same site where these crucial events in Catalan history took place.