Politics of Catalonia
Encyclopedia
Catalonia
is a Spanish autonomous community with a high-level of self-government. Politics of Catalonia are primarily related to the autonomous Parliament of Catalonia
and the Generalitat
institutional system.
Catalan politics also influences Spanish politics as a whole due to the presence of Catalan nationalist parties in the Spanish Parliament, whose political support is often required by any given winner of the Spanish general elections to form majorities. Catalan politics is also noted, to a lesser extent, for the influence exerted by the Catalan Socialist Party on its sister major party, the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party
(PSOE).
. During these years, the struggle between the Barcelonan conservative industrial bourgeoisie and the working class dominated Catalan politics, as it did elsewhere in Europe during the industrialisation process. In Catalonia this situation was nuanced by the fact that immigrants from the rest of the Spain were an increasing portion of the workers, since the local workforce was not enough to cover the demands of a rising economy.
Catalan nationalist and federalist movements arose in the nineteenth century, and when the Second Republic was declared in 1931, Catalonia became an autonomous region. Following the fall of the Second Republic after the Spanish Civil War of 1936–39, the dictatorship of General Francisco Franco
annulled Catalonia's autonomy statute and prohibited any public usage, official promotion or recognition of the Catalan language
. Its private everyday use was never officially proscribed by law but diminished because of the political situation, mostly in the major urban nuclei. During the last decade of Franco's rule, there was a resurgence of nationalist sentiment in Catalonia and other 'historic' regions of Spain such as the Basque country
.
, Catalonia regained its autonomous status and became one of the autonomous communities within Spain. The Catalan conservative nationalist leader Jordi Pujol came to power in the first regional elections in 1980 and his two-party coalition, Convergence and Unity (Convergència i Unió, CiU), won successive regional elections by absolute majority for 19 years and ruled the Generalitat for 23 consecutive years.
CiU's hegemony was in spite of the major cities (including Barcelona
's) having been controlled by its main rival party, PSC. It was also in spite of what has been defined as the "dual vote". This refers to the fact that elections results in Catalonia consistently vary depending on the elections type. Thus, elections for the Catalan regional Parliament have been historically won by the conservative nationalist CiU (this trend keeps in place, even though CiU lost the absolute majority in recent times). However, the social democrat non-nationalist PSC has been, and continues to be, the winner of elections for the Spanish Parliament. This has been explained because of the abstention to the regional elections of those voters less concerned with identity questions, and the correspondent high turn out amongst more locally motivated nationalist voters. In addition to this, studies have shown that a number of voters consciously swing their votes from CiU to PSOE, depending on the type of election
Following the 1996 national elections in Spain, Pujol surprised many by lending CiU's support in the Cortes Generales
to the minority government of the People's Party
(Partido Popular, PP). After having served more than 15 years ruling the autonomous community of Catalonia led by Jordi Pujol, CiU had become eroded while the Party of Catalan Socialists (Partit dels Socialistes de Catalunya, PSC), a sister-party of Spain's main social democrat party (Partido Socialista Obrero Español
, PSOE), began to enjoy electoral popularity also in the Catalan elections context. This trend culminated in the 2003 elections which saw CiU ousted from the government for the first time in 20 years by means of a tripartite left-wing coalition.
When it comes to the nationalist question, one of the 'fault-lines' in contemporary Catalan politics arises from the fact that Barcelona, with its strong metropolitan economy, continues to attract migrants from all over the world. This contemporary layer of immigration is prone to speak Spanish over Catalan and adds to second and third generation Catalans whose families arrived from other parts of Spain during the 20th century in order to cover the needs of industrial workers which the Catalan economy demanded to prosper; from the latter, some have become proficient in Catalan, others have not.
On the other side, Catalan remains the predominant language in middle-class and upper-class urban areas, as well as in the region's rural and small cities population. All in all, Spanish remains the language spoken by a significant portion of Catalans, particularly in working-class areas. For Catalan nationalists this is perceived, in the worst case, as a threat, in the best case, as a challenge to be confronted, because Catalan nationalism is centered on language rather than ethnicity.
In any case, Catalan has undoubtedly experienced a spectacular revival since the death of Franco, it has become the language of the Generalitat
and enjoys a prominence and widespread use. But the dominant presence in some areas of Spanish-speakers keeps blocking the Catalan nationalist desire of making Catalan language use universal or exclusive.
("Free Land" or "Free Fatherland"), which was defined as a terrorist
group by the United States and the European Union, was founded in 1978 as the armed organisation of the Catalan Movement of National Liberation or MCAN, a wide movement seeking independence and socialism for Catalonia and the whole Catalan speaking domain, including Valencia
, the Balearic Islands
and Northern Catalonia
(in Southern France), what is also known as the Catalan Countries
.
It began an armed campaign, consisting of hundreds of bombings which was brought to an end by harsh police operations in 1992. 4 of its members were killed in action and it accidentally caused an innocent victim in one of its bombings. Organisations such as the Movement in Defense of the Fatherland (MDT
) provided political support, with mass demonstrations and representatives in some town councils, but during the 1990s the political wing too lost support, resulting in several years of political weakness, which gave way to a revival towards the end of the century.
Despite its similarities, the activities of Terra Lliure
and the MCAN have not reached the strength and notoriety of ETA
and the basque pro-independence movement.
became President of the Generalitat
by means of a left-wing tripartite coalition. Maragall's socialists kept being the main opposition party, but actually lost seats: the bigger winners were the independentist
Republican Left of Catalonia (Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya
(ERC), and the ecosocialists. Since CiU did not win an absolute majority, the combined forces of all three left parties allowed the change in government. While PSC maintained the post of President of the Generalitat (Maragall), ERC nominated the conseller primer (prime minister) — Josep-Lluís Carod-Rovira
and, later on, Josep Bargalló i Valls
.
This first tripartite rule became an uneasy coalition due to tensions between the PSC and ERC and internal tensions between PSC and PSOE as well. The evidence of such an uneasy relationship was the controversial forging of the amendment to the Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia
.
The 2006 regional election
saw Convergència i Unió (CiU) increasing its numbers, while both the PSC and ERC lost seats, but still was not enough of an increase for CiU to block the formation of a second left-wing tripartite coalition (PSC+ERC+ICV), again led by PSC's, this time being José Montilla Aguilera the President of the Generalitat. Also this election saw a newly created party Ciutadans - Partido de la Ciudadanía entering the regional Parliament.
The new century has also seen a revival of the Esquerra Independentista (pro-independence left), which has again regained some of its strength after the end of Terra Lliure
in 1995. Its Popular Unity Candidancies Candidatures d'Unitat Popular have done well in the municipal elections of 2007, gaining over 20 town council members.
and the Basque Country
, Catalonia lacks its own tax system; thus the economic financing of the regional administration depends almost entirely on funds raised by national-government taxation and budgeted to Catalonia. This became a mainstream issue at the time of amending the Catalan Statute of Autonomy. From an economic perspective, the regional government aims to achieve a high degree of fiscal autonomy (based on the argument that the region pays in more to the national Spanish coffers than it receives, thus overlooking the "solidarity between regions" enshrined by the Spanish Constitution of 1978
).
There was a significant political controversy as a result of the Catalan parliament's proposed draft of a replacement Autonomy Statute which sought to define Catalonia as a 'nation
'. Article 2 of the 1978 Spanish Constitution
states that the constitution "is based in the indissoluble unity of the Spanish Nation (Nación)" while also referring to the "right to autonomy of the nationalities
and region
s (nacionalidades y regiones)". These nationalities and regions are left unnamed in the Constitution. The controversy centered on whether referring to any Autonomous Community of Spain as a "nation" may go against Article 2 and whether the Catalan claim to be a nación rather than a nacionalidad had separatist
overtones subversive of the "indissoluble unity" of Spain. There was also a high degree of controversy about the control of all taxes, and a parallel judicial system. In the end, and after much controversy, a watered-down version was passed, although the political debate lingers on.
It would be difficult to understand the current politics of Catalonia without the issue of independence
or self-determination
. The law does not recognize a "right of self-determination" in spite of a politically relevant pro independence movement in Catalonia. According to the governmental Sociology Studies Center (CIS) CIS official poll in 2001 there were 33.9% of Catalans in favor of an independent Catalonia, 48.1% against, 13.3 undecided and 2.8% did not answer. If the individual was Catalan speaker and was less than 44 years of age then 75% was in favor of independence. CIS has not repeated this poll to date.
Conversely, factors such as public indifference at the time of voting the amendment of the Statute of Autonomy
(see "dual vote" section above) starkly contrasted with the harsh political controversy behind its amendment. Besides, the advent in the 2006 regional elections of a new party whose main ideology is countering Catalan nationalism, Ciutadans - Partido de la Ciudadanía, all make the independence issue a far from univocal question.
In 2007 a poll indicated that, when asked about the relationship between Catalonia and Spain, 59.5% of respondents thought that Catalonia should be an autonomous community within Spain (the current situation), 17.5% considered that Catalonia should be a state within a federal state and only 13.5% believed that Catalonia should be an independent state separate from Spain. The rest of respondents gave other answers, with a sizable minority of 5.5% saying that Catalonia should be a region within Spain, which would mean less self-government.
Voters: 5.230.886
Voting: 3.135.764 59.95%
Invalid votes: 21.727 0.69%
Valid votes: 3.114.037 99.31%
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Party Votes % Seats
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Convergència i Unió 1,198,010 38.46 (+6.93) 62 (+14)
Partit dels Socialistes de Catalunya 570,361 18.32 (−8.49) 28 (−9)
Partit Popular 384,019 12.33 (+1.69) 18 (−4)
Iniciativa Verds-Esquerra Alternativa 229,985 7.39 (-2.16) 10 (-2)
Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya 218,046 7.00 (−7.06) 10 (−11)
Solidaritat Catalana per la Independència 102.197 3.28 (+3.28) 4 (+4)
Ciutadans – Partido de la Ciudadanía 105,827 3.40 (+0.36) 3 (=)
Others –
Blank 92.331 2.94 –
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total 3.135.764 135
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Catalonia
Catalonia is an autonomous community in northeastern Spain, with the official status of a "nationality" of Spain. Catalonia comprises four provinces: Barcelona, Girona, Lleida, and Tarragona. Its capital and largest city is Barcelona. Catalonia covers an area of 32,114 km² and has an...
is a Spanish autonomous community with a high-level of self-government. Politics of Catalonia are primarily related to the autonomous Parliament of Catalonia
Parliament of Catalonia
The Parliament of Catalonia is the unicameral legislature of Catalonia. It is formed by 135 members , who are elected every four years in ordinary period, or extraordinarily upon dissolution and call of elections by the President of Catalonia, by universal suffrage in proportional lists with four...
and the Generalitat
Generalitat
Generalitat is the name of the autonomous systems of government of two of the present Spanish autonomous communities: Catalonia and the Valencian Community. The term is also used for the government of the semi-autonomous comarca of Val d'Aran, the Generalitat a l'Aran.Generalitat refers to all...
institutional system.
Catalan politics also influences Spanish politics as a whole due to the presence of Catalan nationalist parties in the Spanish Parliament, whose political support is often required by any given winner of the Spanish general elections to form majorities. Catalan politics is also noted, to a lesser extent, for the influence exerted by the Catalan Socialist Party on its sister major party, the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party
Spanish Socialist Workers' Party
The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party is a social-democratic political party in Spain. Its political position is Centre-left. The PSOE is the former ruling party of Spain, until beaten in the elections of November 2011 and the second oldest, exceeded only by the Partido Carlista, founded in...
(PSOE).
19th and 20th centuries
During the 19th and 20th centuries, Catalonia was one of the main centres of Spanish industrialisationIndustrialisation
Industrialization is the process of social and economic change that transforms a human group from an agrarian society into an industrial one...
. During these years, the struggle between the Barcelonan conservative industrial bourgeoisie and the working class dominated Catalan politics, as it did elsewhere in Europe during the industrialisation process. In Catalonia this situation was nuanced by the fact that immigrants from the rest of the Spain were an increasing portion of the workers, since the local workforce was not enough to cover the demands of a rising economy.
Catalan nationalist and federalist movements arose in the nineteenth century, and when the Second Republic was declared in 1931, Catalonia became an autonomous region. Following the fall of the Second Republic after the Spanish Civil War of 1936–39, the dictatorship of General Francisco Franco
Francisco Franco
Francisco Franco y Bahamonde was a Spanish general, dictator and head of state of Spain from October 1936 , and de facto regent of the nominally restored Kingdom of Spain from 1947 until his death in November, 1975...
annulled Catalonia's autonomy statute and prohibited any public usage, official promotion or recognition of the Catalan language
Catalan language
Catalan is a Romance language, the national and only official language of Andorra and a co-official language in the Spanish autonomous communities of Catalonia, the Balearic Islands and Valencian Community, where it is known as Valencian , as well as in the city of Alghero, on the Italian island...
. Its private everyday use was never officially proscribed by law but diminished because of the political situation, mostly in the major urban nuclei. During the last decade of Franco's rule, there was a resurgence of nationalist sentiment in Catalonia and other 'historic' regions of Spain such as the Basque country
Basque Country (historical territory)
The Basque Country is the name given to the home of the Basque people in the western Pyrenees that spans the border between France and Spain on the Atlantic coast....
.
"Dual vote" and current affairs
Following Franco's death in 1975 and the restoration of democracy by 1978Spanish transition to democracy
The Spanish transition to democracy was the era when Spain moved from the dictatorship of Francisco Franco to a liberal democratic state. The transition is usually said to have begun with Franco’s death on 20 November 1975, while its completion has been variously said to be marked by the Spanish...
, Catalonia regained its autonomous status and became one of the autonomous communities within Spain. The Catalan conservative nationalist leader Jordi Pujol came to power in the first regional elections in 1980 and his two-party coalition, Convergence and Unity (Convergència i Unió, CiU), won successive regional elections by absolute majority for 19 years and ruled the Generalitat for 23 consecutive years.
CiU's hegemony was in spite of the major cities (including Barcelona
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
's) having been controlled by its main rival party, PSC. It was also in spite of what has been defined as the "dual vote". This refers to the fact that elections results in Catalonia consistently vary depending on the elections type. Thus, elections for the Catalan regional Parliament have been historically won by the conservative nationalist CiU (this trend keeps in place, even though CiU lost the absolute majority in recent times). However, the social democrat non-nationalist PSC has been, and continues to be, the winner of elections for the Spanish Parliament. This has been explained because of the abstention to the regional elections of those voters less concerned with identity questions, and the correspondent high turn out amongst more locally motivated nationalist voters. In addition to this, studies have shown that a number of voters consciously swing their votes from CiU to PSOE, depending on the type of election
Following the 1996 national elections in Spain, Pujol surprised many by lending CiU's support in the Cortes Generales
Cortes Generales
The Cortes Generales is the legislature of Spain. It is a bicameral parliament, composed of the Congress of Deputies and the Senate . The Cortes has power to enact any law and to amend the constitution...
to the minority government of the People's Party
People's Party (Spain)
The People's Party is a conservative political party in Spain.The People's Party was a re-foundation in 1989 of the People's Alliance , a party led and founded by Manuel Fraga Iribarne, a former Minister of Tourism during Francisco Franco's dictatorship...
(Partido Popular, PP). After having served more than 15 years ruling the autonomous community of Catalonia led by Jordi Pujol, CiU had become eroded while the Party of Catalan Socialists (Partit dels Socialistes de Catalunya, PSC), a sister-party of Spain's main social democrat party (Partido Socialista Obrero Español
Spanish Socialist Workers' Party
The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party is a social-democratic political party in Spain. Its political position is Centre-left. The PSOE is the former ruling party of Spain, until beaten in the elections of November 2011 and the second oldest, exceeded only by the Partido Carlista, founded in...
, PSOE), began to enjoy electoral popularity also in the Catalan elections context. This trend culminated in the 2003 elections which saw CiU ousted from the government for the first time in 20 years by means of a tripartite left-wing coalition.
When it comes to the nationalist question, one of the 'fault-lines' in contemporary Catalan politics arises from the fact that Barcelona, with its strong metropolitan economy, continues to attract migrants from all over the world. This contemporary layer of immigration is prone to speak Spanish over Catalan and adds to second and third generation Catalans whose families arrived from other parts of Spain during the 20th century in order to cover the needs of industrial workers which the Catalan economy demanded to prosper; from the latter, some have become proficient in Catalan, others have not.
On the other side, Catalan remains the predominant language in middle-class and upper-class urban areas, as well as in the region's rural and small cities population. All in all, Spanish remains the language spoken by a significant portion of Catalans, particularly in working-class areas. For Catalan nationalists this is perceived, in the worst case, as a threat, in the best case, as a challenge to be confronted, because Catalan nationalism is centered on language rather than ethnicity.
In any case, Catalan has undoubtedly experienced a spectacular revival since the death of Franco, it has become the language of the Generalitat
Generalitat
Generalitat is the name of the autonomous systems of government of two of the present Spanish autonomous communities: Catalonia and the Valencian Community. The term is also used for the government of the semi-autonomous comarca of Val d'Aran, the Generalitat a l'Aran.Generalitat refers to all...
and enjoys a prominence and widespread use. But the dominant presence in some areas of Spanish-speakers keeps blocking the Catalan nationalist desire of making Catalan language use universal or exclusive.
Terra Lliure
Terra LliureTerra Lliure
Terra Lliure , sometimes referred to as TLL, was an armed Catalan nationalist and left-wing separatist organisation. Formed in 1978, with the goal of establishing an independent Marxist state in the so-called Catalan Countries, the group carried out dozens of attacks that left many people injured...
("Free Land" or "Free Fatherland"), which was defined as a terrorist
Terrorism
Terrorism is the systematic use of terror, especially as a means of coercion. In the international community, however, terrorism has no universally agreed, legally binding, criminal law definition...
group by the United States and the European Union, was founded in 1978 as the armed organisation of the Catalan Movement of National Liberation or MCAN, a wide movement seeking independence and socialism for Catalonia and the whole Catalan speaking domain, including Valencia
Valencian Community
The Valencian Community is an autonomous community of Spain located in central and south-eastern Iberian Peninsula. Its capital and largest city is Valencia...
, the Balearic Islands
Balearic Islands
The Balearic Islands are an archipelago of Spain in the western Mediterranean Sea, near the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula.The four largest islands are: Majorca, Minorca, Ibiza and Formentera. The archipelago forms an autonomous community and a province of Spain with Palma as the capital...
and Northern Catalonia
Northern Catalonia
Northern Catalonia is a term that is sometimes used, particularly in Catalan writings, to refer to the territory ceded to France by Spain through the signing of the Treaty of the Pyrenees in 1659...
(in Southern France), what is also known as the Catalan Countries
Catalan Countries
The Catalan term Països Catalans refers to the territories where the Catalan language is spoken.The first mentions of the term date back to the late 19th century, but it never surpassed the limits of a small circle of Catalan authors until its strictly cultural dimension became increasingly...
.
It began an armed campaign, consisting of hundreds of bombings which was brought to an end by harsh police operations in 1992. 4 of its members were killed in action and it accidentally caused an innocent victim in one of its bombings. Organisations such as the Movement in Defense of the Fatherland (MDT
MDT
MDT may refer to:* Autodesk Mechanical Desktop, AutoCAD® software for manufacturing, purpose-built to accelerate the mechanical design process.* Maggot Debridement Therapy, usage of live maggots to clean wounds with necrotic tissue...
) provided political support, with mass demonstrations and representatives in some town councils, but during the 1990s the political wing too lost support, resulting in several years of political weakness, which gave way to a revival towards the end of the century.
Despite its similarities, the activities of Terra Lliure
Terra Lliure
Terra Lliure , sometimes referred to as TLL, was an armed Catalan nationalist and left-wing separatist organisation. Formed in 1978, with the goal of establishing an independent Marxist state in the so-called Catalan Countries, the group carried out dozens of attacks that left many people injured...
and the MCAN have not reached the strength and notoriety of ETA
ETA
ETA , an acronym for Euskadi Ta Askatasuna is an armed Basque nationalist and separatist organization. The group was founded in 1959 and has since evolved from a group promoting traditional Basque culture to a paramilitary group with the goal of gaining independence for the Greater Basque Country...
and the basque pro-independence movement.
During the 21st century
At the 2003 regional elections (for which Pujol did not run) CiU could not renew its absolute majority and PSC's Pasqual Maragall i MiraPasqual Maragall i Mira
Pasqual Maragall i Mira is a Catalan politician and was the 127th President of Generalitat de Catalunya . He had previously been Mayor of Barcelona, from 1982 to 1997, and helped run the city's successful Olympic bid....
became President of the Generalitat
Generalitat de Catalunya
The Generalitat of Catalonia is the institution under which the autonomous community of Catalonia is politically organised. It consists of the Parliament, the President of the Generalitat of Catalonia and the Government of Catalonia....
by means of a left-wing tripartite coalition. Maragall's socialists kept being the main opposition party, but actually lost seats: the bigger winners were the independentist
Catalan independentism
Catalan independentism is a political movement, derived from Catalan nationalism, which supports the independence of Catalonia or the so-called Catalan countries from Spain and France...
Republican Left of Catalonia (Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya
Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya
The Republican Left of Catalonia is a left wing Catalan independentist political party in Spain. It is also the main sponsor of the independence movement from France and Spain in the territories known among Catalan nationalists as Països Catalans...
(ERC), and the ecosocialists. Since CiU did not win an absolute majority, the combined forces of all three left parties allowed the change in government. While PSC maintained the post of President of the Generalitat (Maragall), ERC nominated the conseller primer (prime minister) — Josep-Lluís Carod-Rovira
Josep-Lluís Carod-Rovira
Josep-Lluís Carod-Rovira was the Vice-president of the Catalan Government from 2006 to 2010. From 1996 to 2008 he was the leader of ERC Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya ....
and, later on, Josep Bargalló i Valls
Josep Bargalló i Valls
Josep Bargalló i Valls is a Spanish Catalan philologist. He is currently the manager of both the cultural institutions Ramon Llull Foundation and Ramon Llull Institute. Formerly, he pursued a political career as a member of Republican Left of Catalonia.-Life overview:He graduated in Catalan...
.
This first tripartite rule became an uneasy coalition due to tensions between the PSC and ERC and internal tensions between PSC and PSOE as well. The evidence of such an uneasy relationship was the controversial forging of the amendment to the Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia
Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia
The Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia provides Catalonia's basic institutional regulations. It defines the rights and obligations of the citizens of Catalonia , the political institutions of the Catalan nationality, their competences and relations with the rest of Spain, and the financing of the...
.
The 2006 regional election
Catalan Parliament election, 2006
Elections to the Parliament of the Autonomous Community of Catalonia, Spain, were held on November 1, 2006.-Background:The November 2006 Catalan parliament election was an early one...
saw Convergència i Unió (CiU) increasing its numbers, while both the PSC and ERC lost seats, but still was not enough of an increase for CiU to block the formation of a second left-wing tripartite coalition (PSC+ERC+ICV), again led by PSC's, this time being José Montilla Aguilera the President of the Generalitat. Also this election saw a newly created party Ciutadans - Partido de la Ciudadanía entering the regional Parliament.
The new century has also seen a revival of the Esquerra Independentista (pro-independence left), which has again regained some of its strength after the end of Terra Lliure
Terra Lliure
Terra Lliure , sometimes referred to as TLL, was an armed Catalan nationalist and left-wing separatist organisation. Formed in 1978, with the goal of establishing an independent Marxist state in the so-called Catalan Countries, the group carried out dozens of attacks that left many people injured...
in 1995. Its Popular Unity Candidancies Candidatures d'Unitat Popular have done well in the municipal elections of 2007, gaining over 20 town council members.
The amendment to the Statute and current political issues
Unlike the autonomous communities of NavarreNavarre
Navarre , officially the Chartered Community of Navarre is an autonomous community in northern Spain, bordering the Basque Country, La Rioja, and Aragon in Spain and Aquitaine in France...
and the Basque Country
Basque Country (autonomous community)
The Basque Country is an autonomous community of northern Spain. It includes the Basque provinces of Álava, Biscay and Gipuzkoa, also called Historical Territories....
, Catalonia lacks its own tax system; thus the economic financing of the regional administration depends almost entirely on funds raised by national-government taxation and budgeted to Catalonia. This became a mainstream issue at the time of amending the Catalan Statute of Autonomy. From an economic perspective, the regional government aims to achieve a high degree of fiscal autonomy (based on the argument that the region pays in more to the national Spanish coffers than it receives, thus overlooking the "solidarity between regions" enshrined by the Spanish Constitution of 1978
Spanish Constitution of 1978
-Structure of the State:The Constitution recognizes the existence of nationalities and regions . Preliminary Title As a result, Spain is now composed entirely of 17 Autonomous Communities and two autonomous cities with varying degrees of autonomy, to the extent that, even though the Constitution...
).
There was a significant political controversy as a result of the Catalan parliament's proposed draft of a replacement Autonomy Statute which sought to define Catalonia as a 'nation
Nation
A nation may refer to a community of people who share a common language, culture, ethnicity, descent, and/or history. In this definition, a nation has no physical borders. However, it can also refer to people who share a common territory and government irrespective of their ethnic make-up...
'. Article 2 of the 1978 Spanish Constitution
Spanish Constitution of 1978
-Structure of the State:The Constitution recognizes the existence of nationalities and regions . Preliminary Title As a result, Spain is now composed entirely of 17 Autonomous Communities and two autonomous cities with varying degrees of autonomy, to the extent that, even though the Constitution...
states that the constitution "is based in the indissoluble unity of the Spanish Nation (Nación)" while also referring to the "right to autonomy of the nationalities
Nationality
Nationality is membership of a nation or sovereign state, usually determined by their citizenship, but sometimes by ethnicity or place of residence, or based on their sense of national identity....
and region
Region
Region is most commonly found as a term used in terrestrial and astrophysics sciences also an area, notably among the different sub-disciplines of geography, studied by regional geographers. Regions consist of subregions that contain clusters of like areas that are distinctive by their uniformity...
s (nacionalidades y regiones)". These nationalities and regions are left unnamed in the Constitution. The controversy centered on whether referring to any Autonomous Community of Spain as a "nation" may go against Article 2 and whether the Catalan claim to be a nación rather than a nacionalidad had separatist
Separatism
Separatism is the advocacy of a state of cultural, ethnic, tribal, religious, racial, governmental or gender separation from the larger group. While it often refers to full political secession, separatist groups may seek nothing more than greater autonomy...
overtones subversive of the "indissoluble unity" of Spain. There was also a high degree of controversy about the control of all taxes, and a parallel judicial system. In the end, and after much controversy, a watered-down version was passed, although the political debate lingers on.
The independence issue
Independence
Independence is a condition of a nation, country, or state in which its residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory....
or self-determination
Self-determination
Self-determination is the principle in international law that nations have the right to freely choose their sovereignty and international political status with no external compulsion or external interference...
. The law does not recognize a "right of self-determination" in spite of a politically relevant pro independence movement in Catalonia. According to the governmental Sociology Studies Center (CIS) CIS official poll in 2001 there were 33.9% of Catalans in favor of an independent Catalonia, 48.1% against, 13.3 undecided and 2.8% did not answer. If the individual was Catalan speaker and was less than 44 years of age then 75% was in favor of independence. CIS has not repeated this poll to date.
Conversely, factors such as public indifference at the time of voting the amendment of the Statute of Autonomy
Catalan constitutional referendum, 2006
A referendum on the new Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia was held in Catalonia, Spain, on June 18, 2006. The referendum was successful and the new statute came into effect on August 9, 2006....
(see "dual vote" section above) starkly contrasted with the harsh political controversy behind its amendment. Besides, the advent in the 2006 regional elections of a new party whose main ideology is countering Catalan nationalism, Ciutadans - Partido de la Ciudadanía, all make the independence issue a far from univocal question.
In 2007 a poll indicated that, when asked about the relationship between Catalonia and Spain, 59.5% of respondents thought that Catalonia should be an autonomous community within Spain (the current situation), 17.5% considered that Catalonia should be a state within a federal state and only 13.5% believed that Catalonia should be an independent state separate from Spain. The rest of respondents gave other answers, with a sizable minority of 5.5% saying that Catalonia should be a region within Spain, which would mean less self-government.
Parties
- CiU — Convergència i Unió (Convergence and Unity) – federation
- CDC — Convergència Democràtica de Catalunya (Democratic Convergence of CataloniaDemocratic Convergence of CataloniaThe Democratic Convergence of Catalonia is a political party in Catalonia, Spain. Together with Democratic Union of Catalonia, it forms part of the Convergence and Union coalition. It is affiliated with the European Liberal, Democrat and Reform Party and with the Liberal International...
) - UDC — Unió Democràtica de Catalunya (Democratic Union of CataloniaDemocratic Union of CataloniaThe Democratic Union of Catalonia is a political party in Catalonia, Spain. Together with the Democratic Convergence of Catalonia, it is part of the Convergence and Union coalition.It describes itself as Catalan nationalist and Christian Democrat....
)
- CDC — Convergència Democràtica de Catalunya (Democratic Convergence of Catalonia
- ERC — Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya (Republican Left of Catalonia)
- ICV-EUiA — Iniciativa per Catalunya-Verds – Esquerra Unida i Alternativa (Initiative for Catalonia GreensInitiative for Catalonia GreensInitiative for Catalonia Greens is a political party in Catalonia, Spain. It was formed as a merger of Iniciativa per Catalunya and Els Verds. IC had been an alliance led by Partit Socialista Unificat de Catalunya and was the equivalent of Izquierda Unida in Catalonia...
-United and Alternative LeftUnited and Alternative LeftUnited and Alternative Left is a political party from Catalonia, Spain. EUiA has 4000 members and it is the Catalan correspondent of the Spain-wide United Left ....
) - PP — Partit Popular (People's PartyPeople's Party (Spain)The People's Party is a conservative political party in Spain.The People's Party was a re-foundation in 1989 of the People's Alliance , a party led and founded by Manuel Fraga Iribarne, a former Minister of Tourism during Francisco Franco's dictatorship...
) - PSC-PSOE — Partit dels Socialistes de Catalunya-Partido Socialista Obrero Español (Socialist Party of Catalonia-Spanish Socialist Workers' PartySpanish Socialist Workers' PartyThe Spanish Socialist Workers' Party is a social-democratic political party in Spain. Its political position is Centre-left. The PSOE is the former ruling party of Spain, until beaten in the elections of November 2011 and the second oldest, exceeded only by the Partido Carlista, founded in...
) - Solidaritat Catalana per la Independència - Catalan Solidarity for Independence
- Ciutadans - Partido de la Ciudadanía — Citizens – Party of the CitizenryCitizens – Party of the CitizenryThe Citizens – Party of the Citizenry is a Spanish political party which describes itself as centre-left and non-nationalist...
Summary of votes and seats
Votes and seats after 28 November 2010 elections, compared with those won at the 2006 election.Voters: 5.230.886
Voting: 3.135.764 59.95%
Invalid votes: 21.727 0.69%
Valid votes: 3.114.037 99.31%
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Party Votes % Seats
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Convergència i Unió 1,198,010 38.46 (+6.93) 62 (+14)
Partit dels Socialistes de Catalunya 570,361 18.32 (−8.49) 28 (−9)
Partit Popular 384,019 12.33 (+1.69) 18 (−4)
Iniciativa Verds-Esquerra Alternativa 229,985 7.39 (-2.16) 10 (-2)
Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya 218,046 7.00 (−7.06) 10 (−11)
Solidaritat Catalana per la Independència 102.197 3.28 (+3.28) 4 (+4)
Ciutadans – Partido de la Ciudadanía 105,827 3.40 (+0.36) 3 (=)
Others –
Blank 92.331 2.94 –
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total 3.135.764 135
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------