Catalonia

Encyclopædia Orbis Latini

In Spanish Cataluña, in Catalan Catalunya.
 

General Informartion

Catalonia is the richest and most highly industrialized part of Spain. The capital is Barcelona. Catalonia was formerly a principality of the crown of Aragon, and it has played an important role in the history of the Iberian Peninsula. From the 17th century it was the centre of a separatist movement that sometimes dominated Spanish affairs.

Area: 31,930 square km (12,328 square miles). Population: 6,099,319 (1988 est.).
 

Geography

The provinces of Tarragona, Barcelona, and Gerona have a Mediterranean shoreline, with coastal plains ringed by the low-lying Catalanides ranges. The Catalanides have historically separated the industrial towns of the coast from the predominantly agricultural settlements of the hinterlands. North of the Catalanides is a high tableland that comprises most of Lerida province. The principal rivers in Catalonia are the Ter, Llobrégat, and the Ebro, all of which run into the Mediterranean. A Mediterranean climate prevails throughout most of Catalonia, with hot, dry summers and mild, relatively rainy winters.
 

Demographic Pattern

Economy

The Catalan textile industry first achieved prominence between 1283 and 1313 and has remained the region's premier industry. Barcelona, Sabadell, and Tarrasa are leading textile centres. The industrial sector has undergone rapid expansion and diversification since the 1950s, and the metalworking, food-processing, and chemical industries are steadily overtaking textiles in importance. Textile, papermaking and graphic arts, chemicals, and metalworking industries are concentrated in Barcelona. One of the city's plants produces many of Spain's industrial motor vehicles. Catalonia's growing demand for petroleum products has led to the expansion of Barcelona's petroleum refineries. Services, particularly those of tourism and transportation, are highly developed.
 

History

From 1137, when Count Ramon Berenguer IV of Barcelona was betrothed to Petronila, queen of Aragon, Catalonia and Aragon were united under the same ruler. Catalonia monopolized trade in the western Mediterranean in the 13th and 14th centuries, and Catalan interests dominated the union with Aragon until 1410, when the male line of the counts of Barcelona became extinct. Dissatisfaction in Catalonia with the new Trastámara dynasty of Aragon increased after 1412; during the reign of John II it developed into a full-scale but unsuccessful rebellion (1462-72).

After the marriage of John II's son Ferdinand with Isabella of Castile (1469) had brought about the unification of Spain, Catalonia became of secondary importance in Spanish affairs. Though it retained its autonomy and Generalitat (assembly), by the 17th century its conflict of interest with Castile, along with the decline of the Spanish monarchy's prestige, led to the first of a series of Catalan separatist movements. In 1640 Catalonia revolted against Spain and placed itself under the protection of Louis XIII of France, but the revolt was quelled in the 1650s. In the War of the Spanish Succession, Catalonia declared its support for the archduke Charles and resisted the accession of the Bourbon dynasty in Spain, but in 1714 it was completely subjugated by the forces of the Bourbon Philip V, who abolished the Catalan constitution and autonomy.

Catalan separatism reemerged in the 19th century in the support given to Carlism. The resurgence really began in the 1850s, however, when serious efforts were made to revive Catalan as a living language with its own press and theatre. Catalan nationalism became a serious force after 1876 when the defeat of the Carlists led the church to transfer its support to the movement for autonomy. By 1913 Catalonia had won a slight degree of home rule, but the legislation conferring it was repealed in 1925 by Primo de Rivera, who attacked all manifestations of Catalan separatism. Rivera's policy led to the formation of a left-wing coalition party in Catalonia, the Esquerra Republicana. The Esquerra won a sweeping victory in the municipal elections of 1931, and two days later its leader proclaimed a Catalan Republic. A compromise was worked out with the central government, and in September 1932 the statute of autonomy for Catalonia became law. Catalonia played a prominent role in the history of Republican Spain and in the Civil War (1936-39). The Nationalists' victory in 1939 meant the loss of autonomy, however, and General Francisco Franco's government adopted a repressive policy toward Catalan nationalism.

The establishment of democratic rule in Spain after Franco's death did not lessen Catalonia's desire for autonomy, and in September 1977 limited autonomy was granted to the region. Full autonomy was granted in 1979 with the establishment of the autonomous community of Catalonia. The government established in 1979 consists of a Generalitat (an executive council headed by a president) and a unicameral parliament.