Catalonia has long been an autonomous region in Spain; this means they have their own language (Catalan), Parliament and President (Carles Puigdement) and police force. However, despite this Statute of Autonomy, the Catalans have longed for freedom and independence from Spain completely. Separatists views are ever-increasing and have gained international recognition, especially since the illegal referendum that took place back on the 1st of October 2017. The referendum was deemed illegal due to Spain's democratic constitution of 1978 (which was approved by more than 90% of Catalan voters) and gives wide autonomy to Catalonia but also declares the "indissoluble unity of the Spanish nation". Only the Spanish parliament has the power to change the constitution .
Therefore, when Carles Puigdement ignored this and went ahead with the referendum, the scenes on the day of the vote included police in riot gear beating peaceful protestors with batons, dragging voters out by the hair or throwing them down stairs, firing rubber bullets to disperse crowds- even striking at Catalan firefighters and jostling with Catalan police.
With the news story dominating the media, I began asking myself whether or not I wanted Catalonia's independence, and then further questions such as 'why does Catalonia want to be independent from Spain?' and 'How long has this battle been going on for?'. Using the knowledge I gained from my Spanish lessons, I knew that Francisco Franco's Dictatorship after the Spanish Civil War hugely affected Catalonia, supressing the region and riding them of their autonomy. Knowing this, I began to wonder the effect it may have had on Catalonia and if their fight for independence stemmed from the suppression. From my research I discovered their battle started even before Francoist Spain, although the Dictatorship did play an important role.
In this project, I have therefore decided to extend my research past Franco's Dictatorship as it is necessary to understand all the desires behind the secessionist movement and its evolution across the years. I will explore background information on Catalonia and Francisco Franco, the Dictatorship and its specific effect on Catalonia, further reasons for independence and Catalan opinions. In order to include all of this information, my chosen title is 'To what extent did Franco's Dictatorship influence Catalonia's battle for independence?'.
Background information on Catalonia and the origins of the secessionist movement
Made up of the provinces of Girona, Barcelona, Tarragona and Lleida, Catalonia sits in the north-eastern corner of Spain and is bordered by France and Andorra to the North, the Mediterranean Sea to the East, Valencia to the South and Aragon to the West. The population of this autonomous region is approximately 7.5 million and holds 15% of the total Spanish population. Barcelona, the second largest city in Spain and seventh most populous urban area in the EU, acts as the Capital of Catalonia . Both Castilian Spanish and Catalan are recognised as official languages of the Region. The 11th of September is celebrated every year by Catalans and is known as 'La Diada' and serves as their national holiday. The day commemorates the Siege of Barcelona, when on the 11th September 1714, Catalan troops were forced to surrender to the Castilian forces towards the end of the War of the Spanish Succession. From then on, all institutions of Catalonia were destroyed, and they became part of the Spanish kingdom. After this surrender, Spain's Bourbon monarchy banned the official usage of Catalan and it was not revived until the 19th century.
After a long period of repression, 'La Diada' was reinstated after 94 years in 1980 . In recent years, La Diada has been used as an annual show of force by Catalan separatists: in 2013 the demonstrators formed a human chain that crossed Catalonia. In 2014, the Diada took the shape of a seven-mile-long 'V' for 'vote' down two of the main avenues of Barcelona. In 2015, the Diada march resembled a human arrow. In 2016, separatists held smaller demonstrations in five cities, rather than just Barcelona.
These demonstrations have been coordinated since 2012 by two citizens' associations- Ã’mnium Cultural and the Catalan National Assembly. Founded in 1961, Ã’mnium Cultural was briefly closed down by Franco's regime. It worked to keep the banned Catalan language alive and gave clandestine training to a new generation of teachers, so that when democracy finally arrived, they would be prepared to teach Catalan in schools .
The secessionist movement officially began in 1922 when the political party 'Estat Català ' was founded by Francesc Macià and in 1931, joined with other parties to form a Catalan Republic. After negotiating with the Second Spanish Republic, the Catalan Republic accepted autonomy within the Spanish State. Francisco Franco, Dictator of Spain following the Civil War, rid Catalonia of all autonomy in 1938 and was only re-established after his death in 1975 . Two months after his death, Spain was still more than a year away from democratic elections, and part of the political and cultural censorship of the Dictatorship was still in place. Manel Armengol, a Catalan journalist, witnessed a violent episode in Spain's political transition. On 1st of February 1976, Armengol was sent by his weekly publication Hoja del lunes, to cover a street protest. The demonstrators were calling for freedom, and amnesty for all political prisoners, and the establishment of a statute of autonomy for Catalonia. The overriding concern, Armengol said, was 'really to make sure that the death of Franco meant freedom for everybody, that decades of opposition to Franco would now bring change and that his death didn't somehow mean that the Dictatorship was not also dead.'
Around the year 2006, a more modern secessionist movement formed, where instead of focusing on autonomy, more and more Catalans were fixed on Independence entirely. As an official referendum has not yet been allowed by the Spanish Government, opinion polls are an important barometer. In June 2012, separatists welcomed the first poll in which a majority of 51.1% of respondents said they wanted independence. Since then, the Centre d'Estudis d'Opinió, an official Catalan agency, has published several polls showing something akin to a technical draw, with small oscillations. By November 2016, the same poll had swung back slightly against the secessionists, with 45.1% against independence, versus 44.9% in favour. Still Catalan polls have continued to show strong support for an independence referendum- which if they would have been allowed to hold may have resolved the independence debate from secessionists and prevented the crisis Spain now faces since the illegal referendum .
Who is Francisco Franco and how did he get into power?
Francisco Franco (1892-1975) was born into a military family and therefore served in Spanish Morocco for 17 years ; during which he made a name for himself, survived a gunshot wound to the abdomen and at the age of 33 became the youngest General in Europe. In 1936, Franco became Chief of staff for the military and revolted against the Popular Front which then led to him being appointed 'Generalissimo' of Nationalist Spain and Head of State. From then he was recognised by Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy as the ruler of Spain and in 1939 he was officially recognised as Head of Spain.
Franco's ruling over Spain can only be described as a Military Dictatorship and the period he ruled for is most known as 'Francoist Spain'. Franco's regime worked closely with the Catholic Church and consisted of outlawing anything that did not agree with catholic beliefs; this included contraceptives, homosexuality, practice of any other religion, prostitution, and divorce . Furthermore, he banned all autonomous languages (Basque and Catalan), and established a network of secret police to spy of civilians. Censorship also played a large role in the suppression that the country fell under during Franco's Dictatorship due to his desire for ideological unity in Spain. Predominantly, censorship included public display of liberal political ideology, art forms such as literature and film and symbols of foreign, non-conservative ideologies. Franco implemented a Press Law (only positive news was allowed and nothing negative about Franco could have been ushered), limited political and cultural discussions and materials were examined and screened for elements relating to sex, politics or religion .
However, as Franco aged and his health declined, his control over Spain became more relaxed. During these later years, Franco removed some of the limitations of the censorship, initiated economic reforms, promoted Spain as a touristic holiday destination and even named his successor; Prince Juan Carlos. This decision reinstated Spain's monarchy to whom Franco thought would follow the political structure he created, however following his death, Juan Carlos wasted no time in reinstating a democratic government and Spain has remained this way ever since.
What was the impact of the Dictatorship/Regime on Catalonia?
It is safe to say that Catalonia took a large step backwards during Franco's Dictatorship, the autonomy they had fought for was stripped from them; banning the Catalan language and having to use the Castilian version of their names on their official papers and documents. Even just Speaking Catalan could have landed you in jail . With the Catalan language being erased, the Francoist authorities undertook an intense activity to change all the nomenclature in Catalan of localities, place names, public roads, advertising signs, the names of commercial establishments and institutions, in many cases to avoid any Catalan connotation and / or to honour the characters and institutions of the new regime. This also meant changing the name of the region 'Catalunya' to 'Cataluña' (Catalan to Castilian). All Catalan influences/language disappeared from the cinema, the radio, the press and telegraphic correspondence. It is estimated that some twenty newspapers and a hundred magazines that were published in Catalan disappeared. In many public libraries, books written in Catalan were removed during the first years. Publishing in this language became almost impossible for many years, although over time this repression softened .
In addition to the repression of the Catalan language, it appears that there was a sense of overall hatred towards the people of Catalonia, known as 'anti-catalanism'. The region was considered to be full of traitors and known for its attacks against the personnel and goods of the Catholic Church. In January of 1939, a mass was celebrated in Tarragona when the canon of the cathedral, José Artero shouted; "Catalan dogs! You are not worthy of the sun that shines on you." The interior minister during the dictatorship said that Catalan nationalism was a disease . Furthermore, Culla, a Catalan historian, estimates that between 3000 and 4000 people were shot in Catalonia between 1939 and 1942, as part of Franco's purges.
During times of such repression, there is always going to be a resistance. A group called 'Maquis', who weren't restricted to Catalans, fought against the Spanish State carrying out sabotages and assassinations of Francoists, as well as contributing to the fight against Nazi Germany, and the Vichy Regime during World War II. The resistance group hid in the Pyrenees (border of Catalonia and France) to organise attacks. The most celebrated action of the group in Spain was known as 'Operation Reconquest Spain' where on the 19th of October 1944, around 6000 Maquis troops crossed the border in order to capture the section of Spanish territory between the Cinca, Segre Rivers and the French border. The act started off successfully, with many valleys and small towns being secured during the first week. The zone was declared conquered by the Republican government in exile, with the hope that it'll fuel an uprising against Franco throughout Spain. Unfortunately, the operation went bust after allied help never came and failing to conquer Vielha (the main objective of the operation), meaning the Maquis were driven back by a Francoist force made up of Guardia Civil, armed police, battalions of the Spanish Army, and 40,000 Moroccan troops. After years of trying to bring Maquis numbers back up, the group ceased to exist by 1960.
On a smaller, more peaceful scale, other forms of resistance were observed. For example, in 1951, an increase in tram fares in Barcelona that were higher than Madrid's, started a tram strike which lasted for two weeks and that the whole population of Barcelona took part in; infuriating the Captain General because he couldn't shoot citizens for not using public transport. Furthermore in 1960, during a concert celebrating the 100 years since the birth of the Catalan poet Joan Maragall (in the presence of Francoist Ministers), members of the audience burst into the prohibited Catalanist anthem.
Despite trying to rid Catalonia of their culture, not every Catalonian opposed Franco and his regime. In fact, there were many intellectuals and businessmen who supported the Dictatorship, including famous characters such as Salvador DalÃ, Josep Pla and Juan Antonio Samaranch. During his lifetime, DalÃ, had designed posters for Franco's regime and had painted a portrait of Franco's daughter. A few months before Franco's death, the ever-controversial artist even sent a telegram out to congratulate him for the latest death sentences carried out under his dictatorship.
It is also essential to recognise the people who don't remember living in the Catalonia described above; for example, Josep Cuni, a television presenter born in 1953, said "when I hear people say that everything to do with Catalan was forbidden until Franco's death, that didn't happen in the Catalonia I lived in.' Cuni was an altar boy in a church where he could speak Catalan and he spoke both Spanish and Catalan with his primary school teacher. He danced the Sardana, the Catalan folk dance, while growing up in Tiana, near Barcelona.
Catalonia after Franco's death and the regaining of autonomy
After the repression of the entire Catalan culture where Catalonia practically ceased to exist, it didn't take long for Catalan's to take back the autonomy they had once before. Straight after Franco's death, Tarradella (president of Catalonia before Franco's ruling) who was exiled from Spain, returned and held the first demonstration in Barcelona since the start of the dictatorship. Bearing in mind that the population of Barcelona at the time was 3 million, an outstanding 1 million Catalans participated in the demonstration where the former President announced 'I am here' in Catalan which sparked emotion and restored faith back into the population that had been supressed for so long . The period in time after Franco's death in 1975 was known as the 'democratic transition', during which the Spanish Constitution of 1978 was formed. This constitution recognised autonomous communities within Spain, one of which was Catalonia and their parliament 'Generalitat' was restored. Furthermore in 1979, a new Statute of Autonomy was approved which assigned more autonomy in education and culture and finally throughout the 1980s and 1990s, Catalonia established their own police force and High Court.
Other reasons for independence
The Catalan economy is undeniably a strong factor that fuels the independence movement. It is the same size as Portugal's and contributes to 19% of Spain's GDP (as much as a fifth). The region also has lower unemployment, more industry, higher foreign investment, and a superior jobs market than Spain.
The distribution of job sectors in Catalonia is:
Primary sector – 3%
Secondary sector – 37% (compared to Spain's 29%)
Tertiary sector – 60% (compared to Spain's 67%)
Made up of the Costa Brava, Costa del Maresme and Costa de Garraf, Catalonia is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Spain, as shown in the pie chart below.
It is therefore understandable that Catalonia eventually gaining independence threatens the Spanish economy, as it could shrink by as much as 30%. However, although the Catalan economy is strong, becoming independent would mean the region would leave the EU, and make 75% of its production subject to export tariffs; nevertheless, Catalan secessionists have strong beliefs that the region will be just fine.
Secessionists have additionally argued for some time now that the region sends too much money to poorer parts of Spain, as their taxes are controlled by Madrid. During Spain's crisis, the Catalan economy suffered which wouldn't have happened if they were Independent. Thousands of businesses, including major banks and energy firms, had to move their headquarters out of the region. However as much as Catalan's complain about the effect of the crisis on their region, a man called Joan Planas made a documentary and a book about the impact of the financial crisis on ordinary citizens of Spain. He interviewed strangers in bars and found that lots of people around Spain were worse off than most people seemed to be in Catalonia. And stated that 'It was clear that we all shared the need to make things better.' Planas left Catalonia as a secessionist and ended his trip opposing independence. He returned to Barcelona on 9 November 2014, when Catalonia was holding a non-binding independence vote and, on that day, Planas voted against independence. He exclaimed 'I just realised my beliefs in independence didn't make sense, there was still room to improve Spain as a whole.'
The independent movement's main goal is for their voice to be heard and to be granted a legal referendum where the debate can be settled for the mean time. Secessionists argue that although they are grateful for the autonomy they already possess, it is all governed by the Spanish State, so they don't truly have any control over the region contrarily to what is portrayed in the agreement. They want their language to be taught in schools without the debate of having to have a certain percentage of classes taught in Spanish, and they want to be in control of their own taxes. Generally, Catalans just want their own sense of identity, they don't want the confusion of having to identify as both Catalan and Spanish but just Catalan. For example, they wish to feel how English people feel from French people.
Catalans who don't want independence; why?
Although many Catalans have longed for independence, we must not forget about the majority who don't and would rather stay as part of Spain. It is important to note that on the day of the illegal referendum, there was only a 43% turnout meaning there is still strong opposition against the independence movement. Many believe that the Catalan Parliament and Puigdement are creating a false image of what Catalonia could be on their own and blaming them for 'creating war scenes in our streets'. However, they are also calling for Mariano Rajoy, the president of Spain, to send a message of love to Catalonia and hear them out in a peaceful negotiation before the divide between Spain and the region worsens.
One of the main concerns of the people who are anti-independence is being outside of the EU; this would add a tax on imports across the border meaning purchases will be more expensive and less attractive to customers in the rest of Europe. It would also mean the elevation of export costs which could end small and medium merchants; therefore, the loss of businesses.
To most Catalans, independence just doesn't make sense. Catalonia doesn't suffer from conflict, nor is it situated in a geographical location that would suit independence. Moreover, thanks to Spanish emigration, Catalonia has benefited from a demographic explosion which has also shown that 80% of Catalans have a non-Catalan grandfather; therefore, nationalism seems almost comical. All in all, the general opinion is that separatists have shown a complete disregard for the benefits of a multilingual upbringing and society. Jose Maria Marti Font, a journalist, states "Catalans can feel that they have the moral high ground, talking about democracy, about our rights and how badly we are treated by Madrid, but we don't have an army, we don't have a treasury and we don't have anything except wishful thinking." Which is sad but true, who would want to separate themselves from a country that protects them to being completely vulnerable, in the name of independence?
Recently a new movement has emerged called Tabarnia, and its aim is to become a new Spanish autonomous community which includes the provinces of Tarragona and Barcelona in the case of Catalonia succeeding in independence. These two areas show lower support for separatism and an online petition has emerged in order to be sent to the Spanish Congress of Deputies for them to consider the creation of the new autonomous region. The petition currently holds 281 000 signatures. Satirically, Tabarnians argue that Tarragona's and Barcelona's underrepresentation in the Catalan Parliament has resulted in an unfavourable finance balance towards their regions, similarly to the argument the Independence movement have put forward about economic imbalance back to Catalonia.
Conclusion:
From the research I have done, it is evident that almost every reason for being in favour of Catalonia's independence stems from Franco's Dictatorship. Although Franco's dictatorship wasn't the first time Catalonia have been forced into uniformity and stripped of their language, it is the most recent. In fact, it only happened 80 odd years ago; therefore, for some Catalans, the memory of the dictatorship is still imprinted in their minds and a separatist mentality is understandable. It is even said that parts of Franco's ruling can still be seen in Spain today, especially corruption and regional division, which is relevant in Catalonia's case. For example, by drawing on left-over Francoist centralism, the Popular Party (to which the Prime Minister of Spain is President of), has provoked hostility towards Catalonia for electoral gain and is one of the most damaging legacies of Francoism. However, in order to fully answer by own question 'to what extent did Franco's Dictatorship influence Catalonia's battle for independence?', I must account for other reasons behind the independence movement, such as; Catalonia's inter-regional transfers to Madrid, the recent financial crisis, and the Spanish government's unwillingness to negotiate with Catalonia. From these further reasons a clear pattern can be recognized, and they all point towards the control that Spain still exerts over Catalonia, even with its Statute of autonomy.
Franco's dictatorship is the most recent event that proved to Catalonia that whilst they are still part of Spain, their culture, language, and life-style can be swept away in the blink of an eye and there is always a chance it could happen again so long as they don't gain independence. I believe that the suppression they have faced on more than one occasion (Spain's Bourbon Monarchy and Francisco Franco) is the main factor that is turning more and more Catalans into secessionists. Hence, it is justifiable for me to conclude that Franco's Dictatorship had an extremely large influence on Catalonia's battle for independence, but that it is important to consider all other components that make up the independence movement which are mentioned throughout this essay.
Even though it was not mentioned in the introduction, I have additionally concluded whether or not I personally think Catalonia will succeed in becoming Independent, as it is crucial to look at future prospects of an event of such political importance. I am neither for or against the independence of Catalonia because from my perspective both arguments have a strong enough focus, however, from looking at all the data, I don't think Catalonia will become Independent any time within the next few years. In my opinion, economically, Catalonia wouldn't be able to survive without being part of the EU and geographically, independence from Spain is difficult to picture as they are so close to each other and at this moment in time the neighbouring of their locations could cause strong disagreements. After all it is not as if Catalonia is one of the islands and can forget about Spain. Moreover, with the emergence of Tabarnia, I believe that many Catalan separatists will be forced to reconsider; if they are seen to be against the movement, they could be perceived as hypocritical, since both movements stem from the same argument. Saying that, I hope that in the near future negotiations take place between Spain and Catalonia in order to decide on a mutual agreement that they can both happily and peacefully live with.