Prior to its gradual incorporation into the nascent Spanish state following the marriage of Ferdinand and Isabella in 1469,Catalonia formed the dominant part of the Crown of Aragon,which controlled a powerful trading empire that stretched throughout the Mediterranean. Even at this early stage, Catalonia exhibited characteristics associated with modern statehood,such as a common language and well-developed political, legal, and economic structures. As Madrid extended its authority, Catalonia maintained its own currency,tax system,and distinct culture rooted in the Catalan language. The vestiges of Catalan self-government were not fully extinguished until the early eighteenth century,after Catalonia backed the losing Hapsburg side in the War of Spanish Succession.
The nineteenth and early twentieth centuries witnessed a revival of Catalan cultural and political awareness,as well as the growth of Catalan nationalism as an organized political movement. This renaissance coincided with the development of an industrial economy that made Catalonia more prosperous and advanced than the rest of Spain. For a brief period in the 1930s, Catalonia regained a measure of self-rule. Following the Spanish Civil War, however, General Francisco Franco established a centralized dictatorship that “was determined once and for all to put an end to the ‘Catalan problem.’” What followed was “one of the darkest periods of Catalan history,” during which Catalans “endured repression of individual and collective cultural rights, such as the prohibition of the use of the Catalan language, the public denial of the Catalan identity and the punishment of cultural expression.”
Catalan identity and the quest for political autonomy reemerged during the transition to democracy that followed Franco’s death in 1975. Article 2 of the 1978 Spanish Constitution proclaimed “the indissoluble unity of the Spanish Nation,” but also “recognize[d] and guarantee[d] the right to autonomy of the nationalities and regions of which it is composed.” The Constitution provided a framework for self-government for those regions “with common historic, cultural and economic characteristics”. Catalonia, the Basque Country, and Galicia. A Statute of Autonomy enacted in 1979 established a Catalan regional government, the Generalitat de Catalunya.
Ultimately, in an effort to downplay the uniqueness of its three “historic nationalities,” Spain also extended autonomous institutions to its other regions. As Michael Keating explains, “Spain’s system of autonomous governments is the result of contradictory pressures for differentiation, coming from the historic nationalities, and for uniformity, coming from the central state.” Despite its significant degree of decentralization, Spain has resisted outright federalization, and remains (at least in formal constitutional terms) a unitary state.
For the most part,Catalan nationalists have been willing to work within the parameters of this political structure. Catalonia’s largest political party, Convergència i Unió(CiU), has been a strong advocate of Catalan autonomy but has typically stopped short of calling for secession. In recent years, however,increased tensions between Catalonia and the Spanish state have precipitated a spike in support for separation. The turn towards a more robust nationalism can be traced to June 2006, when Catalans voted in favor of an amended Statute of Autonomy that expanded the authority of the Generalitat and, most contentiously, defined Catalonia as a “nation.”
Spain’s leading conservative political party, the Partido Popular, challenged the constitutionality of the amended statute, particularly on the ground that the Constitution recognizes only one,Spanish, nation. In June 2010, the Spanish Constitutional Court struck down several parts of the amended Statute of Autonomy, including those defining Catalonia as a nation and giving formal preference to the use of the Catalan language. The court’s decision sparked widespread nationalist demonstrations in Barcelona. Indeed, the legal wrangling over the amended Statute of Autonomy took place against a backdrop of increased nationalist activity.
Beginning in December 2009 and culminating in Barcelona in April 2011, Catalan nationalists staged a series of non- binding referendums in which the majority of voters expressed support for secession. Meanwhile, Catalonia’s successful campaign to ban the traditional Spanish pastime of bullfighting was widely viewed as “a provocation from a region where many want independence from Spain.”
Economic issues have long been a source of friction between Barcelona and Madrid. Catalonia is one of Spain’s weal thiest regions, but it does not control its own taxes; instead, Catalonia’s tax revenue goes to the central government, which then remits what Catalan nationalists argue is a disproportionately small amount of funds. The eurozone crisis has exacerbated disputes over this taxation arrangement. The Partido Popular government of Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy blames Spain’s economic woes on free-spending regional governments; by contrast, Catalonia attributes its deficit to its inability to control its own finances. In the wake of the nationalist rally in Barcelona on September 11, 2012, Prime Minister Rajoy rejected Catalan leader Artur Mas’s request for a new tax revenue distribution plan.
The Generalitat responded by voting in favor of holding a referendum on Catalan independence,and moved up regional elections to November 2012 in an effort to capitalize on anticipated nationalist support. Despite CiU’s disappointing showing in the November elections, nationalists still managed to capture the majority of seats in the Generalitat. In January 2013, the Generalitat adopted a “Declaration of Sovereignty” proclaiming Catalonia’s right to determine its political future in a referendum to be held by November 2014 a move to which the Spanish government has expressed vehement opposition.
