Assessment of Political, Economic, and Cultural Factors: Catalan Independence Movement

Hello i will share to you another historical essay! This time i will be focusing on the Catalonia, Spain the northeastern part of Spain. This is when they tried to declared their independence against Spain

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Pre-History

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Since Prehistoric times, Spain underwent variety of foreign intrusions such as the Roman Empire, Muslims and Goths. Due to the Geographical Factors in the past such as high mountain chains and non-navigable rivers, it formed divisions and created the variety of languages, customs, and identities. Catalonia was once part of the principality of Aragon, and then got unified with the Castile in 1479, after the marriage of King Ferdinand and Isabella of Castile.


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Since then, Catalonia became the secondary importance in Spanish affairs. During the unification in the 13th and 14th century was the “great age of Catalan-Aragon Kingdom,” monopolized the trade in the Mediterranean Sea. However in the 17th century, the nation is declining, resulting to military disasters, disunion, and dismemberment. One of the reasons is the conflict of interest between Castile and Aragon. It was then the beginning of Catalan separatist movements. The rebellions started in 1640 against Spain, and during the War of the Spanish Succession but these were completely subjugated until 1714. Under the rule of Primo de Rivera in September 1932, the statute of autonomy for Catalonia became law, with the support of the Esquerra Republicana, the left-wing coalition party in Catalonia, but at the time of General Francisco Franco, as he adopted a repressive policy toward Catalan nationalism, Catalonia lost their autonomy. Fortunately after his death, Catalonia’s limited autonomy was recovered in September 1977. With the foundation of pro-autonomy Convergence and Union party, who served as the dominant political force in Catalonia, in 1979, full autonomy was granted and established the autonomous region of Catalonia. Catalonia is still under the process of Unilateral Secession, in which it usually happens when the process doesn’t have any constitutional provisions to follow, nor having proper political negotiations.

In 2003, the goal of the government is to update the 1979 Statute of Autonomy in Catalonia in order to guarantee their self-government achieved in the last 20th century. The proposal was then being approved by the Catalan government in September 30, 2005 and was sent to the Spanish Parliament in November 2005. In ratification of the statute in 2006, the Spanish Parliament rejected their proposal, and Catalans responded in a mass demonstration occurred in Catalonia on July 10, 2010 with the slogan, “We are a nation. We decide,” and on September 11, 2012, during Catalonia’s National Day, when Catalans demanded the Spanish Government for Catalonia to become a new State in Europe.
Movements

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Months after the 2010 mass demonstration, under President Arthur Mas, he proposed again to Spanish Government the fiscal agreement. He said that if they will reject his proposal, Catalonia would certainly push towards self-determination, and Spanish government’s rejection urged President Mas to push Catalonia forward to self-determination. On 2014, he passed the Law on Non-Referendum Popular Consultations and Other Forms of Citizen Participation and, on September 27, signed a decree for the consultation. However, the Constitutional Court suspended both of them. He then turned the popular consultation into a “participative process,” or holding referendums, in which it resulted to two and a half million people voted in favor of Catalonia becoming an independent state. In September 2017, this majority approved the holding of a binding referendum on independence for Catalonia, but Spain’s constitutional court suspended the process. Until then, the Catalan process towards self-determination is complicated, and it has not yet been resolved by the Spanish Parliament.

Catalan’s self-determination is categorized into three factors: Political, Economic, and Cultural Aspect, based on historical context and issues facing Catalonia today.

Politics

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Politics. In 17th century, a political asymmetry between Aragon and Castile, sparked the determination of Catalans to have independence. Although the autonomy model in 1979 was granted, Catalonia has not been able to attain the political powers typically held by the sub-units of multinational federations such as Canada or Belgium, for this makes for a critical difference between the state of autonomous communities and federal systems. To the extent that Catalonia, as an autonomous community, “can act as a “sovereign” player at all, sovereignty has to be understood as a sovereignty “delegated” by Spain, not as sovereignty “shared” with Spain”. This has been the reason for Catalan government to construct a proposal of 2006 Statute of Autonomy and fiscal agreement to the Spanish Parliament in order to update the benefits of Catalan’s self-government.

However in the perspective of Spanish Government, they stick to the dialogue of “together we all win, separate, we all lose”. They wished for Catalans to reconsider the independence and make resolutions with them. One of the proposals was accepting the diversity of Spain through the Autonomic System, Promoting Catalan language and culture abroad, not just by Catalan institutions but also with the cooperation with the Spanish Government, and in terms of Catalan economy requires adjustments that would make Catalonia lessen their burden in EU, and an Autonomic financing based on agreement. Also, the Globalization and EU integration towards Catalonia can encourage secession. If Catalonia successfully separates from a larger entity Spain, means that they can benefit from free trade and international governance.

Economy

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Economy. In Medieval Period, Catalonia has been the frontrunner in Spanish economy, in which they excelled in commercial activities such as trading. However in the 17th century, in decline of Spanish Monarchy, they suffered from economic instability and depression that made them realized to pursue self-determination. As one of the richest regions in Spain, Catalonia’s economic position in the 21st century in terms of scientific excellence, exporting strength, a tourist industry, and to attract foreign investment has an exceptional potential in the international context. Another reason for Catalonia’s self-determination is the lack of proper fiscal autonomy. During the 2008 economic crisis in Spain, Catalonia agreed to distribute the amount of taxes from Catalans and transferring them to poorer regions in order to stabilize the nation. According to Economics professor Paluzie, “Catalan residents represent about 16 percent of the country’s population. Yet these same residents contribute 20 percent of Spain’s taxes, and then receive 14 percent back for public expenses. Catalonia is economically important for Spain, and if it were to secede, “they lose a territory that’s relatively rich and contributes a lot to taxes.” She also said that the 2008 economic crisis helped increase separatist sentiment in Catalonia, and the 2006 statute that would have been the solution to allow the region to collect its own taxes. The 2008 crisis also contributed to high unemployment and impact to the middle class to rise against Spanish political system.

Culture

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Culture. The long history Cultural Persecution was during the regime of General Francisco Franco (1939-1975), which was considered as their “Darkest Age”, taking over Barcelona after the Spanish Civil War, Franco’s goal was to unite Spain and rid it of anything that differentiated people, especially the Catalan language. “During this time, Catalan intellectuals and language speakers were persecuted. Any autonomy Catalonia enjoyed was revoked, Catalan nationalism was repressed, and the Catalan language was outlawed. Catalan disappeared from the educational system and several thousand nationalists were killed or exiled. All official and private use of Catalan was attacked and radio, television, and street names were changed to Castilian Spanish.” Although after the end of Francoist regime, and the language became official within Catalonia, many Catalans desired to regard their language as more of an official language within the European Union (EU) to be put on par with Castilian Spanish.

Catalonia's Challenges

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Consequences. There will be more economic certainties and uncertainties if Catalonia will successfully grant their independence. First, Catalonia will be economically viable if it became independent because of great welfare and wealth over Spain. However, these also uncertain consequences, for both Catalonia and Spain, depending on how these issues can be resolved including the referendum or consultation, the relationship with the European Union, and the currency and the sharing out of assets and debt.

Conclusion

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Conclusion. As one of the major political issues in Spain, Catalonia’s independence movement is still inevitable, because they always try to fight for the pride of their so-called “nation”. Political asymmetry, economic crisis, and long history of cultural persecutions lays the foundation of Catalans’ desire to gain independence and longed to separate from Spain’s heavy burdens. Since 17th century, in the history itself, they have already set their aims to have a self-governing state, and making their own developments. However, it’s still a long and difficult journey for Catalans to resolve this matter, and proper negotiations is the only way to fulfill it.

Thank you for reading! I hope you have learned something.
Zam<3

REFERENCES

BOOKS

• Castro, Liz. What’s up with Catalonia?. Ashfield, Massachusetts, USA: Catalonia Press, 2013.
• Kraus, Peter A. & Vergés, Gifra, Joan. The Catalan Process: Sovereignty, Self-Determination and Democracy in the 21st * Century. Barcelona: Entitat Autònoma del Diari Oficial i de Publicacions, 2017.
• Ministerio De Asuntos Exteriores y De Cooperación. Catalonia in Spain: For Democratic Coexistence. Spain: 2014.
• CataCollegi d’Economistes de Catalunya. The Economy of Catalonia: Questions and answers on the economic impact of independence. Catalonia: Collegi d’Economistes de Catalunya, 2014.
• Tortella, Gabriel. Catalonia in Spain: History and Myth. Switzerland: Springer International Publishing AG, 2017.
  Journals/Articles:
• Anderson, Glen. “Secession in International Law and Relations: What Are We Talking About?,” Loyola of Los Angeles International and Comparative Law Review, Forthcoming, (Australia:2013).
• Benavides, Lucia. “The big reason Catalonia wants to secede may be economic: it's one of the richest regions in Spain.” Marketplace. last modified September 29, 2017. https://www.marketplace.org/2017/09/29/economy/big-reason-catalonia-wants-secede-economic-richest-regions-in-spain.
• Marinzel, Zia. “Catalonia: The Quest for Independence from Spain,” John Carroll University: Carroll Collected, (Ohio: John Carroll University, 2014).
  “The Conflict in Catalonia,” Real Instituto Elcano, (Madrid: 2018).