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129-528: In 2012, the CUP decided for the first time to run for Catalan parliamentary elections , gaining 3 MPs out of 135. In the 2015 elections, they obtained 10 MPs. The CUP is made up of autonomous local assemblies representing towns or neighborhoods. These assemblies may have some ideological differences, but their common ground is independence for the Catalan Countries and clear left-wing politics, often in

258-475: A belief in municipalism . The CUP consider municipal government "the only institutions within the reach of the general populace". The importance given to municipal assemblies is also meant to avoid the hierarchical organisation of most traditional political parties. The CUP website describes the entity as "an assembly-based political organisation spread throughout the Catalan Countries that works for

387-783: A brief proclamation of the Catalan Republic on 14 April 1931 and the provisional establishment of the Generalitat as a Catalan government within the new Spanish Republic , the first Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia was approved by the Spanish Parliament in September 1932, recognizing Catalan self-government and establishing a separate Parliament of Catalonia as the legislative body of the Generalitat, being elected on 20 November 1932 . This first legislature

516-931: A burdensome presence of the royal army, being briefly established as a republic under French protection. By the Treaty of the Pyrenees (1659), the northern parts of Catalonia , mostly the Roussillon , were ceded to France. During the War of the Spanish Succession (1701–1714), the Crown of Aragon sided against the Bourbon Philip V of Spain , but after the Peace of Utrecht (1713) the Catalans were defeated with

645-458: A center-right Catalan nationalist electoral coalition, with Pujol re-elected until 2003. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, the institutions of Catalan autonomy were deployed, among them an autonomous police force, the Mossos d'Esquadra , in 1983, and the broadcasting network Televisió de Catalunya and its first channel TV3 , created in 1983. An extensive program of normalization of Catalan language

774-527: A country that's independent, socialist, environmentally sustainable and free from the domination of the patriarchy". The party defends the unity of the Catalan-speaking areas, or Catalan Countries, which they believe should be allowed to constitute an independent republic, according to the principles of self-determination . The CUP is also strongly in favor of the Catalan language , which should be

903-461: A general assembly made up by representatives from the four provinces, but lacking legislative powers. In 1919, the Commonwealth prepared a project of Statute of Autonomy for Catalonia which included a bicameral parliament , however, the bill wasn't implemented. The assembly and the Commonwealth itself were disbanded and outlawed by Miguel Primo de Rivera 's dictatorship in 1925. Following

1032-428: A journalist from Gràcia , was chosen to head the list for Barcelona. The CUP promised that, if elected, its candidates only would serve one term, earn no more than €1,600 a month, and base their decisions on the opinions expressed by local assemblies. it also promised not to request any loans from banks, so as to avoid being influenced by "financial groups and economic élites". The CUP was able to win representation in

1161-584: A major tourist destination. During the Spanish transition to democracy (1975–1982), the Generalitat was reestablished and Catalonia regained self-government , remaining one of the most economically dynamic communities in Spain. In the 2010s, there was growing support for Catalan independence . On 27 October 2017, the Catalan Parliament unilaterally declared independence following a referendum that

1290-601: A modernizing and progressive social agenda, despite the internal difficulties. This period was marked by political unrest, the effects of the economic crisis and their social repercussions. The Statute of Autonomy was suspended in 1934, due to the Events of 6 October in Barcelona, as a response to the accession of right-wing Spanish nationalist party CEDA to the government of the Republic, considered close to fascism . After

1419-552: A nation. This decision was severely contested by large sectors of Catalan society, which increased the demands of independence. A controversial independence referendum was held in Catalonia on 1 October 2017, using a disputed voting process. It was declared illegal and suspended by the Constitutional Court of Spain , because it breached the 1978 Constitution . Subsequent developments saw, on 27 October 2017,

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1548-419: A national representative body. The party broadly refers to its economic model as socialist . Its political programme calls for a "planned economy based on solidarity, aimed towards fulfilling the needs of the people", and defends the nationalisation of public utilities as well as transport and communication networks. It also calls for a nationalisation of all banks receiving government bailouts and considers

1677-502: A position he would hold until 2003. That began a period of hegemony of CiU, which won the election of 1984 with an absolute majority (72 of 135). The representatives of the Parliament of Catalonia are elected every four years after the date of its previous election, unless it is dissolved earlier, under a system of party-list proportional representation . Since 1980, the 135 members of the Parliament of Catalonia are elected using

1806-500: A pro-independence majority in the Parliament of Catalonia. In the 2017 Catalan regional election , the CUP suffered a setback, losing more than half of their votes and six of their previous ten seats. The pro-independence parties held a majority in parliament and the CUP wasn't needed for the Torra Government to win the investiture vote. The CUP representatives therefore abstained from voting. The CUP announced that, for

1935-690: A province of the Umayyad Caliphate . From the conquest of Roussillon in 760, to the conquest of Barcelona in 801, the Frankish empire took control of the area between Septimania and the Llobregat river from the Muslims and created heavily militarised, self-governing counties . These counties formed part of the historiographically known as the Gothic and Hispanic Marches, a buffer zone in

2064-732: A successful process of economic growth and proto-industrialization , reinforced in the late quarter of the century when Castile's trade monopoly with American colonies ended. After the War of the Spanish Succession , the assimilation of the Crown of Aragon by the Castilian Crown through the Nueva Planta Decrees was the first step in the creation of the Spanish nation state . These nationalist policies, sometimes very aggressive, and still in force, have been and are

2193-943: A symbolic declaration of independence by the Parliament of Catalonia, the enforcement of direct rule by the Spanish government through the use of Article 155 of the Constitution, the dismissal of the Executive Council and the dissolution of the Parliament, with a snap regional election called for 21 December 2017, which ended with a victory of pro-independence parties. Former President Carles Puigdemont and five former cabinet ministers fled Spain and took refuge in other European countries (such as Belgium , in Puigdemont's case), whereas nine other cabinet members, including vice-president Oriol Junqueras , were sentenced to prison under various charges of rebellion, sedition, and misuse of public funds. Quim Torra became

2322-624: Is Cataluña ( [kataˈluɲa] ), and the Aranese name is Catalonha ( [kataˈluɲa] ). The first known human settlements in what is now Catalonia were at the beginning of the Middle Paleolithic . The oldest known trace of human occupation is a mandible found in Banyoles , described by some sources as pre- Neanderthal , that is, some 200,000 years old; other sources suggest it to be only about one third that old. From

2451-610: Is an autonomous community of Spain , designated as a nationality by its Statute of Autonomy . Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran ) is situated on the northeast of the Iberian Peninsula , to the south of the Pyrenees mountain range. Catalonia is administratively divided into four provinces or eight vegueries (regions), which are in turn divided into 42 comarques . The capital and largest city, Barcelona ,

2580-546: Is currently made up of 135 members, known as deputies ( diputats / deputats / diputados ), who are elected for four-year terms or after extraordinary dissolution, chosen by universal suffrage in lists of four constituencies, corresponding to the Catalan provinces. The Parliament building is located in Ciutadella Park , Barcelona . Established in 1932, after the granting of self-governance to Catalonia by

2709-484: Is made up of the leaders and spokespersons from each parliamentary group in the Parliament and has the right to be "heard" before the Bureau takes some decisions such as scheduling debates and votes. In the Spanish system, however, ruling parties usually do not hold a tight grip over the Parliament's schedule, nor do they use it to turn down the opposition proposals without debate: they are just voted down in committee or by

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2838-719: Is the Palace of the Parliament of Catalonia ( Palau del Parlament de Catalunya in Catalan). It is located in the Parc de la Ciutadella of the capital city, Barcelona. The main entrance is at number 1 of Joan Fiveller Square. The building was designed by the Flemish architect Jorge Próspero de Verboom between 1716 and 1748 to serve as an arsenal, in the fortress of the Citadel that King Philip V had built, shortly after having conquered

2967-536: Is the second-most populous municipality in Spain and the fifth-most populous urban area in the European Union . Modern-day Catalonia comprises most of the medieval and early modern Principality of Catalonia (with the remainder northern area now part of France's Pyrénées-Orientales ). It is bordered by France ( Occitanie ) and Andorra to the north, the Mediterranean Sea to the east, and

3096-623: The Usatges de Barcelona , was promulgated by Count Ramon Berenguer I based on the decisions of these assemblies. Although the counts of Barcelona, had greatly extended the territory under their control, their financial and military power was quite limited, due to the impact of the Feudal revolution during the regency of countess Ermesinde of Carcassonne (1018-1044). Their personal resources were particularly insufficient in periods of economic crisis or military expansion, of which they were many from

3225-933: The 131st President of the Government of Catalonia on 17 May 2018, after the Spanish courts blocked three other candidates. In 2018, the Assemblea Nacional Catalana joined the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO) on behalf of Catalonia. On 14 October 2019, the Spanish Supreme court sentenced several Catalan political leaders , involved in organizing a referendum on Catalonia's independence from Spain, and convicted them on charges ranging from sedition to misuse of public funds , with sentences ranging from 9 to 13 years in prison. This decision sparked demonstrations around Catalonia. They were later pardoned by

3354-562: The 1929 International Exposition . After the fall of the dictatorship and a brief proclamation of the Catalan Republic , during the events of the proclamation of the Second Spanish Republic (14–17   April   1931), Catalonia received, in 1932, its first Statute of Autonomy from the Spanish Republic's Parliament, granting it a considerable degree of self-government, establishing an autonomous body,

3483-488: The 2015 municipal elections , the CUP presented candidatures in 163 different municipalities, more than double the number of candidatures presented in the previous elections. In Catalonia, the CUP obtained 221,746 votes in all (7.12% percent of those cast). This was more than three times what it had won in 2011, earning 372 council seats, an absolute majority on nine town councils, and a relative majority in four more. CUP mayors were chosen in 14 municipalities, whereas previously

3612-576: The Civil War , the building became a military barracks and in 1945, the seat of the Museum of Modern Art of Barcelona. In 1977, during the Spanish transition to democracy , the building temporarily served as the Assembly of Parliamentarians (Catalan: Assemblea de Parlamentaris ) until the restitution of Catalan self-government. In 1979 it became the seat of Parliament again and was renovated. Finally,

3741-451: The D'Hondt method and a closed list proportional representation, with a threshold of 3% of valid votes—which includes blank ballots—being applied in each constituency. Seats are allocated to constituencies, corresponding to the provinces of Barcelona , Tarragona , Girona and Lleida , with each being allocated 85, 18, 17 and 15 seats respectively. In the 1932 election there were 85 seats up to election divided into five constituencies:

3870-586: The House of Aragon . The expansion was accompanied by a great development of the Catalan trade, creating an extensive trade network across the Mediterranean which competed with those of the maritime republics of Genoa and Venice . At the same time, the Principality of Catalonia developed a complex institutional and political system based in the concept of a pact between the estates of the realm and

3999-662: The Middle Ages , Byzantine chroniclers claimed that Catalania derives from the local medley of Goths with Alans , initially constituting a Goth-Alania . Other theories suggest: In English, Catalonia is pronounced / k æ t ə ˈ l oʊ n i ə / . The native name, Catalunya , is pronounced [kətəˈluɲə] in Central Catalan , the most widely spoken variety, and [kataˈluɲa] in North-Western Catalan . The Spanish name

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4128-463: The Napoleonic and Carlist Wars . In the second third of the century, it experienced industrialisation. As wealth from the industrial expansion grew, it saw a cultural renaissance coupled with incipient nationalism while several workers' movements appeared. The establishment of the Second Spanish Republic (1931–1939) granted self-governance to Catalonia , being restored the Generalitat as

4257-622: The Reapers' War (1640–1652), which saw Catalonia rebel (briefly as a republic led by the president of the Generalitat, Pau Claris ) with French help against the Spanish Crown for overstepping Catalonia's rights during the Thirty Years' War . Within a brief period France took full control of Catalonia. Most of Catalonia was reconquered by the Spanish monarchy but Catalan rights were mostly recognised. Roussillon and half of Cerdanya

4386-747: The Second Punic War and traded with the surrounding Iberian population . After the Carthaginian defeat by the Roman Republic , the north-east of Iberia became the first to come under Roman rule and became part of Hispania , the westernmost part of the Roman Empire . Tarraco (modern Tarragona ) was one of the most important Roman cities in Hispania and the capital of the province of Tarraconensis . Other important cities of

4515-603: The Second Spanish Republic , it went to exile in 1939 as a consequence of the Nationalist victory in the Spanish Civil War . It was reestablished in 1979 during the transition to democracy . The most recent general election to the Parliament was held on 12 May 2024. The first representative and legislative bodies in Catalonia were the Comital Court (Catalan: Cort Comtal ) of Barcelona, modelling after

4644-533: The Socialists' Party of Catalonia (PSC-PSOE), Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC) and Initiative for Catalonia Greens (ICV), and the socialist Pasqual Maragall was appointed president. The new government redacted a new version of the Statute of Autonomy , with the aim of consolidate and expand certain aspects of self-government. The new Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia, approved after a referendum in 2006,

4773-669: The Treaty of Utrecht . Philip felt that he had been betrayed by the Catalan Courts, as it had initially sworn its loyalty to him when he had presided over it in 1701. In retaliation for the betrayal, and inspired by the French model, the first Bourbon king enacted the Nueva Planta decrees of 1707, 1715 and 1716, incorporating the realms of the Crown of Aragon, including the Principality of Catalonia in 1716, as provinces of

4902-745: The Valencian Community , the CUP ran in four municipalities, and won seats on the municipal councils of two, Pedreguer and Burjassot . In the 2015 Catalan regional election , the CUP formed a platform called Popular Unity Candidacy–Constituent Call ( Catalan : Candidatura d'Unitat Popular–Crida Constituent ). The coalition was led into the 2015 election by Antonio Baños , journalist and writer, and Anna Gabriel , community worker and professor. Its 2015 candidacy also included Julià de Jòdar , historian and writer; Manuel Delgado , art historian and anthropologist; Sergi López , actor and Oleguer Presas , economist and former footballer. Ahead of

5031-418: The capitulation of Barcelona on 11 September 1714 . Philip V subsequently imposed a unifying administration across Spain, enacting the Nueva Planta decrees which, like in the other realms of the Crown of Aragon, suppressed Catalan institutions and legislation. As a consequence, Catalan as a language of government and literature was eclipsed by Spanish. In the 19th century, Catalonia was severely affected by

5160-466: The city of Barcelona proper and the provinces of Barcelona (excluding the city of Barcelona ), Girona , Lleida and Tarragona , with each being allocated 24, 19, 14, 14 and 14 seats respectively. They were elected under the Republican system of plurality block voting or majoritari per districtes , with each voter casting a vote for 75% of its constituency seats. This in practice ensured that

5289-442: The "preferential and common language" of the areas where it is traditionally spoken. Still, the 2012 CUP program refers to the advantages of multilingualism and encourages debate on the status that an independent Catalonia would grant to French and Spanish . The CUP criticises the current political system in place in Spain and France, and defend an alternative brand of participative democracy . It has proposed, for example, that

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5418-528: The 16th and 18th centuries, the participation of the political community in the local and the general Catalan government grew (thus consolidating its constitutional system), while the kings remained absent, represented by a viceroy . Tensions between Catalan institutions and the monarchy began to arise. The large and burdensome presence of the Spanish royal army in the Principality due to the Franco-Spanish War led to an uprising of peasants, provoking

5547-406: The 1960s was the second-fastest growing economy in the world in what became known as the Spanish miracle . During this period there was a spectacular growth of industry and tourism in Catalonia that drew large numbers of workers to the region from across Spain and made the area around Barcelona one of Europe's largest industrial metropolitan areas. After Franco's death in 1975, Catalonia voted for

5676-476: The 19th   century, Catalonia became an important industrial center, particularly focused on textiles . This process was a consequence of the conditions of proto-industrialisation of textile production in the prior two centuries, growing capital from wine and brandy export, and was later boosted by the government support for domestic manufacturing. In 1832, the Bonaplata Factory in Barcelona became

5805-642: The 19th century and the early 20th century, founding the CNT trade union in 1910 and achieving one of the first eight-hour workdays in Europe in 1919. Growing resentment of conscription and of the military culminated in the Tragic Week (Catalan: Setmana Tràgica ) in Barcelona in 1909. Under the hegemony of the Regionalist League , Catalonia gained a degree of administrative unity for the first time in

5934-478: The 4th   century. Although Hispania remained under Roman rule and did not fall under the rule of Vandals , Suebi and Alans in the 5th   century, the main cities suffered frequent sacking and some deurbanization . After the fall of the Western Roman Empire , the area was conquered by the Visigoths and was ruled as part of the Visigothic Kingdom for almost two and a half centuries. In 718, it came under Muslim control and became part of Al-Andalus ,

6063-402: The Aragonese Crown's maritime forces, which spread the power of the Crown in the Mediterranean, turning Barcelona into a powerful and wealthy city. In the period of 1164–1410, new territories, the Kingdom of Valencia , the Kingdom of Majorca , the Kingdom of Sardinia , the Kingdom of Sicily , and, briefly, the Duchies of Athens and Neopatras , were incorporated into the dynastic domains of

6192-525: The CUP only held three mayorships. For the first time, the CUP won the government of the capital of a comarca , Berga . Coalitions including the CUP won important victories in other municipalities; in Badalona , Catalonia's third most populous city, a coalition including the CUP came in second and won the mayorship with the help of other left-wing parties. The CUP managed to win representation in most major cities in Catalonia, including Barcelona, Girona , Lleida , Tarragona , L'Hospitalet and Terrassa . In

6321-503: The CUP ran as part of local coalitions. From 2007 – 2011 , the CUP held a total of 26 council seats in 17 different municipalities in Catalonia ; these were obtained either under the CUP name alone or in coalition with local political parties. In the 2007 municipal elections, the CUP obtained 18,000 votes, or about 0.65% of the votes cast. In the 2011 municipal elections , the CUP ran in 80 of Catalonia's 947 municipalities, winning about 62,000 votes (2.16% of those cast), and coming in as

6450-425: The Capetian crown whom they regarded as usurpers of the Carolingian Frankish realm. At the beginning of eleventh century the Catalan counties experienced an important process of feudalisation, however, the efforts of church's sponsored Peace and Truce Assemblies and the intervention of Ramon Berenguer I , count of Barcelona (1035–1076) in the negotiations with the rebel nobility resulted in the partial restoration of

6579-405: The Catalan Parliament with three seats, and 126,219 votes. The three CUP seats went to the party's spokesman David Fernàndez, Georgina Rieradevall (number two on the list later on replaced by Isabel Vallet), and Quim Arrufat (number three on the list). These results are historic for the CUP, but its spokesman emphasises that it must keep on working and fighting in the streets for a better future. In

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6708-402: The Catalan counties, except the County of Foix , despite the opposition of king James. This treaty confirmed, from French point of view, the independence of the Catalan counties established and exercised during the previous three centuries, but also meant the irremediable separation between the geographical areas of Catalonia and Languedoc . As a coastal territory, Catalonia became the base of

6837-419: The Catalan parliament. Parliament of Catalonia Supported by (26) Opposition (67) Referendums Local The Parliament of Catalonia ( Catalan : Parlament de Catalunya , IPA: [pəɾləˈmen də kətəˈluɲə] ; Spanish : Parlamento de Cataluña ; Occitan : Parlament de Catalonha ) is the unicameral legislature of the autonomous community of Catalonia . The Parliament

6966-433: The Crown of Aragon, rose up in support of the Austrian Habsburg pretender Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor , in his claim for the Spanish throne as Charles III of Spain. The fight between the houses of Bourbon and Habsburg for the Spanish Crown split Spain and Europe. The fall of Barcelona on 11 September 1714 to the Bourbon king Philip V militarily ended the Habsburg claim to the Spanish Crown, which became legal fact in

7095-412: The Crown of Castile, terminating their status as separate states along with their parliaments, institutions and public and administrative laws , as well as their pactist politics, within a French-style centralized and absolutist kingdom of Spain. In the second half of the 17th century and the 18th century (excluding the parentesis of the Succession War and the post-war inestability) Catalonia carried out

7224-590: The Crowns of Castile and Aragon maintained distinct territories, each keeping its own traditional institutions, parliaments, laws and currency. Castile commissioned expeditions to the Americas and benefited from the riches acquired in the Spanish colonisation of the Americas , but, in time, also carried the main burden of military expenses of the united Spanish kingdoms. After Isabella's death, Ferdinand II personally ruled both crowns. By virtue of descent from his maternal grandparents, Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile, in 1516 Charles I of Spain became

7353-405: The ERC leader, Francesc Macià , as president of the Generalitat and, right after the election, the institution began to pass progressive legislation in different areas, such as health, culture and civil law, however, the institution was suspended between 1934 and 1936 when the Government of Catalonia attempted to create a Catalan State within a Spanish Federal Republic after, among other reasons,

7482-404: The Frankish curia regis , and the Peace and Truce of God Assemblies ( Assemblees de Pau i Treva ), of which the earliest record dates from 1027. The last ones were originally ad hoc, local meetings convened by the clergy ( Oliba , Bishop of Vic, who died in 1046, was a notable instigator) but progressively became subsumed into the court of the Counts of Barcelona . The first Catalan legal code,

7611-433: The Generalitat of Catalonia, which included a parliament , an executive and a court of cassation . The left-wing pro-independence leader Francesc Macià was appointed its first president. Under the Statute, Catalan became an official language. The governments of the Republican Generalitat , led by the Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC) leaders Francesc Macià (1931–1933) and Lluís Companys (1933–1940), sought to implement

7740-418: The House of Bourbon, supported by the Crown of Castille, defeated the Habsburg pretender to throne, which was backed by the remnants of the Crown of Aragon in the War of the Spanish Succession . There were attempts from late 19th century to restore an autonomous system of representation for Catalonia. The Manresa Bases (1892) proposed the creation of new Catalan Courts, partly modeled on the original ones. On

7869-448: The Modern era. In 1914, the four Catalan provinces were authorized to create a commonwealth (Catalan: Mancomunitat de Catalunya ), lacking any legislative power or specific political autonomy, which carried out an ambitious program of modernization, but it was disbanded in 1925 by the dictatorship of Primo de Rivera (1923–1930). During the final stage of the Dictatorship, with Spain beginning to suffer an economic crisis, Barcelona hosted

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7998-759: The Museum of Modern Art was transferred in 2004 to the National Palace of Montjuïc, the new headquarters of the National Art Museum of Catalonia . Since then, the palace has been used exclusively for parliamentary purposes. It is now listed as a Cultural asset of local interest ( Bé cultural d'interès local in Catalan) in the Inventory of Catalan Cultural Heritage, with the number 08019/125. 41°23′17″N 2°11′20″E  /  41.38806°N 2.18889°E  / 41.38806; 2.18889 Catalonia Catalonia ( / ˌ k æ t ə ˈ l oʊ n i ə / ; Catalan : Catalunya [kətəˈluɲə] ; Spanish : Cataluña [kataˈluɲa] ; Occitan : Catalonha [kataˈluɲa] )

8127-441: The President is absent, and four Secretaries, elected in the first session of each newly elected Parliament. The Bureau is tasked with managing the Parliament schedule and interpreting its rules of order , including the power to expel members from the sessions. There is also a second, consultative body, the Spokespersons' Council (Catalan: Junta de Portaveus , Spanish: Junta de Portavoces , Aranese: Conselh de Pòrtavotzes ), which

8256-399: The Principality led to the Catalan Civil War (1462–1472) and the War of the Remences (1462–1486) that left Catalonia exhausted. The Sentencia Arbitral de Guadalupe (1486) liberated the remença peasants from the feudal evil customs . In the later Middle Ages, Catalan literature flourished in Catalonia proper and in the kingdoms of Majorca and Valencia, with such remarkable authors as

8385-403: The Roman period are Ilerda (Lleida), Dertosa (Tortosa), Gerunda (Girona) as well as the ports of Empuriæ (former Emporion) and Barcino ( Barcelona ). As for the rest of Hispania, Latin law was granted to all cities under the reign of Vespasian (69–79   AD), while Roman citizenship was granted to all free men of the empire by the Edict of Caracalla in 212   AD (Tarraco, the capital,

8514-435: The Spanish autonomous communities of Aragon to the west and Valencia to the south. In addition to about 580 km of coastline, Catalonia also has major high landforms such as the Pyrenees and the Pre-Pyrenees , the Transversal Range (Serralada Transversal) or the Central Depression. The official languages are Catalan , Spanish and the Aranese dialect of Occitan . In the late 8th century, various counties across

8643-401: The Spanish government and left prison in June 2021. In the early-to-mid 2020s support for independence declined. The climate of Catalonia is diverse. The populated areas lying by the coast in Tarragona, Barcelona and Girona provinces feature a Hot-summer Mediterranean climate ( Köppen Csa ). The inland part (including the Lleida province and the inner part of Barcelona province) show

8772-440: The Spanish government in 2021. The name "Catalonia" ( Medieval Latin : Cathalaunia ), spelled Cathalonia , began to be used for the homeland of the Catalans ( Cathalanenses ) in the late 11th century and was probably used before as a territorial reference to the group of counties that comprised part of the March of Gothia and the March of Hispania under the control of the Count of Barcelona and his relatives. The origin of

8901-409: The acts of the between the King and their sessions (known as pragmàtiques ) and, from 1359, established a permanent delegation to oversee the Crown (the Deputation of the General, forerunner of the Generalitat de Catalunya ). The Catalan Courts, as well as the other institutions of the Principality and the administrative use of Catalan language, were abolished by the Nueva Planta decrees in 1716 after

9030-453: The adoption of a democratic Spanish Constitution in 1978, in which Catalonia recovered political and cultural autonomy, restoring the Generalitat (exiled since the end of the Civil War in 1939) in 1977 and adopting a new Statute of Autonomy in 1979, which defined Catalonia as a "nationality". The first elections to the Parliament of Catalonia under this Statute gave the Catalan presidency to Jordi Pujol , leader of Convergència i Unió (CiU),

9159-451: The autonomous government. After the Spanish Civil War , the Francoist dictatorship enacted repressive measures, abolishing Catalan self-government and banning the official use of the Catalan language. After a period of autarky , from the late 1950s through to the 1970s Catalonia saw rapid economic growth , drawing many workers from across Spain, making Barcelona one of Europe's largest industrial metropolitan areas and turning Catalonia into

9288-412: The base and promoter for the Crown's Mediterranean trade and expansionism. In the later Middle Ages, Catalan literature flourished. In 1469, the monarchs of the crowns of Aragon and Castile were married and ruled their realms together, retaining all of their distinct institutions and legislation. During the Franco-Spanish War (1635–1659), the Principality of Catalonia revolted (1640–1652) against

9417-531: The beginning of the construction of copper objects. The Bronze Age occurred between 1800 and 700   BC. There are few remnants of this era, but there were some known settlements in the low Segre zone. The Bronze Age coincided with the arrival of the Indo-Europeans through the Urnfield Culture , whose successive waves of migration began around 1200   BC, and they were responsible for

9546-601: The century onwards, the Renaixença , among both the working class and the bourgeoisie. Right after the fall of the First Spanish Republic (1873–1874) and the subsequent restoration of the Bourbon dynasty (1874), Catalan nationalism began to be organized politically under the leadership of the republican federalist Valentí Almirall . The anarchist movement had been active throughout the last quarter of

9675-537: The city of Barcelona, on 11 September 1714. After the destruction of the Citadel, in 1868, the old arsenal was converted into a palace by the architect Pere Falqués, in order to receive the royal family during the 1888 Barcelona Universal Exposition . In 1900, the building became the Local Museum of Decorative and Archaeological Arts ( Museo Municipal de Arte Decorativo y Arqueológico in Spanish). In 1932, after

9804-490: The clergy, the feudal nobles and the citizens of Royal towns such as Barcelona or Girona . Inhabitants of feudal towns (such as Cardona ) were not represented, except by their overlords. The main function of the Corts was legislative, either in approving laws proposed by the monarch ( Constitucions ) or at their own initiative ( capítols de cort ). Although the Catalan Courts met at irregular intervals, it also formally approved

9933-479: The comital authority under the new feudal order. To fulfill that purpose, Ramon Berenguer began the modification of the legislation in the written Usages of Barcelona , being one of the first European compilations of feudal law. In 1137, Ramon Berenguer IV, Count of Barcelona decided to accept King Ramiro II of Aragon 's proposal to receive the Kingdom of Aragon and to marry his daughter Petronila , establishing

10062-526: The countryside were in the hands of the Carlist faction ; the latter proposed to reestablish the institutional systems suppressed by the Nueva Planta decrees in the ancient realms of the Crown of Aragon. The consolidation of the liberal state saw a new provincial division of Spain, including Catalonia, which was divided into four provinces (Barcelona, Girona, Lleida and Tarragona). In the second third of

10191-679: The creation of the first proto-urban settlements. Around the middle of the 7th century   BC, the Iron Age arrived in Catalonia. In pre-Roman times, the area that is now called Catalonia in the north-east of Iberian Peninsula – like the rest of the Mediterranean side of the peninsula – was populated by the Iberians . The Iberians of this area – the Ilergetes , Indigetes and Lacetani (Cerretains) – also maintained relations with

10320-630: The de facto power of the armed popular militias. Violent confrontations between the workers' parties ( CNT-FAI and POUM against the PSUC ) culminated in the defeat of the first ones in 1937. The situation resolved itself progressively in favor of the Generalitat, but at the same time the Generalitat lost most of its autonomous powers within Republican Spain. In 1938 Franco's troops broke the Republican territory in two, isolating Catalonia from

10449-590: The dynastic union of the County of Barcelona with Aragon, creating a composite monarchy later known as the Crown of Aragon and making the Catalan counties that were vassalized or merged with the County of Barcelona into a principality of the Aragonese Crown. During the reign of his son Alphons , in 1173, Catalonia was regarded as a legal entity for the first time, while the Usages of Barcelona were compiled in

10578-540: The eastern Pyrenees were established by the Frankish kingdom as a defensive barrier against Muslim invasions. In the 10th century, the County of Barcelona became progressively independent. In 1137, Barcelona and the Kingdom of Aragon were united by marriage, resulting in a composite monarchy known as the Crown of Aragon . Within the Crown, the Catalan counties merged in to a polity, the Principality of Catalonia , developing its own institutional system, such as Catalan Courts , Generalitat and constitutions , becoming

10707-674: The election, the candidacy was supported by the Endavant , Poble Lliure , Internationalist Struggle , In Struggle and Corrent Roig parties and the Col·lectiu Drassanes , Constituents per la Ruptura , Arran , Sindicat d'Estudiants dels Països Catalans and Coordinadora Obrera Sindical organizations, as well as local parties Alternativa d'Esquerres de Cornellà , Alternativa d'Esquerres del Prat , Compromís per Ripollet and Alternativa Ciutadana de Rubí . The party won 336,375 votes, almost tripling its previous results, and

10836-470: The elections to the Catalan parliament in February 2021, the CUP stood in coalition with Let's Win Catalonia (Catalan: Guanyem Catalunya ), a party formed by the former mayor of Badalona , Dolors Sabater . She was the leading candidate for the coalition in the province of Barcelona. CUP-Guanyem Catalunya obtained 6.67% of the votes and, increasing its seats from 4 to 9, became the fifth largest force in

10965-472: The electoral victory of the left wing Popular Front in February 1936, the Government of Catalonia was pardoned and the self-government was restored. The defeat of the military rebellion against the Republican government in Barcelona placed Catalonia firmly in the Republican side of the Spanish Civil War . During the war, there were two rival powers in Catalonia: the de jure power of the Generalitat and

11094-520: The first factory in the country to make use of the steam engine . The first railway on the Iberian Peninsula was built between Barcelona and Mataró in 1848. A policy to encourage company towns also saw the textile industry flourish in the countryside in the 1860s and 1870s. Although the policy of Spanish governments oscillated between free trade and protectionism, protectionist laws become more common. To this day Catalonia remains one of

11223-520: The first king to rule the Crowns of Castile and Aragon simultaneously by his own right. Following the death of his paternal ( House of Habsburg ) grandfather, Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor , he was also elected Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor , in 1519. Over the next few centuries, the Principality of Catalonia was generally on the losing side of a series of wars that led steadily to an increased centralization of power in Spain. Despite this fact, between

11352-587: The first time, it would compete in the November 2019 Spanish general election . It chose to do so because of the "exceptional democratic circumstances, marked by repression and criminalization of independentism and the repeated violation of civil and social rights on the part of the Spanish state". The party formed the Popular Unity Candidacy–For Rupture coalition together with Capgirem and incorporating Pirates of Catalonia into its lists. In

11481-585: The form of anti-capitalism , socialism , and eco-socialism . The different local candidatures are coordinated through the Municipal Assembly of the Independentist Left ( AMEI in Catalan) where the details regarding their party platform are discussed. On both the local and national level, decisions are made in assembly according to the principles of deliberative democracy . The highly decentralised nature of this party stems from

11610-621: The full house after the shortest debate allowed by the rules of order. Thus, while control of the Bureau and the Spokespersons' Council is definitely important, it is not a critical matter as it sometimes becomes in other systems. The definition and functions of the Parliament of Catalonia are defined by the Title II, Chapter I of the Statute of Autonomy. According to the Statute, the Parliament: The official home of Parliament

11739-451: The general assembly of the CUP met in Molins de Rei and decided, with 77% in favour, to run for the first time in the 2012 Catalan regional election . For this purpose, the CUP decided use the name Candidatura d'Unitat Popular – Alternativa d'Esquerres (Popular Unity Candidacy – Left-Wing Alternative) in order to include independent candidates who chose to run on CUP lists. David Fernàndez,

11868-489: The general public be allowed to vote on important issues in referendums , and have suggested the creation of representative recall ( Catalan : Iniciativa Popular Revocatòria ), which would allow the general public to remove elected officials from office before their term expires. As part of its belief in municipalism , it also has defended the creation of an Assembly of Councillors ( Catalan : Assemblea de Regidors i Regidores Electes ), made up of municipal councillors, as

11997-627: The government were restored in February 1936 after the victory of Popular Front in the Spanish election , and abolished by the dictator Francisco Franco at the beginning of the occupation of Catalonia during the Spanish Civil War . The Parliament of Catalonia, like the rest of the institutions of the Generalitat, went to exile in 1939. After the death of Franco in 1975 and the subsequent first years of Spanish transition to democracy , claims by most of Catalan society and political spectrum, from communists to liberals, to restore self-government grew. The Generalitat came back from exile in 1977. In 1979,

12126-527: The ideology of the CUP as having a " libertarian socialist and even anarcho-syndicalist character". The party observes a pay cap, limiting monthly wages for its elected officials to between €1,671 and €1,894 depending on family situation. Since 2003, the presence of the CUP in Catalan municipal politics has increased steadily. In 2003, the CUP ran alone in 10 municipalities in Catalonia , winning four council seats in three towns. In 8 more municipalities,

12255-598: The inhabitants of the Principality. In order to collect general taxes, the Catalan Courts of 1359 established a permanent representative body, known as the "Deputation of the General" or Generalitat , which gained considerable political power over the next centuries. The domains of the Aragonese Crown were severely affected by the Black Death pandemic and by later outbreaks of the plague . Between 1347 and 1497 Catalonia lost 37   percent of its population. In 1410,

12384-480: The king. The legislation of Catalonia had to be passed the Catalan Courts ( Corts Catalanes ), one of the first parliamentary bodies of Europe that, since 1283, obtained the power to legislate with the monarch. The Courts were composed of the three Estates organized into "arms" ( braços ), were presided over by the monarch, and approved the Catalan constitutions , which established a compilation of rights for

12513-613: The last reigning monarch of the House of Barcelona, King Martin I died without surviving descendants. Under the Compromise of Caspe (1412), the representatives of the kingdoms of Aragon, Valencia and the Principality of Catalonia appointed Ferdinand from the Castilian House of Trastámara as King of the Crown of Aragon. During the reign of his son, John II , the persistent economic crisis and social and political tensions in

12642-399: The most industrialised areas of Spain. In the same period, Barcelona was the focus of industrial conflict and revolutionary uprisings known as "bullangues". In Catalonia, a republican current began to develop among the progressives, attrackting many Catalans who favored the federalisation of Spain. Meanwhile, the Catalan language saw a Romantic cultural renaissance from the second third of

12771-554: The name Catalunya is subject to diverse interpretations because of a lack of evidence. One theory suggests that Catalunya derives from the name Gothia (or Gauthia ) Launia ("Land of the Goths "), since the origins of the Catalan counts, lords and people were found in the March of Gothia, known as Gothia , whence Gothland > Gothlandia > Gothalania > Cathalaunia > Catalonia theoretically derived. During

12900-618: The name " Catalonia " for these counties dates to 1117. At the end of the 9th   century, the Count of Barcelona Wilfred the Hairy (878–897) made his titles hereditaries and thus founded the dynasty of the House of Barcelona , which reigned in Catalonia until 1410. In 988 Borrell II , Count of Barcelona, did not recognise the new French king Hugh Capet as his king, evidencing the loss of dependency from Frankish rule and confirming his successors (from Ramon Borrell I onwards) as independent of

13029-441: The new Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia recognized the restoration of the Parliament. The first legislature of the current Parliament of Catalonia was elected on 20 March 1980 , 48 years after the first election in 1932. Convergència i Unió (CiU) a center-right Catalan nationalist electoral coalition won the plurality of seats, reaching 48 of 135 seats, and thus giving the presidency of the Generalitat to its leader Jordi Pujol ,

13158-416: The next period, publishing in Catalan continued throughout his rule. The years after the war were extremely hard. Catalonia, like many other parts of Spain, had been devastated by the war. Recovery from the war damage was slow and made more difficult by the international trade embargo and the autarkic politics of Franco's regime. By the late 1950s, the region had recovered its pre-war economic levels and in

13287-612: The next prehistoric era, the Epipalaeolithic or Mesolithic , important remains survive, the greater part dated between 8000 and 5000   BC, such as those of Sant Gregori ( Falset ) and el Filador ( Margalef de Montsant). The most important sites from these eras, all excavated in the region of Moianès , are the Balma del Gai (Epipaleolithic) and the Balma de l'Espluga (late Epipaleolithic and Early Neolithic). The Neolithic era began in Catalonia around 5000   BC, although

13416-479: The other hand, republican federalists and left-wing Catalan nationalists made their own proposals of a liberal and democratic Catalan assembly. The first achievement of Catalan nationalism (led at that time by the Regionalist League ), the Commonwealth of Catalonia (1914–25), was an institution composed by the provincial councils ( diputaciones ) of Barcelona , Girona , Lleida and Tarragona , which included

13545-517: The peoples of the Mediterranean. Some urban agglomerations became relevant, including Ilerda ( Lleida ) inland, Hibera (perhaps Amposta or Tortosa ) or Indika ( Ullastret ). Coastal trading colonies were established by the ancient Greeks , who settled around the Gulf of Roses , in Emporion ( Empúries ) and Roses in the 8th century BC . The Carthaginians briefly ruled the territory in the course of

13674-562: The philosopher Ramon Llull , the Valencian poet Ausiàs March , and Joanot Martorell , author of the novel Tirant lo Blanch , published in 1490. Ferdinand II of Aragon , the grandson of Ferdinand I, and Queen Isabella I of Castile were married in 1469, later taking the title the Catholic Monarchs ; subsequently, this event was seen by historiographers as the dawn of a unified Spain. At this time, though united by marriage,

13803-426: The population was slower to develop fixed settlements than in other places, thanks to the abundance of woods, which allowed the continuation of a fundamentally hunter-gatherer culture. An example of such settlements would be La Draga at Banyoles, an "early Neolithic village which dates from the end of the 6th millennium   BC." The Chalcolithic period developed in Catalonia between 2500 and 1800   BC, with

13932-543: The process to turn them into the law and custom of Catalonia ( Consuetudinem Cathalonie ), being considered one of the "milestones of Catalan political identity". In 1258, by means of the Treaty of Corbeil , James I of Aragon King of Aragon and Count of Barcelona , king of Mallorca and of Valencia, renounced his family rights and dominions in Occitania , while the king of France, Louis IX , formally relinquished to any historical claim of feudal lordship he might have over

14061-472: The proclamation of the Second Spanish Republic and the grant of self-government to Catalonia, the building was chosen by the newly created Catalan Parliament. The building was renovated by the decorator Santiago Marco, transforming the throne room into the session chamber, and on the facade the Bourbon coat of arms was replaced by the Blazon of Catalonia . The inaugural session was held on 6 December 1932. After

14190-517: The public debt "illegitimate". It also calls for an end to nuclear energy , with the use of sustainable energy in its stead. It also calls for a ban on GMOs and the creation of an "ecological economy". The CUP believes in full civic rights for all inhabitants of the Catalan Countries, including migrants. It also calls for voting rights for everyone over 16 years of age as well as an end to discrimination against women and LGBT people. In an interview with Jacobin magazine , Boaz Vilallonga described

14319-478: The publication of books on those subjects or simply discussion of them in open meetings, was banned. Franco's regime banned the use of Catalan in government-run institutions and during public events, and the Catalan institutions of self-government were abolished. The pro-Republic of Spain president of Catalonia, Lluís Companys , was taken to Spain from his exile in the German-occupied France and

14448-715: The rest of the Republican territory. The defeat of the Republican army in the Battle of the Ebro led in 1938 and 1939 to the occupation of Catalonia by Franco's forces. The defeat of the Spanish Republic in the Spanish Civil War brought to power the dictatorship of Francisco Franco , whose first ten-year rule was particularly violent, autocratic, and repressive both in a political, cultural, social, and economical sense. In Catalonia, any kind of public activities associated with Catalan nationalism , republicanism , anarchism , socialism , liberalism , democracy or communism , including

14577-607: The rightward turn of the Republican government by its inclusion of CEDA ministers, self-proclaimed anti-Marxist and anti-democratic totalitarian traditionalists close to the European fascists , and the rejection by the Republican Court of Constitutional Guarantees (Constitutional Court of that time) of the emancipatory Crop Contracts Law land reform bill passed by the Parliament of Catalonia. The unilateral declaration of sovereignty lasted 10 hours. The Parliament and

14706-526: The seed of repeated territorial conflicts within the state. At the beginning of the nineteenth century, Catalonia was severely affected by the Napoleonic Wars . In 1808, it was occupied by French troops under general Guillaume Philibert Duhesme after he conquered Barcelona; the resistance against the occupation eventually developed into the Peninsular War . The rejection of French dominion

14835-427: The sixth largest party in terms of vote share. As a result, the CUP won a total of 104 municipal council seats; four towns had CUP mayors . Also, it held 11 seats on different comarca councils . In 2012, after snap elections were declared by Catalan president Artur Mas , different local branches of the CUP organised assemblies open to the general public in order to debate whether the CUP should run. On 13 October,

14964-543: The south of the Frankish Empire in the former province of Septimania and in the northeast of the Iberian Peninsula, to act as a defensive barrier for the Frankish Empire against further Muslim invasions from Al-Andalus. These counties came under the rule of the counts of Barcelona , who were Frankish vassals nominated by the emperor of the Franks, to whom they were feudatories (801–988). The earliest known use of

15093-472: The twelfth to the fifteenth centuries. The need to secure troops and revenue led to the steady expansion of the Count's Court (Royal Court after the dynastic union of Barcelona and the Kingdom of Aragon , creating the Crown of Aragon ) and a formalisation of its procedures. It came to be referred to as the Cort General de Catalunya or Corts catalanes (General Court of Catalonia or Catalan Courts), and

15222-434: The winning bloc would always win three quarters of the votes (68 seats), thus ensuring a majority, with the second biggest bloc being awarded the remainder (17 seats). This system heavily punished minor parties, making it extremely difficult for them to gain representation. The Parliament of Catalonia's Leadership resides in the Bureau of the Parliament comprising a President (Speaker), two Vice Presidents who chair debate when

15351-519: Was already a colony of Roman law since 45   BC). It was a rich agricultural province (olive oil, wine, wheat ), and the first centuries of the Empire saw the construction of roads (the most important being the Via Augusta , parallel to Mediterranean coastline) and infrastructure like aqueducts . Conversion to Christianity , attested in the 3rd   century, was completed in urban areas in

15480-419: Was annexed to France and organized as four departments . The French troops evacuated Catalan territory at the end of 1814. After the Bourbon restoration in Spain and the death of the absolutist king Ferdinand VII (1833), Carlist Wars erupted against the newly established liberal state of Isabella II . Catalonia was divided, with the coastal and most industrialized areas supporting liberalism, while most of

15609-675: Was awarded 10 seats in the Catalan Parliament. That placed it in the position of kingmaker , with enough seats to form a pro-independence alliance with Together for Yes , which obtained 62 seats. After three months of negotiations in which the CUP rejected the presidency of incumbent Artur Mas , the CUP and Together for Yes reached an agreement by which Carles Puigdemont , mayor of Girona , became president of Catalonia. Nevertheless, while eight CUP MPs voted in favor of Puigdemont's presidency, two abstained to "express their differences" with Together for Yes. As part of this agreement, two CUP MPs are to work closely with Together for Yes in order to ensure

15738-478: Was carried out. Today, Catalonia remains one of the most economically dynamic communities of Spain. The Catalan capital and largest city, Barcelona, is a major international cultural centre and a major tourist destination. In 1992, Barcelona hosted the Summer Olympic Games . In November 2003, elections to the Parliament of Catalonia gave the government to a left-wing Catalanist coalition formed by

15867-475: Was contested by important sectors of the Spanish society, especially by the conservative People's Party , which sent the law to the Constitutional Court of Spain . In 2010, the Court declared non-valid some of the articles that established an autonomous Catalan system of Justice, improved aspects of the financing, a new territorial division, the status of Catalan language or the symbolical declaration of Catalonia as

15996-528: Was control by the Republican Left of Catalonia ( Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya , ERC), which won the absolute majority of seats, while the conservative Regionalist League , almost hegemonic in Catalonia during the reign of Alfonso XIII , reached the second place but far from the Republican Left. Lluís Companys was appointed the first speaker of the Parliament. The Parliament appointed

16125-458: Was deemed unconstitutional by the Spanish state. The Spanish Senate voted in favour of enforcing direct rule by removing the Catalan government and calling a snap regional election . The Spanish Supreme Court imprisoned seven former ministers of the Catalan government on charges of rebellion and misuse of public funds, while several others—including then-President Carles Puigdemont —fled to other European countries. Those in prison were pardoned by

16254-481: Was endowed with formal procedures, effectively written constitutions, by King Peter III of Aragon in 1283, making this institution the policymaking and legislative body of the Principality of Catalonia . It was the first parliament of Europe to officially obtain the right of legislate, beyond the already established custom. The Corts Catalanes were summoned and presided by the king as count of Barcelona, being composed of Three Estates ( Tres Braços ), representing

16383-496: Was institutionalized with the creation of "juntas" (councils) who, remaining loyal to the Bourbons, exercised the sovereignty and representation of the territory due to the disappearance of the old institutions. Napoleon took direct control of Catalonia to reestablish order, creating the Government of Catalonia under the rule of Marshall Augereau , and making Catalan briefly an official language again. Between 1812 and 1814, Catalonia

16512-474: Was lost to France by the Treaty of the Pyrenees (1659). The most significant conflict concerning the governing monarchy was the War of the Spanish Succession (1701–1715), which began when the childless Charles II of Spain , the last Spanish Habsburg, died without an heir in 1700. Charles II had chosen Philip V of Spain from the French House of Bourbon . Catalonia, like other territories that formed

16641-468: Was tortured and executed in the Montjuïc Castle of Barcelona for the crime of 'military rebellion'. During later stages of Francoist Spain , certain folkloric and religious celebrations in Catalan resumed and were tolerated. Use of Catalan in the mass media had been forbidden but was permitted from the early 1950s in the theatre. Despite the ban during the first years and the difficulties of

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