Catalan Centre ( ca, Centre Català) was a Spanish

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...

of the

Catalan Catalan may refer to: Catalonia From, or related to Catalonia: * Catalan language, a Romance language * Catalans, an ethnic group formed by the people from, or with origins in, Northern or southern Catalonia Places * 13178 Catalan, asteroid #1 ...

region born during the

Spanish transition to democracy Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

in 1976. It was part of the

Union of the Centre and Christian Democracy of Catalonia Union of the Centre and Christian Democracy of Catalonia ( ca, Unió del Centre i la Democràcia Cristiana de Catalunya, UCiDCC) was an electoral coalition formed in Catalonia in December 1976 to contest the Spanish Congress of Deputies election ...

(UCiDCC) in the 1977 Spanish general election, but it later dissolved to merge into the Union of the Centre of Catalonia (UCC) in 1978.

History

The party was created in Barcelona by the initiative of young entrepreneurs and professionals linked to the Barcelona Economic Circle and the ''Jove Cambra'' (chamber of young entrepreneurs). Its president was Joan Mas, with Joaquim Molins as secretary-general, with the party including other entrepreneurs like Carlos Ferrer Salat, Carles Güell de Sentmenat, Jordi Planasdemunt, Figa and Vicenç Lluís Oller, all of them without links neither with the

Francoist regime Francoist Spain ( es, España franquista), or the Francoist dictatorship (), was the period of Spanish history between 1939 and 1975, when Francisco Franco ruled Spain after the Spanish Civil War with the title . After his death in 1975, Spai ...

nor with the clandestine democratic opposition. Its program was defined as

Catalanist Catalan nationalism is the ideology asserting that the Catalans are a distinct nation. Intellectually, modern Catalan nationalism can be said to have commenced as a political philosophy in the unsuccessful attempts to establish a federal state i ...

federalist The term ''federalist'' describes several political beliefs around the world. It may also refer to the concept of parties, whose members or supporters called themselves ''Federalists''. History Europe federation In Europe, proponents of de ...

pro-European Pro-Europeanism, sometimes called European Unionism, is a political position that favours European integration and membership of the European Union (EU).Krisztina Arató, Petr Kaniok (editors). ''Euroscepticism and European Integration''. Polit ...

and advocating a free

market economy A market economy is an economic system in which the decisions regarding investment, production and distribution to the consumers are guided by the price signals created by the forces of supply and demand, where all suppliers and consumers ...

. Influenced by

Valéry Giscard d'Estaing Valéry René Marie Georges Giscard d'Estaing (, , ; 2 February 19262 December 2020), also known as Giscard or VGE, was a French politician who served as President of France from 1974 to 1981. After serving as Minister of Finance under prime ...

and linked to the thesis of the Council of Political Forces of Catalonia ( ca, Consell de Forces Polítiques de Catalunya), it aimed at occupying a centre-right democratic, progressive space. Ahead of the 1977 Spanish general election, it reached an electoral agreement with the

Democratic Union of Catalonia The Democratic Union of Catalonia ( ca, Unió Democràtica de Catalunya; , UDC), frequently shortened as Union ( ca, Unió; ), was a regionalist, Christian-democratic political party in the Catalonia region of Spain existing between 1931 and 2017 ...

(UDC) to run under the

(UCiDCC) label, but results were regarded as a disappointment after obtaining only one seat—out of the two obtained by the coalition—for Güell de Sentmentat, who joined the Mixed Group upon the start of the parliamentary term, resulting in the UCiDCC's dissolution. Following the election, party members adopted a new political line in the congress held in October 1977, advocating for the creation of a new Catalan, progressive and centrist party, that was able to constitute itself in an electoral alternative to the popular strength shown "by the socialist and communist left" in Catalonia, and which comprised the UCD political space. Negotiations started with the Catalan UCD throughout the second half of 1977, with unsuccessful attempts of bringing the UDC but also Democratic Convergence of Catalonia (CDC) and

Democratic Left of Catalonia Democratic Left of Catalonia ( ca, Esquerra Democràtica de Catalunya, EDC) was a political party in Catalonia (Spain). EDC was founded in 1975 as the Catalan Liberal Party ( ca, Partit Liberal Català), and ideologically it defined itself as " rad ...

(EDC) into supporting the party's new strategy of establishing "the central bloc of Catalan politics". These efforts would result in the merging of CC, together with the Union of the Christian Democrats of Catalonia–Jacques Maritain Club—a split from UDC—the Party of the Catalan People, members from the League of Catalonia–Catalan Liberal Party and most of the Social Democratic Party of Catalonia, into the Union of the Centre of Catalonia.

References

{{Authority control 1976 establishments in Spain 1978 disestablishments in Spain Defunct political parties in Catalonia Political parties established in 1976 Political parties disestablished in 1978