The ''Unió Catalanista'' (in English: ''Catalanist Union'') was a

Catalanist Catalan nationalism promotes the idea that the Catalan people form a distinct nation and national identity. A related term is Catalanism (, ), which is more related to regionalism and tends to have a wider meaning, most people who define themsel ...

political group, initially conservative, formed in

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of 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 c ...

in 1891, from the union of various Catalanist

trade unions A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

and associations that came into contact as a result of the resistance against Article 15 of the

Civil Code A civil code is a codification of private law relating to property law, property, family law, family, and law of obligations, obligations. A jurisdiction that has a civil code generally also has a code of civil procedure. In some jurisdiction ...

, which they considered to be an attack on Catalan civil law. In 1892 they promoted the meeting at which the

Bases de Manresa Bases may refer to: * Bases (fashion), a military style of dress adopted by the chivalry of the sixteenth century * Business Association of Stanford Entrepreneurial Students (BASES) *the plural form of base (disambiguation) *the plural form of ...

were approved. In 1893 it held a meeting in

Reus Reus () is the capital of Baix Camp, in Camp de Tarragona, Catalonia, Spain. The area has long been an important producer of wines and spirits, and gained continental significance during the time of the Phylloxera plague. Currently it is known f ...

, in 1894 in

Balaguer Balaguer () is the capital of the ''comarca'' of Noguera, in the province of Lleida, Catalonia, Spain. It is located by the river Segre, a tributary to the Ebro. The municipality includes an exclave to the east. Balaguer also has a sister city ...

and in 1895 in

Olot Olot (; ) is the capital city of the ''Catalonia/Comarques, comarca'' of Garrotxa, in the Province of Girona, Catalonia, Spain. The city is known for its natural landscape, including four volcanoes scattered around the city center. The municipali ...

. In 1897 it modified its

statutes A statute is a law or formal written enactment of a legislature. Statutes typically declare, command or prohibit something. Statutes are distinguished from court law and unwritten law (also known as common law) in that they are the expressed wil ...

and was joined by new associations, groups, newspapers and individuals. The leadership was divided into two sectors, one that was not very politicised, grouped around the newspaper '' La Renaixensa'', and the other more political, headed by

Enric Prat de la Riba Enric Prat de la Riba i Sarrà (; 29 November 1870 – 1 August 1917) was a Catalan politician, lawyer and writer. He was a member of the , where one of the earliest definitions of Catalan nationalism was formulated. He became the first Pr ...

. The latter, who advocated participation in the political system, split from the Unió in 1899 and created the Centre Nacional Català under the presidency of Narcís Verdaguer. The Centre Nacional Català merged with the Unió Regionalista to form the

Lliga Regionalista Regionalist League of Catalonia (, ; 1901–1936) was a right wing political party of Catalonia, Spain. It had a Catalanist, conservative, and monarchic ideology. Notable members of the party were Enric Prat de la Riba, Francesc Cambó, Agust ...

after its unitary candidacy known as the ''candidatura dels quatre presidents'' in 1901, when they were very successful in the

elections An election is a formal group decision-making process whereby a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operated ...

.Both groups, in fact, united on 25 April 1901 to form a new party: the

(Hernández Sánchez, 2000, p. 71), (Guereña, Morales y Muñoz, 2006, 108). The ''Unió Catalanista'' then called an assembly in

Terrassa Terrassa () is a city in central-eastern Catalonia and in the province of Barcelona (Spain). It is one of the two capitals of Vallès Occidental county, being the larger in both area and population. The name ''Terrassa'' derives from Latin ''Te ...

at which it decided to enter politics and ask for the economic agreement. In 1903, Domènec Martí i Julià, who steered the party to the left, became president. Martí left the presidency in 1906 but returned to it in 1914. In 1916, Martí proposed the dissolution of the organisation, which was not accepted and he left the group. From then on, the Unió went into a deep decline. In the 1932 regional elections it won a seat in the

Catalan parliament The Parliament of Catalonia (, ; ; ) is the unicameral legislature of the autonomous community of Catalonia. The Parliament is currently made up of 135 members, known as deputies (//), who are elected for four-year terms or after extraordinary ...

, in coalition with the

Republican Left of Catalonia The Republican Left of Catalonia (, 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 Valencia, the Balearic Islands and t ...

. It continued to exist until 1936, after the outbreak of the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

References

Bibliography

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External links

{{Commons Political parties in Catalonia Defunct political parties in Spain Second Spanish Republic Political parties established in 1891 Political parties disestablished in 1936