![Somunanacio17](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1e/Somunanacio17.jpg)
The Catalan independence movement ( ca, independentisme català;
Spanish
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 ...
: ''independentismo catalán'') is a
social
Social organisms, including human(s), live collectively in interacting populations. This interaction is considered social whether they are aware of it or not, and whether the exchange is voluntary or not.
Etymology
The word "social" derives from ...
and
political movement
A political movement is a collective attempt by a group of people to change government policy or social values. Political movements are usually in opposition to an element of the status quo, and are often associated with a certain ideology. Some t ...
(with roots in
Catalan nationalism
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 ...
) which seeks the
independence
Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the statu ...
of
Catalonia
Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy.
Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the north ...
from
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
.
The beginnings of
separatism
Separatism is the advocacy of cultural, ethnic, tribal, religious, racial, governmental or gender separation from the larger group. As with secession, separatism conventionally refers to full political separation. Groups simply seeking greate ...
in Catalonia can be traced back to
regionalist and
nationalist
Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: The ...
movements of the mid–19th century, influenced by
romantic ideas widespread in
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
at the time. The first organised Catalan independence party was
Estat Català
Estat Català (, literally "Catalan State") is a pro-independence nationalist historical political party of Catalonia (Spain).
History
Estat Català is a historical pro-independence political party in Catalonia, Spain. It was founded by France ...
(Catalan State), founded in 1922 by
Francesc Macià
Francesc Macià i Llussà (; 21 September 1859 – 25 December 1933) was a Spanish politician from Catalonia who served as the 122nd president of the Generalitat of Catalonia, and formerly an officer in the Spanish Army.
Politically, he evolve ...
. In 1931, Estat Català and other parties formed
Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya
The Republican Left of Catalonia ( ca, Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya, ERC; ; generically branded as ) is a pro-Catalan independence, social-democratic political party in the Spanish autonomous community of Catalonia, with a presence also in ...
(Republican Left of Catalonia, ERC). Macià proclaimed a
Catalan Republic
Catalan Republic or Catalan State refers to Catalonia at various times when it was proclaimed either an independent republic or as a republic within a Spanish federal republic:
* Catalan Republic (1641), a proclaimed independent state under French ...
within Spain in 1931, subsequently accepting autonomy within the Spanish state after negotiations with the leaders of the
Second Spanish Republic
The Spanish Republic (), commonly known as the Second Spanish Republic (), was the form of government in Spain from 1931 to 1939. The Republic was proclaimed on 14 April 1931, after the deposition of Alfonso XIII, King Alfonso XIII, and was di ...
. During the
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, lin ...
, General
Francisco Franco
Francisco Franco Bahamonde (; 4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish general who led the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalist forces in overthrowing the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War ...
abolished Catalan autonomy in 1938. Following Franco's death in 1975, Catalan political parties concentrated on autonomy rather than independence.
The contemporary independence movement began around 2009 after a series of events, including the
financial crisis of 2007–2008
Finance is the study and discipline of money, currency and capital assets. It is related to, but not synonymous with economics, the study of production, distribution, and consumption of money, assets, goods and services (the discipline of fi ...
and the
Partido Popular (People's Party) challenging the
2006 Statute of Autonomy in the
Constitutional Court of Spain
The Constitutional Court ( es, Tribunal Constitucional) is the supreme interpreter of the Spanish Constitution, with the power to determine the constitutionality of acts and statutes made by any public body, central, regional, or local in Spa ...
; Catalan municipalities held symbolic
referendums on independence between 2009 and 2011. The 2010 ruling of the court that parts of the statute were unconstitutional sparked
huge protests, and a snap election in 2012 led to the first pro-independence majority ever in the
Catalan parliament
The Parliament of Catalonia ( ca, Parlament de Catalunya, ; es, Parlamento de Cataluña; oc, Parlament de Catalonha) is the unicameral legislature of the autonomous community of Catalonia, Spain. The Parliament is currently made up of 135 mem ...
. The new government held a "non-binding"
self-determination referendum in 2014, which yielded a large majority in favour of independence, but with a low turnout due to boycotting by anti-independence voters. A
further election in 2015 was followed by the calling of
a new, binding referendum. This was however considered illegal by the
Spanish government
gl, Goberno de España eu, Espainiako Gobernua
, image =
, caption = Logo of the Government of Spain
, headerstyle = background-color: #efefef
, label1 = Role
, data1 = Executive power
, label2 = Established
, da ...
and the Constitutional Court, as the Catalan government lacks legal jurisdiction to organize referendums. The referendum was nonetheless held in 2017 amidst great political and social controversy, including police actions aimed at stopping it both before and during the voting. Amidst large protests from both the pro and anti-independence camps, the Catalan parliament approved a motion with the aim to proclaim an independent republic, at the same time that the
Spanish senate
The Senate ( es, Senado) is the upper house of the Cortes Generales, which along with the Congress of Deputies – the lower chamber – comprises the Parliament of the Kingdom of Spain. The Senate meets in the Palace of the Senate in Madrid.
Th ...
voted to take control of the Catalan institutions until
new regional elections. The regional government leaders were arrested in the subsequent weeks, with some fleeing abroad, including then president
Carles Puigdemont
Carles Puigdemont i Casamajó (; born 29 December 1962) is a Catalan politician and journalist from Spain. Since 2019 he has served as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP). A former mayor of Girona, Puigdemont served as President of Catalo ...
. In 2019, the new Spanish government agreed to hold a 'table of negotiations' with the government of Catalonia, though refusing beforehand to consider independence or self-determination. In 2020, the Spanish government began processing a request for the pardon of the arrested leaders, which was effective in June 2021.
In the Parliament of Catalonia, parties explicitly supporting independence are
Together for Catalonia (JxCat) (which includes
Partit Demòcrata Europeu Català (PDeCAT), heir of the former
Convergència Democràtica de Catalunya
The Democratic Convergence of Catalonia ( ca, Convergència Democràtica de Catalunya; , CDC), frequently shortened as Convergence ( ca, Convergència; ) was a Catalan nationalism, Catalan nationalist, liberalism, liberal List of political parties ...
(CDC));
Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya
The Republican Left of Catalonia ( ca, Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya, ERC; ; generically branded as ) is a pro-Catalan independence, social-democratic political party in the Spanish autonomous community of Catalonia, with a presence also in ...
(ERC), and
Candidatura d'Unitat Popular
The Popular Unity Candidacy ( ca, Candidatura d'Unitat Popular, , CUP) is a left-wing to far-left pro-Catalan independence political party active primarily in Catalonia, where it has political representation, but also in other autonomous communiti ...
(CUP). Parties opposed to the regional independence are
Ciutadans (Citizens),
People's Party (PP), the
Partit dels Socialistes de Catalunya
The Socialists' Party of Catalonia ( ca, Partit dels Socialistes de Catalunya, PSC–PSOE official acronym) is a social-democratic political party in Catalonia, Spain, resulting from the merger of three parties: the Socialist Party of Catalonia ...
(PSC) and, since
2021
File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...
,
Vox.
En Comú Podem
En Comú Podem ( en, "In Common We Can", ECP) is an electoral coalition in Catalonia, originally formed in October 2015 by Unidas Podemos, Barcelona en Comú, Initiative for Catalonia Greens, United and Alternative Left, and Equo, and led by the ...
supports federalism and a legal and agreed referendum.
History
Beginnings
![Reinos Antiguo Régimen](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fb/Reinos_Antiguo_R%C3%A9gimen.svg)
The
Principality of Catalonia
The Principality of Catalonia ( ca, Principat de Catalunya, la, Principatus Cathaloniæ, oc, Principat de Catalonha, es, Principado de Cataluña) was a Middle Ages, medieval and early modern state (polity), state in the northeastern Iberian P ...
was an entity of the
Crown of Aragon
The Crown of Aragon ( , ) an, Corona d'Aragón ; ca, Corona d'Aragó, , , ; es, Corona de Aragón ; la, Corona Aragonum . was a composite monarchy ruled by one king, originated by the dynastic union of the Kingdom of Aragon and the County of B ...
, created by the dynastic union of the
County of Barcelona
The County of Barcelona ( la, Comitatus Barcinonensis, ca, Comtat de Barcelona) was originally a frontier region under the rule of the Carolingian dynasty. In the 10th century, the Counts of Barcelona became progressively independent, heredi ...
and the
Kingdom of Aragon
The Kingdom of Aragon ( an, Reino d'Aragón, ca, Regne d'Aragó, la, Regnum Aragoniae, es, Reino de Aragón) was a medieval and early modern kingdom on the Iberian Peninsula, corresponding to the modern-day autonomous community of Aragon, ...
in 1137. In the late 15th century, Aragon united by
marriage
Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between ...
with the
Crown of Castile
The Crown of Castile was a medieval polity in the Iberian Peninsula that formed in 1230 as a result of the third and definitive union of the crowns and, some decades later, the parliaments of the kingdoms of Castile and León upon the accessi ...
to form what would later become
Kingdom of Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
. Initially, the various entities of the Crown of Aragon, including Catalonia, kept their own ''
fuero
(), (), () or () is a Spanish legal term and concept. The word comes from Latin , an open space used as a market, tribunal and meeting place. The same Latin root is the origin of the French terms and , and the Portuguese terms and ; all ...
s'' ( in
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 ...
, laws and customs) and political institutions as guarantee of their sovereignty, for which they fought a civil war during the actual union of the crowns, known as the
Catalan Civil War
The Catalan Civil War, also called the Catalonian Civil War or the War against John II, was a civil war in the Principality of Catalonia, then part of the Crown of Aragon, between 1462 and 1472. The two factions, the royalists who supported John ...
(1462-1472) between foralists and royalists. In 1640, during the
Thirty Years War
The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, most destructive conflicts in History of Europe, European history, lasting from 1618 to 1648. Fought primarily in Central Europe, an es ...
and
Franco-Spanish War, Catalan peasants revolted, starting the
Reapers' War
The Reapers' War ( ca, Guerra dels Segadors, , es, Guerra de los Segadores), also known as the Catalan Revolt, was a conflict that affected a large part of the Principality of Catalonia between the years of 1640 and 1659. It had an enduring ef ...
. The following year, the Catalan government seceded establishing the independence of the Principality, called France for protection and finally named
Louis XIII
Louis XIII (; sometimes called the Just; 27 September 1601 – 14 May 1643) was King of France from 1610 until his death in 1643 and King of Navarre (as Louis II) from 1610 to 1620, when the crown of Navarre was merged with the French crown ...
count of Barcelona. After a decade of war, the Spanish Monarchy counter-attacked in 1652 and recovered Barcelona and the rest of Catalonia, except for
Roussillon
Roussillon ( , , ; ca, Rosselló ; oc, Rosselhon ) is a historical province of France that largely corresponded to the County of Roussillon and part of the County of Cerdagne of the former Principality of Catalonia. It is part of the reg ...
, which was annexed by France. Catalonia retained its ''fueros''.
During the
War of Spanish Succession
The War of the Spanish Succession was a European great power conflict that took place from 1701 to 1714. The death of childless Charles II of Spain in November 1700 led to a struggle for control of the Spanish Empire between his heirs, Phil ...
, most of the territories of the Crown of Aragon, including Catalonia, fiercely supported
Archduke Charles
Archduke Charles Louis John Joseph Laurentius of Austria, Duke of Teschen (german: link=no, Erzherzog Karl Ludwig Johann Josef Lorenz von Österreich, Herzog von Teschen; 5 September 177130 April 1847) was an Austrian field-marshal, the third s ...
, the
Habsburg
The House of Habsburg (), alternatively spelled Hapsburg in Englishgerman: Haus Habsburg, ; es, Casa de Habsburgo; hu, Habsburg család, it, Casa di Asburgo, nl, Huis van Habsburg, pl, dom Habsburgów, pt, Casa de Habsburgo, la, Domus Hab ...
contender, who swore the
Catalan constitutions, against the
Bourbon Bourbon may refer to:
Food and drink
* Bourbon whiskey, an American whiskey made using a corn-based mash
* Bourbon barrel aged beer, a type of beer aged in bourbon barrels
* Bourbon biscuit, a chocolate sandwich biscuit
* A beer produced by Bras ...
contender,
who would later abolish the Catalan constitutions and political institutions through the
Nueva Planta Decrees
The Nueva Planta decrees ( es, link=no, Decretos de Nueva Planta, ca, Decrets de Nova Planta, en, link=no, "Decrees of the New Plant") were a number of decrees signed between 1707 and 1716 by Philip V, the first Bourbon King of Spain, during ...
. The Habsburgs' English allies withdrew from the war with the
Treaty of Utrecht
The Peace of Utrecht was a series of peace treaties signed by the belligerents in the War of the Spanish Succession, in the Dutch city of Utrecht between April 1713 and February 1715. The war involved three contenders for the vacant throne o ...
in 1713, and shortly thereafter, Habsburg troops were evacuated from Italy and from Spain. This left the Catalan government isolated, but it remained loyal to Charles. After a 14-month siege,
Barcelona
Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...
surrendered to a Bourbon army on 11 September 1714. 11 September, the date of the fall of Barcelona, was commemorated by Catalan nationalists from 1886, and in the 20th century it was chosen as the
National Day of Catalonia
)
, type = National day
, longtype = National day
, significance = Commemorates the fall of Barcelona during the War of the Spanish Succession in 1714.
, image = Rafael Casanova 11 Setembre.jpg
, caption = Floral of ...
.
After the War of the Spanish Succession, based on the political position of the
Count-Duke of Olivares and the absolutism of
Philip V Philip V may refer to:
* Philip V of Macedon (221–179 BC)
* Philip V of France (1293–1322)
* Philip II of Spain, also Philip V, Duke of Burgundy (1526–1598)
* Philip V of Spain
Philip V ( es, Felipe; 19 December 1683 – 9 July 1746) was ...
, the assimilation of the
Crown of Aragon
The Crown of Aragon ( , ) an, Corona d'Aragón ; ca, Corona d'Aragó, , , ; es, Corona de Aragón ; la, Corona Aragonum . was a composite monarchy ruled by one king, originated by the dynastic union of the Kingdom of Aragon and the County of B ...
by the
Castilian Crown through the Decrees of Nova planta was the first step in the creation of the Spanish
nation-state
A nation state is a political unit where the state and nation are congruent. It is a more precise concept than "country", since a country does not need to have a predominant ethnic group.
A nation, in the sense of a common ethnicity, may inc ...
, with a centralised Spanish government.
Like other contemporary European states, political union is the first step in the creation of the Spanish nation-state, in this case not on a uniform
ethnic
An ethnic group or an ethnicity is a grouping of people who identify with each other on the basis of shared attributes that distinguish them from other groups. Those attributes can include common sets of traditions, ancestry, language, history, ...
basis, but through the imposition of the political and cultural characteristics of the dominant ethnic group. in this case the Castilians, over those of other ethnic groups, become
national minorities
The term 'minority group' has different usages depending on the context. According to its common usage, a minority group can simply be understood in terms of demographic sizes within a population: i.e. a group in society with the least number o ...
to be assimilated. In fact, since the political unification of 1714, Spanish assimilation policies towards Catalan-speaking territories (
Catalonia
Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy.
Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the north ...
,
Valencia
Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, Valencia and the Municipalities of Spain, third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is ...
, the
Balearic Islands
The Balearic Islands ( es, Islas Baleares ; or ca, Illes Balears ) are an archipelago in the Balearic Sea, near the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. The archipelago is an autonomous community and a province of Spain; its capital is ...
, part of
Aragon
Aragon ( , ; Spanish and an, Aragón ; ca, Aragó ) is an autonomous community in Spain, coextensive with the medieval Kingdom of Aragon. In northeastern Spain, the Aragonese autonomous community comprises three provinces (from north to sou ...
) and other national minorities have been a historical constant.
![Mapa_político_de_España,_1850](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/82/Mapa_pol%C3%ADtico_de_Espa%C3%B1a%2C_1850.jpg)
It begins with secret instructions to the corregidores of the Catalan territory: "will take the utmost care to introduce the Castilian language, for which purpose he will give the most temperate and disguised measures so that the effect is achieved, without the care being noticed",
and from there the actions, discreet or aggressive, are continued, and reach the last detail, such as, in 1799, the Royal Certificate prohibiting "represent, sing and dance pieces that were not in Spanish."
These nationalist policies, sometimes very aggressive,
and still in forces,
have been and still are the seed of repeated territorial conflicts within the State.
Although since its loss there are claims to recover the Furs, the beginnings of
separatism
Separatism is the advocacy of cultural, ethnic, tribal, religious, racial, governmental or gender separation from the larger group. As with secession, separatism conventionally refers to full political separation. Groups simply seeking greate ...
in Catalonia can be traced back to the mid–19th century. The
Renaixença
The ''Renaixença'' (; also written ''Renaixensa'' before spelling standardisation), or Catalan Renaissance, was a romantic revivalist movement in Catalan language and culture through the mid 19th century, akin to the Galician ''Rexurdimento ...
(cultural renaissance), which aimed at the revival of the
Catalan language
Catalan (; autonym: , ), known in the Valencian Community and Carche as ''Valencian'' (autonym: ), is a Western Romance language. It is the official language of Andorra, and an official language of three autonomous communities in eastern Spa ...
and
Catalan traditions
There are quite a number of festivals and traditions in Catalonia (Spain). While most are of ancient origin, certain traditions are of relatively recent introduction. There are also some that are common to the whole Catalan society, but others are ...
, led to the development of
Catalan nationalism
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 ...
and a desire for self-government, through a Spanish federal republic or even the independence. Between the 1850s and the 1910s, some individuals, organisations and political parties started demanding full independence of Catalonia from Spain.
Twentieth century
![Manuel Ainaud Sanchez 3](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/82/Manuel_Ainaud_Sanchez_3.jpg)
The first pro-independence political party in Catalonia was
Estat Català
Estat Català (, literally "Catalan State") is a pro-independence nationalist historical political party of Catalonia (Spain).
History
Estat Català is a historical pro-independence political party in Catalonia, Spain. It was founded by France ...
(Catalan State), founded in 1922 by
Francesc Macià
Francesc Macià i Llussà (; 21 September 1859 – 25 December 1933) was a Spanish politician from Catalonia who served as the 122nd president of the Generalitat of Catalonia, and formerly an officer in the Spanish Army.
Politically, he evolve ...
.
Estat Català went into exile in France during the dictatorship of
Primo de Rivera Primo de Rivera is a Spanish family prominent in politics of the 19th and 20th centuries:
*Fernando Primo de Rivera (1831–1921), Spanish politician and soldier
*Miguel Primo de Rivera (1870–1930), nephew of Fernando, military officer and dictat ...
(1923–1930), launching an unsuccessful uprising from
Prats de Molló
Prats-de-Mollo-la-Preste (; ) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Orientales department in southern France, near the border with Spain and the Autonomous Community of Catalonia. The name ''Prats-de-Mollo'' comes from Catalan "meadows of Molló". Mo ...
in 1926. In March 1931, following the overthrow of Primo de Rivera, Estat Català joined with the Partit Republicà Català (Catalan Republican Party) and the political group L'Opinió (Opinion) to form
Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya
The Republican Left of Catalonia ( ca, Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya, ERC; ; generically branded as ) is a pro-Catalan independence, social-democratic political party in the Spanish autonomous community of Catalonia, with a presence also in ...
(Republican Left of Catalonia; ERC), with Macià as its first leader. The following month, the ERC achieved a spectacular victory in the municipal elections that preceded the 14 April proclamation of the
Second Spanish Republic
The Spanish Republic (), commonly known as the Second Spanish Republic (), was the form of government in Spain from 1931 to 1939. The Republic was proclaimed on 14 April 1931, after the deposition of Alfonso XIII, King Alfonso XIII, and was di ...
. Macià proclaimed a
Catalan Republic
Catalan Republic or Catalan State refers to Catalonia at various times when it was proclaimed either an independent republic or as a republic within a Spanish federal republic:
* Catalan Republic (1641), a proclaimed independent state under French ...
on 14 April, but after negotiations with the provisional government he was obliged to settle for autonomy, under a revived
Generalitat of Catalonia
The Generalitat de Catalunya (; oc, label=Aranese, Generalitat de Catalonha; es, Generalidad de Cataluña), or the Government of Catalonia, is the institutional system by which Catalonia politically organizes its self-government. It is formed b ...
. Catalonia was granted a
statute of autonomy
Nominally, a Statute of Autonomy ( es, Estatuto de Autonomía, ca, Estatut d'Autonomia, gl, Estatuto de Autonomía, ast, Estatutu d'Autonomía, eu, Autonomia Estatutua) is a law hierarchically located under the constitution of a country and, u ...
in 1932, which lasted until the
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, lin ...
. In 1938,
General Franco
Francisco Franco Bahamonde (; 4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish general who led the Nationalist forces in overthrowing the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War and thereafter ruled over Spain from 193 ...
abolished both the Statute of Autonomy and the Generalitat.
A section of
Estat Català
Estat Català (, literally "Catalan State") is a pro-independence nationalist historical political party of Catalonia (Spain).
History
Estat Català is a historical pro-independence political party in Catalonia, Spain. It was founded by France ...
which had broken away from the ERC in 1936 joined with other groups to found the
Front Nacional de Catalunya
The National Front of Catalonia (Catalan: ''Front Nacional de Catalunya'', FNC) was a Catalan separatist party which was active between 1940 and 1990. The FNC was created in 1940 by former members of the Estat Català and the Catalan Nationalis ...
(National Front of Catalonia; FNC) in Paris in 1940.
The FNC declared its aim to be "an energetic protest against Franco and an affirmation of Catalan nationalism".
Its impact, however, was on Catalan exiles in France rather than in Catalonia itself. The FNC in turn gave rise to the
Partit Socialista d'Alliberament Nacional
The Socialist Party of National Liberation (Catalan: ''Partit Socialista d'Alliberament Nacional'', PSAN) is an independentist and communist party active in Catalonia. The PSAN was created in 1968 following a split in the more leftist sector of t ...
(Socialist Party of National Liberation; PSAN), which combined a pro-independence agenda with a
left-wing
Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soci ...
stance. A split in the PSAN led to the formation of the
Partit Socialista d'Alliberament Nacional - Provisional (Socialist Party of National Liberation - Provisional; PSAN-P) in 1974.
[Lluch (2014), p. 52]
Following Franco's death in 1975, Spain
moved to restore democracy. A
new constitution was adopted in 1978, which asserted the "indivisible unity of the Spanish Nation", but acknowledged "the right to autonomy of the nationalities and regions which form it". Independence parties objected to it on the basis that it was incompatible with Catalan self-determination, and formed the Comité Català Contra la Constitució Espanyola (Catalan Committee Against the Constitution) to oppose it.
[ The constitution was approved in a referendum by 88% of voters in Spain overall, and just over 90% in Catalonia. It was followed by the ]Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 1979
The Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia ( ca, Estatut d'Autonomia de Catalunya; also Statute of Sau, ''Estatut de Sau'', after the location where the statute was first made) is a constitutional law defining the region of Catalonia as an autonomous co ...
, which was approved in a referendum, with 88% of voters supporting it. This led to the marginalisation or disappearance of pro-independence political groups, and for a time the gap was filled by militant groups such as Terra Lliure.
In 1981, a manifesto issued by intellectuals in Catalonia claiming discrimination against the Castilian language
In English, Castilian Spanish can mean the variety of Peninsular Spanish spoken in northern and central Spain, the standard form of Spanish, or Spanish from Spain in general. In Spanish, the term (Castilian) can either refer to the Spanish languag ...
, drew a response in the form of published letter, ' ("Call for Solidarity in Defence of the Catalan Language, Culture and Nation"), which called for a mass meeting at the University of Barcelona
The University of Barcelona ( ca, Universitat de Barcelona, UB; ; es, link=no, Universidad de Barcelona) is a public university located in the city of Barcelona, Catalonia, in Spain. With 63,000 students, it is one of the biggest universities i ...
, out of which a popular movement arose. The Crida organised a series of protests that culminated in a massive demonstration in the Camp Nou
Camp Nou (, meaning ''new field'', often referred to in English as the Nou Camp), officially branded as Spotify Camp Nou for sponsorship and financial reasons, is a football stadium in Barcelona, Spain. It has been the home stadium of FC Barcelo ...
on 24 June 1981. Beginning as a cultural organisation, the Crida soon began to demand independence.[Conversi (2000), pp. 146–7] In 1982, at a time of political uncertainty in Spain, the ' (LOAPA) was introduced in the Spanish parliament, supposedly to "harmonise" the autonomy process, but in reality to curb the power of Catalonia and the Basque region. There was a surge of popular protest against it. The Crida and others organised a huge rally against LOAPA in Barcelona on 14 March 1982. In March 1983, it was held to be ''ultra vires'' by the Spanish Constitutional Court.[ During the 1980s, the Crida was involved in nonviolent ]direct action
Direct action originated as a political activist term for economic and political acts in which the actors use their power (e.g. economic or physical) to directly reach certain goals of interest, in contrast to those actions that appeal to oth ...
, among other things campaigning for labelling in Catalan only, and targeting big companies.[ In 1983, the Crida's leader, Àngel Colom, left to join the ERC, "giving an impulse to the independentist refounding" of that party.
]
Second Statute of Autonomy and after
Following elections in 2003, the moderate nationalist Convergència i Unió
Convergence and Union ( ca, Convergència i Unió, CiU; ) was a Catalan nationalist electoral alliance in Catalonia, Spain. It was a federation of two constituent parties, the larger Democratic Convergence of Catalonia (CDC) and its smaller coun ...
(CiU), which had governed Catalonia since 1980, lost power to a coalition of left-wing parties composed of the Socialists' Party of Catalonia
The Socialists' Party of Catalonia ( ca, Partit dels Socialistes de Catalunya, PSC–PSOE official acronym) is a social-democratic political party in Catalonia, Spain, resulting from the merger of three parties: the Socialist Party of Catalonia ...
(PSC), the pro-independence Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya
The Republican Left of Catalonia ( ca, Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya, ERC; ; generically branded as ) is a pro-Catalan independence, social-democratic political party in the Spanish autonomous community of Catalonia, with a presence also in ...
(ERC) and a far-left/Green coalition ( ICV- EUiA), headed by Pasqual Maragall
Pasqual Maragall i Mira (; born 13 January 1941) is a Spanish politician and former List of Presidents of Catalonia, President of Generalitat de Catalunya. He had previously been Mayor of Barcelona, from 1982 to 1997, and helped run the city's s ...
. The government produced a draft for a new Statute of Autonomy
Nominally, a Statute of Autonomy ( es, Estatuto de Autonomía, ca, Estatut d'Autonomia, gl, Estatuto de Autonomía, ast, Estatutu d'Autonomía, eu, Autonomia Estatutua) is a law hierarchically located under the constitution of a country and, u ...
, which was supported by the CiU and was approved by the parliament by a large majority. The draft statute then had to be approved by the Spanish parliament, which could make changes; it did so, removing clauses on finance and the language, and an article stating that Catalonia was a nation. When the amended statute was put to a referendum on 18 June 2006, the ERC, in protest, called for a "no" vote. The statute was approved, but turnout was only 48.9%. At the subsequent election, the left-wing coalition was returned to power, this time under the leadership of José Montilla
José Montilla Aguilera (born 15 January 1955 in Iznájar, Andalusia, Spain) is a Spanish politician who is currently a member of the Spanish Senate. He was the 128th President of Generalitat de Catalunya. He became the First Secretary of th ...
.
In November 2005, Omnium Cultural organized a meeting of Catalan and Madrid intellectuals in the Círculo de bellas artes The Círculo de Bellas Artes is a private, non-profit, cultural organization that was founded in 1880. Its building, located in Madrid, Spain, was declared ''Bien de Interés Cultural'' in 1981.
The CBA is a major multidisciplinary centre with one ...
in Madrid to show support for ongoing reform of Catalan Statute of Autonomy, which sought to resolve territorial tensions, and among other things better protect the Catalan language. On the Catalan side, a flight was made with one hundred representatives of the cultural, civic, intellectual, artistic and sporting world of Catalonia, but on the Spanish side, except Santiago Carrillo
Santiago José Carrillo Solares (18 January 1915 – 18 September 2012) was a Spanish politician who served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of Spain (main), Communist Party of Spain (PCE) from 1960 to 1982. His role in the Paracu ...
, a politician from the Second Republic, did not attend any more. The subsequent failure of the statutory reform with respect to its objectives opened the door to the growth of Catalan sovereignty.
The conservative Partido Popular, which had opposed the statute in the Spanish parliament, challenged its constitutionality in the Spanish High Court of Justice. The case lasted four years. In its judgement, issued on 18 June 2010, the court ruled that fourteen articles in the statute were unconstitutional, and that 27 others were to be interpreted restrictively. The affected articles included those that gave preference to the Catalan language, freed Catalonia from responsibility for the finances of other autonomous communities, and recognised Catalonia as a nation.[Crameri (2014), p. 44] The full text of the judgement was released on 9 July 2010, and the following day a protest demonstration organised by the cultural organisation Òmnium Cultural
Òmnium Cultural () is a Catalan association based in Barcelona, Catalonia. It was originally created in the 1960s to promote the Catalan language and spread Catalan culture.
Over the years it has increased its involvement in broader political is ...
was attended by over a million people, and led by José Montilla.
During and after the court case, a series of symbolic referendums on independence were held in municipalities throughout Catalonia. The first of these was in the town of Arenys de Munt
Arenys de Munt (, ''arenys'' being Catalan for "sands (of a seasonal creek)", and ''de munt'' for "up hill" as opposed to Arenys de Mar, "sands by the sea") is a municipality in the ''comarca'' of the Maresme in Catalonia, Spain. It is situated i ...
on 13 September 2009. About 40% of eligible voters participated, of whom 96% voted for independence. In all, 552 towns held independence referendums between 2009 and 2011. These, together with demonstrations organised by Òmnium Cultural and the Assemblea Nacional Catalana
The Assemblea Nacional Catalana ("Catalan National Assembly"; ANC by its Catalan acronym) is an organization that seeks the political independence of Catalonia from Spain. It also promotes the independence of other Catalan-speaking regions, whic ...
(ANC), represented a "bottom-up" process by which society influenced the political movement for independence.[ At an institutional level, several municipalities of Catalonia came together to create the ]Association of Municipalities for Independence
The Association of Municipalities for Independence ( ca, Associació de Municipis per la Independència) is a Catalan organization of town councils and other administration entities created with the goal of achieving the independence of Catalonia ...
, an organisation officially established on 14 December 2011 in Vic
Vic (; es, Vic or Pancracio Celdrán (2004). Diccionario de topónimos españoles y sus gentilicios (5ª edición). Madrid: Espasa Calpe. p. 843. ISBN 978-84-670-3054-9. «Vic o Vich (viquense, vigitano, vigatán, ausense, ausetano, ausonense): ...
which brought local organisations together to further the national rights of Catalonia and promote its right to self-determination. The demonstration of 11 September 2012 explicitly called on the Catalan government to begin the process of secession. Immediately after it, Artur Mas
Artur Mas i Gavarró (; born 31 January 1956) is a Spanish politician from Catalonia. He was president of the Government of Catalonia from 2010 to 2015 and acting president from September 2015 to 12 January 2016.
Mas is a long time member of D ...
, whose CiU had regained power in 2010
File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...
, called a snap election
A snap election is an election that is called earlier than the one that has been scheduled.
Generally, a snap election in a parliamentary system (the dissolution of parliament) is called to capitalize on an unusual electoral opportunity or to ...
for 25 November 2012, and the parliament resolved that a referendum on independence would be held in the life of the next legislature.[Crameri (2014), p. 50] Although the CiU lost seats to the ERC, Mas remained in power.[
]
2014 Referendum
Mas and ERC leader Oriol Junqueras
Oriol Junqueras i Vies (; born 11 April 1969) is a Catalan politician and historian from Spain. A former mayor of the municipality of Sant Vicenç dels Horts in Catalonia, Junqueras served as Vice President of Catalonia from January 2016 to Oct ...
signed an agreement by which the ERC would support the CiU on sovereignty issues while on other matters it might oppose it. The two leaders drafted the Declaration of Sovereignty and of the Right to Decide of the Catalan People, which was adopted by the parliament at its first sitting in January 2013. The declaration stated that "the Catalan people have, for reasons of democratic legitimacy, the nature of a sovereign political and legal subject", and that the people had the right to decide their own political future.[
The Spanish government referred the declaration to the ]Spanish Constitutional Court
The Constitutional Court ( es, Tribunal Constitucional) is the supreme interpreter of the Spanish Constitution, with the power to determine the constitutionality of acts and statutes made by any public body, central, regional, or local in Spa ...
, which ruled in March 2014 that the declaration of sovereignty was unconstitutional. The court did not, however, reject the "right to decide", arguing that that right didn't necessarily imply sovereignty or self-determination.
On 11 September 2013, an estimated 1.6 million demonstrators formed a human chain, the Catalan Way, from the French border to the regional border with Valencia.
The following month, the CiU, the ERC, the ICV-EUiA and Candidatura d'Unitat Popular
The Popular Unity Candidacy ( ca, Candidatura d'Unitat Popular, , CUP) is a left-wing to far-left pro-Catalan independence political party active primarily in Catalonia, where it has political representation, but also in other autonomous communiti ...
(CUP) agreed to hold the independence referendum
An independence referendum is a type of referendum in which the residents of a territory decide whether the territory should become an Independence, independent sovereign state. An independence referendum that results in a vote for independence ...
on 9 November 2014, and that it would ask two questions: "Do you want Catalonia to become a State?" and (if yes) "Do you want this State to be independent?".[Guinjoan and Rodon (2016), p. 36] A further mass demonstration, the Catalan Way 2014, took place on 11 September 2014, when protesters wearing the Catalan colours of yellow and red filled two of Barcelona's avenues to form a giant "V", to call for a vote. Following the Constitutional Court's ruling, the Catalan government changed the vote to a "process of citizen participation" and announced that it would be supervised by volunteers. The Spanish government again appealed to the Constitutional Court, which suspended the process pending the appeal, but the vote went ahead. The result was an 81% vote for yes-yes, but the turnout was only 42%, which could be seen as a majority opposed to both independence and the referendum. Criminal charges were subsequently brought against Mas and others for defying the court order.
In June 2015 the CiU broke up as a result of disagreement between its constituent parties – Convergència Democràtica de Catalunya
The Democratic Convergence of Catalonia ( ca, Convergència Democràtica de Catalunya; , CDC), frequently shortened as Convergence ( ca, Convergència; ) was a Catalan nationalism, Catalan nationalist, liberalism, liberal List of political parties ...
(CDC) and Unió Democràtica de Catalunya
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) – over the independence process. Mas's CDC joined with the ERC and other groups to form Junts pel Sí
Junts pel Sí (; en, "Together for Yes", sometimes translated as "Together for the Yes"; JxSí) was a Catalan electoral, political and parliamentary alliance focused on achieving the independence of Catalonia from Spain. Established ahead of t ...
(Together for "Yes"), which announced that it would declare independence if it won the election scheduled for September. In the September election, Junts pel Sí and the CUP between them won a majority of seats, but fell short of a majority of votes, with just under 48%. On 9 November 2015, the parliament passed a resolution declaring the start of the independence process, proposed by Junts pel Sí and the CUP. In response, Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy
Mariano Rajoy Brey (; born 27 March 1955) is a Spanish politician who served as Prime Minister of Spain from 2011 to 2018, when a vote of no confidence ousted his government. On 5 June 2018, he announced his resignation as People's Party lead ...
said that the state would "use any available judicial and political mechanism contained in the constitution and in the laws to defend the sovereignty of the Spanish people and of the general interest of Spain", a hint that he would not stop at military intervention. Following prolonged negotiations between Junts pel Sí and the CUP, Mas was replaced as president by Carles Puigdemont
Carles Puigdemont i Casamajó (; born 29 December 1962) is a Catalan politician and journalist from Spain. Since 2019 he has served as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP). A former mayor of Girona, Puigdemont served as President of Catalo ...
in January 2016. Puigdemont, on taking the oath of office, omitted the oath of loyalty to the king and the Spanish constitution, the first Catalan president to do so.
Further pro-independence demonstrations took place in Barcelona in September 2015, and in Barcelona, Berga
Berga () is the capital of the ''comarca'' (county) of Berguedà, in the province of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. It is bordered by the municipalities of Cercs, Olvan, Avià, Capolat and Castellar del Riu.
History
Berga derives its name from ...
, Lleida
Lleida (, ; Spanish: Lérida ) is a city in the west of Catalonia, Spain. It is the capital city of the province of Lleida.
Geographically, it is located in the Catalan Central Depression. It is also the capital city of the Segrià comarca, as ...
, Salt, Girona, Salt and Tarragona in Go ahead, Catalan Republic, September 2016.
2017 Referendum, Declaration of Independence and new regional elections
In late September 2016, Puigdemont told the parliament that a 2017 Catalan independence referendum, binding referendum on independence would be held in the second half of September 2017, with or without the consent of the Spanish institutions. Puigdemont announced in June 2017 that the referendum would take place on 1 October, and that the question would be, "Do you want Catalonia to become an independent state in the form of a republic?" The Spanish government said in response, "that referendum will not take place because it is illegal."
A Law on the Referendum on Self-determination of Catalonia, law creating an independent republic—in the event that the referendum took place and there was a majority "yes" vote, without requiring a minimum turnout—was approved by the Parliament of Catalonia, Catalan parliament in a session on 6 September 2017. Opposition parties protested against the bill, calling it "a blow to democracy and a violation of the rights of the opposition", and staged a walkout before the vote was taken. On 7 September, the Catalan parliament passed a "Law of juridical transition and foundation of the Republic, transition law", to provide a legal framework pending the adoption of a new constitution, after similar protests and another walkout by opposition parties. The same day, 7 September, the Spanish Constitutional Court suspended the 6 September law while it considered an appeal from Mariano Rajoy, seeking a declaration that it was in breach of the Spanish constitution, meaning that the referendum could not legally go ahead on 1 October. The law was finally declared void on 17 October and is also illegal according to the Catalan Statutes of Autonomy which require a two-thirds majority in the Catalan parliament for any change to Catalonia's status.
The national government seized ballot papers and cell phones, threatened to fine people who manned polling stations up to €300,000, shut down web sites, and demanded that Google remove a voting location finder from the Android app store. Police were sent from the rest of Spain to suppress the vote and close polling locations, but parents scheduled events at schools (where polling places are located) over the weekend and vowed to occupy them to keep them open during the vote. Some election organizers were arrested, including Catalan cabinet officials, while demonstrations by local institutions and street protests grew larger.
The referendum took place on 1 October 2017, despite being suspended by the Constitutional Court, and despite the action of Spanish police to prevent voting in some centres. Images of violence from Spanish riot police beating Catalan voters shocked people and human rights organizations across the globe and resulted in hundreds of injured citizens according to Catalan government officials. Some foreign politicians, including the former Belgian Prime-Minister Charles Michel, condemned violence and called for dialogue. According to the Catalan authorities, 90% of voters supported independence, but turnout was only 43%, and there were reports of irregularities. On 10 October 2017, in the aftermath of the referendum, the President of the Generalitat of Catalonia, Carles Puigdemont
Carles Puigdemont i Casamajó (; born 29 December 1962) is a Catalan politician and journalist from Spain. Since 2019 he has served as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP). A former mayor of Girona, Puigdemont served as President of Catalo ...
, declared the independence of Catalonia but left it suspended. Puigdemont said during his appearance in the Catalan parliament that he assumes, in presenting the results of the referendum, "the people's mandate for Catalonia to become an independent state in the form of a republic", but proposed that in the following weeks the parliament "suspends the effect of the declaration of independence to engage in a dialogue to reach an agreed solution" with the Spanish Government.
On 25 October 2017, after the Spanish government had threatened to suspend the Catalan autonomy through article 155 of the Spanish constitution, the UN Independent expert on the promotion of a democratic and equitable international order, Alfred de Zayas, deplored the decision to suspend Catalan autonomy, stating "This action constitutes retrogression in human rights protection, incompatible with Articles 1, 19, 25 and 27 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). Pursuant to Articles 10(2) and 96 of the Spanish Constitution, international treaties constitute the law of the land and, therefore, Spanish law must be interpreted in conformity with international treaties."
On 27 October 2017 the Catalan Parliament voted in a secret ballot to approve a Declaration of Independence of Catalonia, resolution declaring independence from Spain by a vote of 70–10 in the absence of the constitutionalist deputies, who refused to participate in a vote considered illegal for violating the decisions of the Constitutional Court of Spain
The Constitutional Court ( es, Tribunal Constitucional) is the supreme interpreter of the Spanish Constitution, with the power to determine the constitutionality of acts and statutes made by any public body, central, regional, or local in Spa ...
.
As a result, the same day (27 October 2017) Article 155 of the Spanish constitution was triggered by the Spanish government; the Catalan government was dismissed and direct rule was imposed from the central government in Madrid.
Under direct rule from Spain, elections were held in Catalonia on 21 December 2017. The three pro-independence parties retained their control of parliament with a reduced majority of 70 seats and a combined 47.5% of valid votes cast. Ines Arrimadas' anti-independence Ciudadanos party was the most voted party with 25.4% of votes, the first time in Catalan history that a non-nationalist party won most votes and seats in an election. Parties which endorsed the suspension of autonomy by central government represented 43.5% of votes cast and parties which did not include independence in their electoral program amounted to 52.5% of the vote, notably Catcomu-Podem (7.5% of votes and 8 seats), which is opposed to independence but supports a legal referendum and denounced the suspension of autonomy. The excellent performance of the centre-right parties on both sides of the independence debate, Ciudadanos and Juntxcat, and the underperformance of all other parties (notably, left wing parties and the Partido Popular) were the most significant factor in this election result.
The trial of Catalonia independence leaders and October 2019 protests
In 2018 some of the independence leaders were sent to preventive detention without bail, accused of crimes of rebellion, disobedience, and misappropriation, misuse of public funds. Carles Puigdemont and four members of his cabinet fled into self-exile.
Twelve people were tried by the Supreme Court of Spain, including the previous vice president Oriol Junqueras
Oriol Junqueras i Vies (; born 11 April 1969) is a Catalan politician and historian from Spain. A former mayor of the municipality of Sant Vicenç dels Horts in Catalonia, Junqueras served as Vice President of Catalonia from January 2016 to Oct ...
of the regional government and most of the cabinet as well as political activists Jordi Sànchez and Jordi Cuixart and the former Speaker of the Parliament of Catalonia Carme Forcadell. The trial proceedings officially ended on 12 June 2019. A unanimous verdict by the seven judges that tried the case was made public on 14 October 2019. Nine of the 12 accused received prison sentences for the crimes of sedition; of them, four were also found guilty of Misappropriation, misuse of public funds. Their sentences ranged from 9 to 13 years. The remaining three accused were found guilty of disobedience and were sentenced to pay a fine but received no prison term. The court dismissed the charges of rebellion. Some of the defendants of the trial have expressed their intention to appeal to the Constitutional Court of Spain
The Constitutional Court ( es, Tribunal Constitucional) is the supreme interpreter of the Spanish Constitution, with the power to determine the constitutionality of acts and statutes made by any public body, central, regional, or local in Spa ...
and the European Court of Human Rights. The verdict delivered by the Supreme Court sparked 2019 Catalan protests, multiple protests across the region.
Clashes erupted into open violence, as protesters reacted violently at police efforts to end the demonstration, with some demonstrators setting cars on fire and throwing jars of acid at police officers. The Catalan Law Enforcement agency Mossos d'Esquadra, which had previously been accused of aiding the independence movement, replied by firing tear gas at the demonstrators. The pro-independence speaker of the Catalan Parliament condemned the violent incidents and called for peaceful protests against the ruling. The protests grew larger, as more and more Catalans took to the streets. Some demonstrators attempted to storm buildings belonging to the Spanish Government and clashed with police forces. The Spanish Police announced that 51 protesters had been arrested.
On 17 October, the pro-independence President of the Catalan Autonomous government, Quim Torra, called for an immediate halt to violence and disassociated himself from violent protesters, while at the same time calling for more peaceful protests. Nevertheless, the situation in Barcelona
Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...
had evolved into open street battles between protesters and police, as both violent demonstrators attacked and provoked police forces, and police officers charged peaceful protesters for their proximity to violent ones.
Several reports claim that the protests and subsequent riots had been infiltrated by Neo-Nazis who used the marches as an opportunity to incite violence.
Shortly thereafter, the Catalan President attempted to rally the crowd by stating that he will push for a new independence referendum as large scale protests continued for the fourth day.
On 18 October, Barcelona became paralyzed, as tens of thousands of peaceful protesters answered the Catalan President's call and rallied in support of the jailed independence leaders. The demonstration grew quickly, with the Barcelona police counting at least 525,000 protesters in the city.
By late 18 October, minor trade unions (Intersindical-CSC and ) linked to pro-independence movement called for a general strike. However, major trade unions (Unión General de Trabajadores, UGT and CCOO) did not endorse the event as well as representatives of the latter contested its very nature as "strike". Five peaceful marches converged on Barcelona's city center, essentially bringing the city to a halt. Protesters further blocked the road on the French-Spanish border. At least 20 other major roads were also blocked. Clashes nevertheless took place, with masked protesters confronting riot police by throwing stones and setting alight rubbish bins. 25,000 university students joined in the protest movement by declaring a peaceful student strike.
As a result of the strike, trains and metro lines saw a reduction to 33% of their usual capacity, while buses saw a reduction to 25-50% of their usual capacity. The roads to the French border remained blocked and all roads leading into Barcelona were also cut. 190 flights in and out of the city were cancelled as a result of the strike. Spanish car manufacturer SEAT further announced a halt in the production of its Martorell plant and most of Barcelona's tourist sites had been closed and occupied by pro-independence demonstrators waving ''Estelada'' independence flags and posters with pro-independence slogans. The El Clásico football match between FC Barcelona and Real Madrid CF was postponed due to the strike.
By the end of the day, just like the previous days, riots developed in the centre of Barcelona. Masked individuals blocked the boulevard close to the city's police headquarters in Via Laetana. Withdrawn to the vicinity of the Plaça Urquinaona, protesters erected barricades setting trash bins in fire and hurled rubble (debris from broken paving stones) and other solid objects at riot policemen. The riot units responded with Non-lethal weapon, non-lethal foam and rubber bullets, tear gas and smoke grenades. The Mossos used for the first time the water cannon trunk acquired in 1994 from Israel in order to make way across the barricades. The clashes spread to cities outside Barcelona, with Spain's acting interior minister stating that 207 policemen had been injured since the start of the protests, while also noting that 128 people had been arrested by the nation's police forces. Miquel Buch, the Catalan Interior Minister, responsible for public order, and a pro-independence politician, called the violence "unprecedented" and distanced himself from the violent events, instead calling for peaceful protests to continue.
On 19 October, following a fifth consecutive night of violence, Catalan President Quim Torra called for talks between the Catalan independence movement and the Spanish government, adding that violence had never been the "flag" of the independence movement. The head of the Spanish Government, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, refused to hold talks with the Catalan government, as it deemed the former had not condemned the violence strongly enough. He further categorically rejected the idea of discussing Catalan Independence, stating that it was impossible under Spanish law.
2021 election
In the 2021 Catalan regional election, 2021 regional election, which saw a low turnout due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Spain, COVID-19 pandemic, pro-independence parties won over 50% of the popular vote for the first time, and increased their representation in the parliament from 70 to 74 seats. In June 2021, the nine activists who had been jailed in 2019 were released, having been pardoned by King Felipe VI on the advice of Spanish prime minister Pedro Sánchez.
Support for independence
Recent Pro-independence vote evolution
Catalan regional elections, consultation and independence referendum
The parties explicitly campaigning for independence currently represented in the Parliament of Catalonia, Catalan Parliament are the Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya
The Republican Left of Catalonia ( ca, Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya, ERC; ; generically branded as ) is a pro-Catalan independence, social-democratic political party in the Spanish autonomous community of Catalonia, with a presence also in ...
(ERC); the Together for Catalonia (2020), Junts per Catalunya coalition (composed of National Call for the Republic, Crida Nacional per la República, Action for the Republic (Catalonia), Acció per la República, The Greens–Green Alternative, Els Verds–Alternativa Verda, and splinter elements from the Catalan European Democratic Party, PDeCAT); and the Popular Unity Candidates, Candidatura d'Unitat Popular (CUP). They obtained 33, 32 and 9 seats, respectively, in the 2021 Catalan regional election, 2021 regional election (a total of 74 out of 135 seats). Including those who won no seats, pro-independence parties had an overall share of 51.3% of the popular vote.
Other smaller pro-independence parties or coalitions, without present representation in any parliament, are PDeCAT (formerly called Democratic Convergence of Catalonia, CDC), Catalan Solidarity for Independence, Estat Català
Estat Català (, literally "Catalan State") is a pro-independence nationalist historical political party of Catalonia (Spain).
History
Estat Català is a historical pro-independence political party in Catalonia, Spain. It was founded by France ...
, Endavant, PSAN, Poble Lliure and Reagrupament. There are also youth organisations such as Young Republican Left of Catalonia, Arran (organization), Arran, and the student unions SEPC and FNEC.
Spanish general elections in Catalonia
Elections to the European Parliament in Catalonia
Unofficial consultations and referendums
Others
From around 2010, support for Catalan independence broadened from being the preserve of traditional left or far-left Catalan nationalism. Relevant examples are the neoliberalism, liberal economists Xavier Sala-i-Martín and Ramon Tremosa, Ramon Tremosa Balcells (elected deputy for CiU in the European parliament in the 2009 election), the lawyer and current FC Barcelona president Joan Laporta or the jurist and former member of the Consejo General del Poder Judicial Alfons López Tena.
The ''Cercle d'Estudis Sobiranistes'', a think tank led by the jurists Alfons López Tena and Hèctor López Bofill, was founded in 2007. It affiliated with Catalan Solidarity for Independence, Solidaritat Catalana per la Independència (Catalan Solidarity for Independence) in 2011.
At the beginning of 2021, Òmnium Cultural published
manifesto
to obtain amnesty for Catalan politicians persecuted by the Spanish justice system. Among the signatories are four Nobel Peace Prize winners and several world-renowned personalities such as Yoko Ono, Yoko Ono Lennon and Dilma Rousseff. The Nobel Peace Prize winners that signed the manifesto are: Jody Williams, Mairead Corrigan, Shirin Ebadi and Adolfo Pérez Esquivel.
Other individuals include:
* Joan Massagué, Catalan scientist, director of the Sloan-Kettering Institute, Sloan Kettering Institute.[Joan Massagué o Xavier Estivill, entre los 13 científicos que firman un manifiesto de apoyo a Junts pel Sí](_blank)
http://www.elmundo.es/cataluna/2015/09/22/5601340146163f72078b4578.html
* Pep Guardiola, Catalan football coach of Manchester City F.C., Manchester City FC, former football player and former coach for FC Barcelona and FC Bayern Munich.
* Jordi Galí, Catalan economist, director of the Center for Research in International Economics at Universitat Pompeu Fabra, UPF.
* Manel Esteller, Catalan scientist, director of the Cancer Epigenetics and Biology Program of the Bellvitge Institute for Biomedical Research and editor-in-chief of the peer-reviewed journal ''Epigenetics (journal), Epigenetics''.
* Lluís Llach, Catalan composer and songwriter
* Eduard Punset, Catalan politician, lawyer, economist, and science popularizer.
* Josep Carreras, Catalan tenor singer
* Sister Teresa Forcades, Catalan physician and Benedictine nun
* Pilar Rahola, Catalan journalist and writer.
* Miquel Calçada, Catalan journalist
* Joel Joan, Catalan actor
*Txarango, Catalan music band
*Xavi, Xavi Hernández, Catalan football coach of FC Barcelona, former football player and former coach for Al Sadd SC, Al-Sadd.
*Beth (singer), Beth, Catalan singer; she was a contestant at Eurovision Song Contest 2003
Opposition to independence
Political parties
All of the Spanish national political parties in Catalonia reject the idea of independence, except Catalunya en Comú–Podem, Catalonia In Common-We Can ''(Catalunya En Comú-Podem)'' which are pro-referendum but have remained neutral on the issue. Together they represent a minority of votes and a minority of seats in the Catalan parliament. Others such as Ciutadans, and the People's Party (Spain), People's Party of Catalonia, which had 25.4% and 4.2% of the vote respectively in the 2017 Catalan regional election, have always opposed the notion of Catalan self-determination. The Socialists' Party of Catalonia (13.9% of the vote) opposes independence as well. While some of its members supported the idea of a self-determination referendum up until 2012, the official position as of 2015 is that the Spanish Constitution should be reformed in order to better accommodate Catalonia. A slight majority of voters of left-wing platform Catalonia In Common-We Can (Catalunya En Comú-Podem) (8.94%) reject independence although the party favours a referendum in which it would campaign for Catalonia remaining part of Spain. CDC's Catalanist former-partner Democratic Union of Catalonia, Unió came out against independence and fared badly in every subsequent election, eventually disbanding due to bankruptcy in 2017.
Anti-independence movement
On 8 October 2017, Societat Civil Catalana held a 2017 demonstration against Catalan independence, rally against Catalan independence; the organisers claimed that over a million people attended, while the Barcelona police force estimated the number at about 300,000. To date this event is the largest pro-Constitution and anti-independence demonstration in the history of Catalonia.
On 12 October 2017, 65,000 people, according to the Barcelona police, marched against independence in a smaller demonstration marking the Fiesta Nacional de España, Spanish national day. The turnout was thirteen times more than the prior year and the highest on record in Barcelona's history for this event.
On 29 October 2017, hundreds of thousands of people demonstrated on the streets of Barcelona in favor of the unity of Spain and celebrating the Spanish government forcing 2017 Catalan regional election, new regional elections in December, in a demonstration called by Societat Civil Catalana. According to the Delegation of the Spanish government in Catalonia the turnout was of 1,000,000 people whereas according to the Barcelona police it was of 300,000 people. Societat Civil Catalana itself estimated the turnout at 1,000,000 people.
In 2017 the concept of 'Tabarnia' became popular on social media and received widespread media attention. Tabarnia is a fictional region covering urban coastal Catalonia demanding independence from the wider region, should it proceed with independence. Arguments in favor of Tabarnia satirically mirror those in favor of Catalan independence from Spain. Numerous separatists were critical of the concept and responded that the parody unfairly trivializes Catalonia's independence movement, which is based in part on Catalonia's distinct culture and identity. This proposal, from a platform created in 2011, was shown to map the electoral results of the Catalan regional election of 21 December 2017, which provoked renewed interest. The word 'Tabarnia' went viral on 26 December 2017, reaching worldwide top-trending status with over 648,000 mentions. The first major demonstration in favour of Tabarnia's autonomy from Catalonia took place in Barcelona on the 4th of February 2017, with 15,000 participants according to the Guàrdia Urbana de Barcelona, Guàrdia Urbana and 200,000 according to organizers.
In these years, different figures from Catalan culture and politics have spoken out against the process, like Joan Manuel Serrat, Josep Borrell, Isabel Coixet, Pau Gasol, Mercedes Milá, ''Estopa'', Montserrat Caballé or Núria Espert among others.
Other individuals
* , Catalan businessman, Chairman of Freixenet[Independenciómetro: famosos a favor o en contra del 'procés' catalán](_blank)
www.vanitatis.elconfidencial.com
* Inmobiliaria Colonial, Juan José Brugera, Catalan businessman, Chairman of Inmobiliaria Colonial
* , Catalan banker, Chairman of Caixabank
* , Catalan businessman, Chairman of Planeta Group
* , Catalan businessman, Chairman of Grupo Godó
* Antón Costas, Catalan businessman, Founder of pharmaceutical company Almirall
* Eduardo Mendoza Garriga, Catalan novelist
* Juan Marsé, Catalan novelist, journalist and screenwriter.
* Albert Boadella, Catalan actor, director and playwright
* Mercedes Milá, Catalan television presenter and journalist
* , Catalan presenter and journalist
* , Catalan presenter and journalist
* Montserrat Caballé, Catalan operatic soprano [
* Joan Manuel Serrat, Catalan musician, singer-songwriter, recording artist, and performer
* Estopa, Catalan rock/rumba duo ]
* Loquillo (singer), Loquillo, Catalan rock singer
* Miguel Poveda, Catalan flamenco singer
* Núria Espert, Catalan theatre and television actress, theatre and opera director
* Javier Cárdenas (presenter), Javier Cárdenas Catalan singer and television and radio presenter
* Isabel Coixet, Catalan film director
* Santi Millán, Catalan actor, showman and television presenter
* Risto Mejide, Catalan publicist, author, music producer, talent show judge, TV presenter and songwriter
* Susanna Griso, Catalan presenter and journalist
* Jorge Javier Vázquez, Catalan television presenter
* Dani Pedrosa, Catalan Grand Prix motorcycle racer
Opinion polling
This is a list of recent opinion polling on the subject. Most polls are conducted by the Centre d'Estudis d'Opinió, a research institute under the purview of the Catalan government, or the Institut de Ciencès Politiques i Socials, a part of the Autonomous University of Barcelona. However newspapers such as La Vanguardia or El Periódico de Catalunya, El Periodico also sometimes conduct polls on the subject.
Questions about a referendum are listed below if asked, however the ICPS also asked 'Do you want Catalunya to be an independent state or do you prefer to stay part of Spain?', where 'stay part of Spain' regularly performs ~10 points better than 'No' on the referendum question.
Long-term prospects
Under Spanish law, lawfully exiting Spain would require the Spanish parliament to amend the constitution. It may be difficult for an independent Catalonia to gain international recognition; for example, many countries fail to recognize Kosovo, despite Kosovo having a strong humanitarian claim to independence. Most of Catalonia's foreign exports go to the European Union; Catalonia would need Spain's permission if it wishes to eventually re-enter the EU following secession. Catalonia already runs its own police, schools, healthcare, transport, agriculture, environment policy, municipal governments; other institutions, such as a central bank and a revenue collection service, would have to be rebuilt, possibly losing existing economies of scale. Accounting measures vary, but the BBC and ''The Washington Post'' cite estimates that in 2014 Catalans may have paid about 10 billion Euros (or about US$12 billion) more in taxes to the State than what it received in exchange. As of 2014, an independent Catalonia would be the 34th largest economy in the world. Should Catalonia secede from Spain, some residents of Val d'Aran (population 10,000) have stated they might break away from Catalonia, although others state that the local identity has only been recognised by the Catalan Government, something the Spanish State never did.
Criticism
Opponents of Catalan independence have accused the movement of racism or elitism, and argue that the majority of the Catalan public does not support independence. In an op-ed for ''The Guardian'' Aurora Nacarino-Brabo and Jorge San Miguel Lobeto, two political scientists affiliated with the anti-independence Ciutadans Spanish nationalist party, disputed the claim that Catalonia has been oppressed or excluded from Spanish politics. They argued that the independence movement is "neither inclusive nor progressive", and criticised nationalists for excluding the Spanish speaking population of Catalonia, and resorting to what they argue are appeals to ethnicity. These criticisms of ethnic-based appeals and exclusion of Spanish speakers have been echoed by other politicians and public figures opposed to independence, such as former Spanish Prime Minister Felipe González, and the leader of Ciutadans in Catalonia Inés Arrimadas. Polls show that the wish for independence is positively correlated with having Catalonia-born parents and grandparents, families which also tend to fare better economically.
Statements by different key figures in the independence movement have sometimes contributed to this view. In 2013 Carme Forcadell, then president of the influential Assemblea Nacional Catalana
The Assemblea Nacional Catalana ("Catalan National Assembly"; ANC by its Catalan acronym) is an organization that seeks the political independence of Catalonia from Spain. It also promotes the independence of other Catalan-speaking regions, whic ...
and later president of the Parliament of Catalonia publicly declared that the Partido Popular and Citizens (Spanish political party), Citizens were not part of the 'Catalan people' and hence were 'enemies' to defeat. Former president of the Parliament of Catalonia Núria de Gispert has been involved in controversy over the years due to her Twitter, Tweets, including comparing members of those two parties with pigs to be exported, or for revealing the address of the school where Citizens' leader Albert Rivera's daughter studied. Quim Torra, who was appointed president of the regional parliament of Catalonia in 2018, was also involved in controversy regarding past tweets suggesting “Spaniards know only how to plunder” and describing them as having “a rough patch in their DNA”.
Members of the Catalan independence movement have strongly denied their movement is xenophobic or supremacist and define it as "an inclusive independence movement in which neither the origin nor the language are important". In addition, independence supporters usually allege most far-right and xenophobic groups in Catalonia support Spanish nationalism, and usually participate in unionist demonstrations.
On the part of the independence movement, the Committees for the Defense of the Republic, Comitès de Defensa de la República (Committees for the Defense of the Republic; CDR) were created and organised to hinder police action through passive resistance. In September 2019, seven members of the CDR, alleged to be a branch called "Equipos de Respuesta Técnica" (Tactical Response Teams), were arrested for terrorist offenses; they were said to have been found with explosive material and maps of official buildings. Three of them were released on bail in October 2019.
See also
*National and regional identity in Spain
*History of Catalonia
*2017–18 Spanish constitutional crisis
*List of active separatist movements in Europe
*Nation state
Notes
References
External links
"Catalonia Votes", website on self-determination referendum
set up by the 2015-2017 Catalan government.
* (A video based on an article in favour of Catalonia's independence by professor Xavier Sala-i-Martin from Columbia University.)
Article on New York Times, November 2, 2006
*
Article in The New York Times, June 19, 2006
Article in The New York Times, March 31, 2006
* .
*
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Catalan independence movement,