Òmnium Cultural () is a Catalan association based 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 ...
,
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 nort ...
. It was originally created in the 1960s to promote 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 ...
and spread Catalan culture.
Over the years it has increased its involvement in broader political issues; in 2012 it committed itself to
Catalan independence
The Catalan independence movement ( ca, independentisme català; Spanish: ''independentismo catalán'') is a social and political movement (with roots in Catalan nationalism) which seeks the independence of Catalonia from Spain.
The beginning ...
, specifically demanding the right of
self-determination for Catalonia. Leaders of the abortive
Catalan independence referendum such as
Jordi Cuixart were simultaneously holding leadership positions at Òmnium.
Currently Òmnium claims more than 190,000 members organised in 52 regional offices besides the headquarters in Barcelona.
History
Òmnium Cultural was created on 11 July 1961 in the context of
Francoist Spain
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 ...
when the institutional use of Catalan was forbidden. In 1963 the Francoist authorities closed down the association. Òmnium had to continue to exist as a clandestine association between 1963–1967. In 1967, after a long
legal case
A legal case is in a general sense a dispute between opposing parties which may be resolved by a court, or by some equivalent legal process. A legal case is typically based on either civil or criminal law. In most legal cases there are one or mo ...
before the Francoist courts, the association won its right to exist and was once again authorised.
In order to promote Catalan culture within the many limits of Francoism, Òmnium was the main creator and sponsor of various
award
An award, sometimes called a distinction, is something given to a recipient as a token of recognition of excellence in a certain field. When the token is a medal, ribbon or other item designed for wearing, it is known as a decoration.
An awar ...
s and
literary contests for works published in Catalan, such as the ''Premi d'Honor de les Lletres Catalanes'' (1969). In the early 1970s it established the ''Nit de Santa Llúcia'' a festival of
Catalan literature
Catalan literature is the name conventionally used to refer to literature written in the Catalan language. The focus of this article is not just the literature of Catalonia, but literature written in Catalan from anywhere, so that it includes writ ...
where three prizes are awarded: the ''Premi Sant Jordi'' (
novel), the ''Premi
Mercè Rodoreda'' (
short story
A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest ...
) and the ''Premi Carles Riba'' (poetry).
After the Francoist dictatorship ended in 1975, Òmnium continued its work promoting Catalan language and culture. Once democracy was restored, Òmnium supported and defended Catalan self-government.
It was awarded the
Creu de Sant Jordi
The Creu de Sant Jordi (, in English ' St George's Cross') is one of the highest civil distinctions awarded in Catalonia (Spain), surpassed only in protocol by the Gold Medal of the Generalitat de Catalunya. It was established by the Generalit ...
by the
Catalan government
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 ...
(Generalitat) in 1984 and named a
public interest
The public interest is "the welfare or well-being of the general public" and society.
Overview
Economist Lok Sang Ho in his ''Public Policy and the Public Interest'' argues that the public interest must be assessed impartially and, therefor ...
body in 2009.
After the Spanish Constitutional Court's rejection of the new
Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia
The Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006 ( ca, Estatut d’Autonomia de Catalunya) provides Catalonia's basic institutional regulations under the Spanish Constitution of 1978. It defines the rights and obligations of the citizens of Cataloni ...
in 2010, one million people marched in Barcelona calling for national self-determination in a
2010 Catalan autonomy protest
The 2010 Catalan autonomy protest was a demonstration in central Barcelona on 10 July 2010 against limitations of the autonomy of Catalonia, and particularly against a recent decision of the Spanish Constitutional Court to annul or reinterpret ...
organised by Òmnium.
In December 2015,
Jordi Cuixart was elected president by a large majority. He was then re-elected in 2018. During Cuixart's arrest, the most visible member of the association was its spokesman
Marcel Mauri.
In 2022
Xavier Antich won the presidency with the 21,758 votes cast in an election where Antich was the sole candidate.
Òmnium was one of the main organisations, together with
Assemblea Nacional Catalana, supporting the
Catalan self-determination referendum in 2017. After
Operation Anubis, both the president of Òmnium, Jordi Cuixart, and the president of ANC,
Jordi Sànchez, were sent to jail. Since then, several organizations including
Amnesty International, the
,
PEN International
PEN International (known as International PEN until 2010) is a worldwide association of writers, founded in London in 1921 to promote friendship and intellectual co-operation among writers everywhere. The association has autonomous Internatio ...
, the
World Organisation Against Torture
The World Organisation Against Torture (''Organisation Mondiale Contre la Torture''; OMCT) is the world's largest coalition of non-governmental organisations fighting against arbitrary detention, torture, summary and extrajudicial executions, ...
,
Front Line Defenders and the
International Association of Democratic Lawyers International Association of Democratic Lawyers (IADL) is an international organization of left-wing and progressive jurists' associations with sections and members in 50 countries and territories. Along with facilitating contact and exchange of vi ...
have asked for their release.
Structure and funding
Òmnium Cultural is one of the biggest organizations in Catalonia, claiming more than 190,000 members.
It is based in Barcelona with regional offices in 52 other municipalities.
Òmnium Cultural cooperates with other organizations that share similar goals in other
Catalan-speaking territories:
Acció Cultural del País Valencià (in the
Valencian Country
The Valencian Community ( ca-valencia, Comunitat Valenciana, es, Comunidad Valenciana) is an autonomous community of Spain. It is the fourth most populous Spanish autonomous community after Andalusia, Catalonia and the Community of Madrid ...
) and
Obra Cultural Balear (in the
Balearic Islands).
Between 2005 and 2012, the association received up to 13 million euros in grants from the
Catalan regional government (Generalitat). from which 1.4 million were received in 2012 alone. In all, in the 2011–2016 period Òmnium could have received more than 20 million euros from the Generalitat (2.9m euros in 2011, 3.2m euros in 2012, 4.5m euros in 2013, 6.6m euros in 2014, 5.6m euros in 2015 and 4.4m euros in 2016).
In 2013 the association announced that it would no longer receive funding from the Catalan government, but the organization does not publish its accounts. In 2016, different local authorities gave grants to Òmnium, basically for local cultural activities, for a value of €144,404.12, out of a total income in 2016 of €4.4 million.
According to the Spanish
Civil Guard in 2018, 98% of Òmnium Cultural's budget came from private contributions and it did not receive funding from the Catalan government in relation to the
2017 independence referendum.
In November 2015 Òmnium was condemned by the
Audiencia Nacional
The Audiencia Nacional (; en, National Court) is a centralised court in Spain with jurisdiction over all of the Spanish territory. It is specialised in a certain scope of delinquency, having original jurisdiction over major crimes such as those ...
for the unauthorised use and deficient custody of
personal data, after its data had been stolen by a hacker. This led to a €200,000 sanction imposed by the Spanish agency responsible for
data protection
Information privacy is the relationship between the collection and dissemination of data, technology, the public expectation of privacy, contextual information norms, and the legal and political issues surrounding them. It is also known as data pr ...
.
See also
*
2010 Catalan autonomy protest
The 2010 Catalan autonomy protest was a demonstration in central Barcelona on 10 July 2010 against limitations of the autonomy of Catalonia, and particularly against a recent decision of the Spanish Constitutional Court to annul or reinterpret ...
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Omnium Cultural
Catalan advocacy organizations
Catalan culture
Cultural promotion organizations
Organizations established in 1961
1961 establishments in Spain
Catalan nationalism
Catalan independence movement