The restored Generalitat

With the death of the dictator, the mobilisations and political and social pressures increased. In June 1977 the first general elections were held and in March 1980 the elections to the Parliament of Catalonia were convoked and, against all prognosis, ‘Convergència i Unió’ [Convergence and Union] won.

At the end of 1974, the regime, in spite of the murder by vile garrotte of the anarchist Salvador Puig Antich, started to weaken. The execution of Puig Antich made the Catalan political formations increase their presence, as can be witnessed by the cycle organised in 1975 by the ‘Institut Catòlic d’Estudis Socials de Barcelona’ [Catholic Institute of Social Studies of Barcelona] which was known as ‘Les Terceres Vies a Europa’ [The Other Ways in Europe], which were a set of conferences that served for the Catalan political leaders to expose their political approaches in front of a future democracy.

Soon after the death of the dictator, the ‘Consell de Forces Polítiques de Catalunya’ [Board of Political Powers of Catalonia] was created. It was headed by ‘Convergència Democràtica de Catalunya’ [Democratic Convergence of Catalonia], which was directed by the banker and political activist Jordi Pujol, and was made up of eleven Catalan political formations. The principal aim of the Board was to construct a provisional government of the Generalitat de Catalunya.

During the government of Carlos Arias the political mobilizations multiplied against it, as for example the days convoked by the ‘Assemblea de Catalunya’ [Assembly of Catalonia] in favour of amnesty and the Statute from February 1st-8th 1976. The governmental weakness was becoming more evident, which was an event that implied, in July 1976, that Adolfo Suárez was chosen as the president of the Spanish government. In spite of the approval of general political amnesty at the end of July, the political and social pressure continued with the manifestation of September 11th 1976 in Sant Boi de Llobregat.

On December 15th 1976 the referendum was held about the ‘Llei de Reforma Política’ [Law of Political Reform]. Although Catalonia and the Basque Country had higher indexes of abstention, Suárez’ government won the consultation and forced the opposition to negotiate to realise the political transition.

The Board of Political Powers participated in the negotiations with the Spanish government, which did not please the Assembly of Catalonia or the president of the Generalitat de Catalunya in exile, that is, Josep Tarradellas because they did not want to be excluded from the future agreements. The Assembly was not in favour of negotiating with central government; however, Suárez had initiated talks with the principal leaders of the opposition.

On June 15th 1977 the first general elections were held and the ‘Unión de Centro Democrático’ [Union of Democratic Centre] party of Adolfo Suárez imposed itself. In Catalonia, the winning strength was the ‘Partit Socialista de Catalunya-Partido Socialista Obrero Español’ [Socialist Party of Catalonia- Spanish Socialist Working Class Party], which was followed by the ‘Partit Socialista Unificat de Catalunya’ [Unified Socialist Party of Catalonia]. The results of these elections propelled what is known as ‘Operació Tarradellas’ [Operation Tarradellas]. The president of the Spanish government negotiated directly with Tarradellas for the reestablishment of the Generalitat. During the first conversations, Adolfo Suárez only recognised the figure of Tarradellas and offered the possibility that a type of Mancomunitat of deputations could be built instead of the restoration of the Generalitat. This was an offering that the Catalan political formations and the president of the Generalitat de Catalunya flatly rejected.

In the course of the summer of 1977, various negotiations were undertaken between Josep Tarradellas and his collaborators with the representatives of the government. Between the negotiators of the government, we must point out the old civil governor of Barcelona, Salvador Sánchez Terán. In spite of the good development of these conversations, they remained stalled until the month of September. They were only taken up again after ‘a million people’ participated in the September 11th demonstration of 1977.

On September 28th 1977, Tarradellas and Sánchez Terán reached an agreement to re-establish the Generalitat de Catalunya and the creation of a provisional government of unity. The nomination of John Charles I as the monarch and Josep Tarradellas as the president of the Generalitat allowed Tarradellas to definitively return to the Catalan capital on October 23rd, where he was received by some three-hundred thousand people. Nevertheless, the reestablishment of the Generalitat only equalled the recognition of the Catalan government of the Second Republic, because the Catalan institution had not any of its own competencies and was basically sustained by the Diputació de Barcelona, which was also presided over by Tarradellas.

On December 5th 1977, the president of the Generalitat created a government of unity with the group of political powers who had given their support to the creation of the Statute. In spite of the lack of powers and budget, Tarradellas was able to issue some decrees, for example like that of obligatory teaching of the Catalan language in the education system. On January 28th 1978 the ‘Comissió Mixta’ [Mixed Commission] of transferrals of the government of the Generalitat was created to negotiate with the Spanish government, by which the only accomplishments were certain powers in the ambits of agriculture and town planning. In spite of the political unity shown until then, the political formation started to undertake the project of Statute without president Tarradellas, who was looking to extend the provisional period as far as he could.

In the interim, on July 21st the Constitution was approved in the Spanish Congress, which was later ratified, without obstacle, with the Constitutional Referendum of December 6th 1978. The whole of the Catalan formation with parliamentary representation gave support and carried-out canvassing for the yes vote. The said Constitution, with an appropriate direct participation from the Catalan politicians, was characterised by the search for consensus, which was an event which obliged them to renounce the sovereignty or the federal reform of the State, because they had to elaborate a text that endeavoured to satisfy all of the political powers.

The aforementioned text tried to please the Catalan and Basque posture and the emerging regionalist re-vindication which had begun to appear all over the State. This new general political panorama drove Suárez to offer all the regions of the country the possibility of becoming an autonomous community, with government, parliament and its own powers. This was a proposal which copied that which had been gained for Catalonia and which had later been known as the ‘café para todos’ [coffee for everyone]. This was an act which evidently did not please the Catalans or the Basques, because it gave rise to the attempt to dissolve their specificity.

While the debates of the Constitution went on, the process of redaction of the preliminary Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia commenced. The Assembly of Parliamentarians designated, without telling president Tarradellas, the elaboration of the text of the Statute to the group which is known as the ‘Comissió dels Vint’ [Commission of the Twenty]. As had happened with the Magna-Carta, the consensus was also quite wide, with the exception of the subject of electoral rules. The text was approved by the plenary of the Assembly, in the presence of Josep Tarradellas, on December 29th 1978, but it was not ratified by the Spanish Courts until November 29th and by the Senate on December 12th 1979. Finally, the Statute came into force on April 1st 1980. However, before the voting of the referendum for the passing of the Statute took place on October 25th 1979. The yes vote obtained an important 88,1%, all though we must say that the level of abstention was high at 40,6%.

The definitive text contained a lot of subjects which required further attention, so that, later on, the Parliament could take the decisions which were necessary. The aim of the twenty speakers was to gain a greater number of powers. The Statute defined Catalonia as a ‘nationality’ which is constituted as an autonomous community and recognised the Generalitat as the institution of Catalan self-government. It also considered Catalan as the language of Catalonia and co-official with Spanish. In spite of the numerous improvements, in comparison with the Statute of 1932, such as in fields like teaching, linguistic and cultural politics, Ministry of Finance, public works, healthcare, town planning, land planning, tourism and media, it also went backwards in such fundamental fields as justice, public order and administrative structure and left those fields that needed the cooperation between central administration and the Generalitat in a confused state.

To all of this, we must add that on March 1st 1979 general elections took place, which were won again by the UCD, although with only a slight margin. In Catalonia, the left wing formations gained the electoral victory again. Two months later, on April 3rd, the first democratic municipal elections took place with a clear predominance of the left wing parties.

On March 20th 1980, elections were held for the Parliament of Catalonia, which were won, against all prognosis, by the nationalist formation ‘Convergència i Unió’ [Convergence and Union]. The nomination of Jordi Pujol as the new president of the Generalitat de Catalunya marked the end of the provisional nature of this institution and of the government of unity presided over by Josep Tarradellas.

The Catalan Government: an Historical and Democratic Legitimacy

a Thursday, November 06, 2014

In the ongoing so-called Catalan process for democracy and in the face of the Spanish government's denial of it —along with that of the vast majority of the Spanish political class— there are some who have tried to focus the debate solely on legality versus legitimacy, ignoring all too often that this is also a debate on popular will versus...

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The Generalitat of Catalonia

a Tuesday, October 21, 2014

The Generalitat of Catalonia stems from the medieval institution which ruled, in the name of the King of the Crown of Aragon, some aspects of the administration of the Principality of Catalonia. The first Catalan constitution is that of the Corts of Barcelona from 1283. The Generalitat of Catalonia, outside Another medieval precedent-...

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How is the Catalan government organized?

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The Generalitat of Catalonia 

The Generalitat of Catalonia stems from the medieval institution which ruled, in the name of the King of the Crown of Aragon, some aspects of the administration of the Principality of Catalonia. The first Catalan constitution is that of the Corts of Barcelona from 1283. The Generalitat of Catalonia, outside Another medieval precedent read more...

The parliament of Catalonia

The Parliament is the institution that represents the people of Catalonia. It is at the heart of Catalonia’s institutional self-governing system.

The Parliament represents the people of Catalonia. As a directly and democratically elected body, the Parliament has supreme power and is the Generalitat’s most important institution – all other public institutions stem from it. The Parliament of Catalonia consists of a single chamber or house, and is independent and inviolable.Read more...

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The Catalan State. The institutions. ‘Cort General’ and ‘Diputació del General’ (or Generalitat).

On this day, 1359 were held "les Corts" in Cervera, origin of the Catalan Government so called Generalitat.
The judicial pact between the King, the Cort and the traditional principals of law which ruled the political protests, were the origin of the political and institutional history of Catalonia. The Diputació del General was the representing organ of the medieval and modern Catalan state until its abolition in 1714.

The medieval and modern states were constituted from the governing institutions which configured a defined territorial unit. It is a concept of state which is different from the contemporary state and which was not born from a political wish expressed by a popular sovereignty.

All over Europe, throughout the lower Middle Ages, governing entities were instituted which regulated the relationships of the different social classes with the monarch. The Kings were the source of power par excellence, and their environment was principally formed by the directing elite, that is, by the nobility. Therefore, the institutions of the European society of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries answered to the need to articulate the relationship between the King and nobility, by configuring a stately system which was born from the slow evolution of the feudal structure of the states.

The origin of the Diputació del General goes back to 1283, when the Corts convened by Peter II the Great established the constitution ‘Volem, estatuïm’ [We want, we establish], which was the basis of the pact regime or the agreed sovereignty. According to Catalan constitutional law, the only valid laws were those agreed upon between the king and the world classes; the ‘constitutions’ were valid if they were realised under the government’s initiative, and the court chapters could only be valid if they came from the flanks. The three flanks which composed the courts were divided in accordance with class categories: the military flank, the ecclesiastical flank and the royal flank, which was integrated by representatives of the cities and villas that belonged to the monarch’s dominion. Most of the population, farmers, craftsmen and the ‘poble menut’, in accordance with the expression of the time, were excluded from representation. Therefore, it was far from a popular and universal sovereignty.

The Courts could only be convoked by the King, in any city of Catalonia, and he had to personally preside over them. At the same time, the dispositions that were promulgated by the King without the Courts, like privileges, pragmatics or other rules had to be sanctioned at the following meeting. The negotiations between the monarch and the class representatives of the society concluded with the passing of the new legislation by the land’s government and the reparation of the legislative offences which had been committed. Afterwards, the donation was conceded to the monarch as a compensation. This supposed a considerable limit to the royal power; later on it became a definitive break to absolutism and it determined the principality’s political destiny in modern times.

To collect the royal donation, which became increasingly more important, a commission had to be nominated which took charge. This commission was the origin of what later became the Diputació del General which, in the middle of the fourteenth century, during the rule of Peter the Ceremonious, became permanent, coinciding with the growing financial demand of the monarchy. Through the Courts’ different flanks, the Diputació del General was a necessary mechanism to avoid the royal fiscal being confused with the extraordinary, as happened in Castilla or France, where the sovereign’s power was not so limited. Later on it evolved in accordance with the region’s necessities, until becoming a superior governing organ.

After the death of Martin the Humane without a successor, during the period known as Interregnum (1410-1412), and until the Compromise of Caspe and the enthronization of Ferdinand I of Trastámara, the Diputació assumed responsibilities of a political nature which, together with the initial prudence of the king, allowed it to normatively reinforce the rights of Catalonia and publish a compilation of the Catalan Constitutions. In the following Courts of 1413, the King accepted the nomination of the members of parliament without royal intervention. Later, in 1455, the system of ‘insaculació’ was introduced, which consisted in a chance election of members of parliament amongst the nominated candidates.

However, this same increase in political functions, at a time of deep economical crisis during the reign of John II, led to a constant growing tension inside the dialectic between royal power and its limitations in accordance with privileges and constitutions, which ended in a civil war that confronted the Diputació and the King from 1462 until 1472. The triumph of the royal party of Ferdinand II translated into a reform, which made the most of the bad administration and the terrible state of the finances. In this way the monarch introduced control mechanisms, like the Inquisition and the Royal Audience, as well as initiating a reform of the Barcelonan Consell de Cent, in which he introduced the ‘insaculatori’ system, with the double objective of breaking the monopoly of posts, and having more control over the institution.

The Consell de Cent had registered few changes in its functioning since its origins. However, as had happened with the Diputació del General, the lower Middle Ages crisis supposed the confrontation between the monarchy and the radicalization of the agreement positions of the municipal oligarchies.

In the case of the Consell de Cent, a profound social fracture occurred, having a strong opposition to the oligarchic government of the more ennobled honoured citizens. The cities were divided into two parties: the ‘Biga’, which was the oligarchy, and the ‘Busca’, which was initially formed by craftsmen, some honoured citizens, merchants and artists. The monarchies and the ‘buscaires’ [those belonging to the ‘Busca’ party] allied against the urban oligarchy, accomplishing a change in municipal government and the rise to power of the ‘Busca’. The most important reforms of Ferdinand II were the access of honoured citizens and lesser nobility to municipal government, and the use of the method of ‘insaculació’ (election by draw) of the municipal posts, which lasted until its abolishment in 1714.

During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, and especially after the reign of Philip II, there was a period of permanent institutional conflict, born from the absolutist position of the monarchs of the house of Habsburg and the strengthening of the defence of the agreement system by the Diputació del General. The Hispanic monarchy, which was imperial in nature, tended towards the exercise of absolute power and, therefore, to the standardization of the crown’s different states, in order to finance its external politics, which were based upon the constant war conflicts all over Europe.

The rupture between Catalan institutions and the monarchy can be seen with the outbreak of the ‘Guerra dels Segadors’ [Reaper’s War], when the unified Diputació del General and the Consell de Cent decided to confront Philip IV. Both institutions allied against the monarch’s policies, because he did not respect the region’s laws and he had brought the population to revolt and desperation by the abuses of the military lodgings of the army, which had sent the Count Duke of Olivares, to fight against France. Catalonia, led by Pau Claris, agreed to put itself under the sovereignty of France between 1640 and 1652. In contrast, King Louis XIII promised to respect all the liberties and constitutions of the region.

The Diputació del General lost importance for two decades after Philip IV had returned to sovereignty. Later on, in 1697, a new entity appeared, the ‘Conferència dels Tres Comuns’ [Conference of the Three Commons] which, until 1714, and during the War of Succession, gathered a representation of the Consell de Cent, the Diputació del General and the ‘Braç Militar’ [Military Flank] at the most critical moment before two monarchies, those of Spain and France, to the defence of the Constitutions in front of the absolutist push.

The role of the Diputació del General and the Consell de Cent during the War of Succession remained expectant during the first years of the reign of Philip V. In 1705 the Treaty of Geneva was signed, by which England promised to disembark an army in Catalonia, give military support and respect, and create the institutions. In exchange, the Catalans had to back the crowning of Charles III of Hapsburg. The Corts were held in Barcelona in 1705, during which the concessions previously made to Philip V were ratified and the Conference of the Three Commons was recognised. When, in July 1713, the English allies retreated and Catalonia remained alone in front of the Franco-Castilian troops, the Junta de Braços acted as a legitimate government, without a king, and agreed to maintain the resistance against the army of Philip V. After a long and bloody siege lasting thirteen months, the capitulation of Barcelona on September 11th 1714 signified the loss of all its institutions and the implantation of the Nueva Planta Decree.

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The study and learning of Catalan outside the region

With Franco’s victory, many intellectuals and scholars of Catalan went into exile and set-up centres aimed at maintaining the culture in many points of the world. It was a new impulse for the study and learning of Catalan which continues to this day. In 2000, the Ramon Llull Institute was created with the aim of promoting the Catalan language and culture abroad. Nowadays, the network of lecturers in Catalan reaches 107 universities in 29 countries over the five continents, with more than 5000 students registered on the courses.

Franco’s victory during the Civil War, and the constitution of the dictatorship, caused a multitudinous exile which affected all sectors of the populous, Catalan intellectuals and language scholars. In this way, at the same time as the Catalan language and culture were repressed in their own region, due to the initiatives of the exiled intellectuals, various cultural centres appeared all over the world, which were aimed at cultivating and maintaining the Catalan culture in spite of the adversity of the time. Cities like Paris, Perpignan, Mexico, Buenos Aires and Santiago de Chile became, during this period, the Catalan cultural referents and represented a new impulse in the trajectory of the study and learning of Catalan outside its region, which still lasts to this day.

During the second half of the twentieth century different societies, which were normally tied to the university ambit, were created all over the world. These were aimed at the study of the Catalan language and culture. The principal activities of these societies were the redacting and publication of studies about various aspects of the Catalan language and culture and the organization of congresses and encounters. In 1954, the Oxford Anglo-Catalan Society was created which had, amongst its members, British and exiled Catalan scholars like Josep Maria Batista Roca, Joan Mascaró Fornés and Joan Gili Serra. In 1968, in the context of a discussion in Strasburg, the International Association of Catalan Language and Literature emerged which was officially founded in Cambridge in 1973.

Every three years the association organises an international debate about themes related to Catalan philology and publishes its acts; it also publishes the scientific magazine ‘Estudis de Llengua i Literatura Catalanes’ every semester and distributes amongst its members regular information about work sessions and publications on the theme. In 1978 the ‘Associazione Italiana di Studi Catalani’ was created in Italy, following the line initiated by the rest of European Catalan associations and, the same year, during the first ‘Col·loqui d’Estudis Catalans de Nord-amèrica’ [North-American Debate about Catalan Studies], the North American Catalan Society was also created. This entity takes on an important promotion task of Catalan culture in this country and, as well as organizing a triennial debate, it published the ‘Catalan Review: International Journal of Catalan Culture’. In 1983 the Deutsch-Katalanische Gesellschaft gathered for the first time in Karlsruhe, and in 1987 they held their inaugural reunion in Frankfurt-am-Main. In 1997, this association changed its name to Deutscher Katalanistenverband, although the Catalan equivalent of both names is the German-Catalan Association. The task of these entities has been recognised during the democratic era with awards like the Saint George’s Cross or the Ramon Llull Prize, and today they form part of the International Federation of Associations of Catalan, which is tied to the Ramon Llull Institute.

The Ramon Llull Institute is a consortium that was created in 2000 and which actually is formed by the Generalitat de Catalunya, the Government of the Balearic Islands, the Government of Andorra and other institutions. Its principal objective is the exterior promotion of the Catalan language and culture, ‘in all its modalities, subjects and means of expression, as well as its promotion and teaching outside the linguistic domain, taking into account its modalities and variants. The Institute has three differentiated areas: Creation, Literature and Thought, and Language and Universities’. The Ramon Llull Institute is an integrated member of the Ramon Llull Foundation, which is constituted by the Andorran Government, the Ramon Llull Institute, the General Council of the Eastern Pyrenees, Alguer and the Network of Valencian Cities, and its headquarters are in Andorra.

With regards to the projection of Catalan culture, the role of the Institute is structured around various axes. On the one hand, it centres its task around universities, be these in the Catalan speaking regions or abroad. In 2006, 7.000 students in more than 200 centres were receiving classes in Catalan language, literature and culture. Nowadays, the network of lecturers in Catalan reaches 107 universities in 29 countries on the five continents, with more than 5.000 students registered on the courses. Another of the activities linked to the university world is the support to cathedras or centres of Catalan studies, like the Centre of Catalan Studies of the Sorbonne University, the Research Centre in Catalan Studies of the Queen Mary University in London, the Joan Coromines Cathedra of Catalan Studies in the University of Chicago, the Cañada Blanch Centre of Spanish Contemporary History of the London School of Economics and the Catalan Research Centre of the Goethe-Universität in Frankfurt.

Out of the university ambit, the Institute also offers support to one hundred-and-fourteen Catalan Communities Abroad: these are private entities who aim to promote Catalonia outside the language’s linguistic domain and to support the Catalan community who live abroad.

Over the last few years, the Ramon Llull Institute has undertaken initiatives with a quite significant social and media impact, amongst which we must point out the presence of Catalonia at various international editorial fairs. In November 2004, a Book Fair was opened in Guadalajara (Mexico) which had Catalan culture as its star guest. Three years later, the international projection of Catalan culture had reached one of the most important pinnacles of its history when it was the guest culture at the Frankfurt Book Fair, which is the most important one in the world in this field.

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About The Parliament of Catalonia

The Parliament оf Catalonia іs the unicameral legislature оf Catalonia. Іt іs formed by 135 members ("diputats"), whо аre elected every four years оr аfter extraordinary dissolution, chosen by universal suffrage іn lists wіth four constituencies, the Catalan provinces. The Parliament building іs located іn Ciutadella Park. 

The mоst recent parliamentary elections were held оn November 25, 2012. The Centre-Right ruling party, Convergence аnd Union (CiU), lost 12 seats but retained а large plurality аnd kept the control оf the Catalan Government. The second party іn number оf seats wаs the center-left independentist party Republican Left оf Catalonia (ERC), whіch signed аn agreement wіth CiU's government tо support іts pursuit fоr Catalan self-determination. Overall, pro-self-determination parties won а majority іn parliament, taking 87 оf the total 135 seats. Parties opposing the movement toward Catalan self-determination won 28 seats, while the Partit dels Socialistes de Catalunya (PSC), whіch remained relatively ambiguous оn the issue, won 20. 

History

The fіrst representative аnd legislative bodies іn Catalonia were the Sanctuary аnd Truce Assemblies оf whіch the earliest record dates frоm 1027. These were originally ad hoc, local meetings convened by the Church (Oliba, Bishop оf Vic, whо died іn 1046, wаs а notable instigator) but progressively became subsumed іntо the court оf the Counts оf Barcelona. The fіrst Catalan legal code, the Usatges de Barcelona, wаs promulgated by Count Ramon Berenguer I based оn the decisions оf these assemblies.

Although the Counts оf Barcelona, Kings оf Aragón frоm 1137, hаd greatly extended the territory under theіr control, theіr financial аnd military power wаs quite limited, partly becаuse оf theіr former status аs vassals оf the Carolingian dynasty. Theіr personal resources were particularly insufficient іn periods оf economic crisis оr military expansion, оf whіch they were many frоm the twelfth tо the fifteenth centuries. The need tо secure troops аnd revenue led tо the steady expansion оf the royal court аnd а formalisation оf іts procedures. Іt came tо be referred tо аs the Corts general de Catalunya оr Corts catalanes, аnd wаs endowed wіth formal procedures,effectively а written constitution, by King Peter III оf Aragon іn 1283.

The Corts catalanes were composed оf Three Estates (tres braços), representing the Church, the feudal nobles аnd the citizens оf Royal towns such аs Barcelona оr Girona. Inhabitants оf feudal towns (such аs Cardona) were nоt represented, except by theіr overlords. The main function оf the Corts wаs legislative, either іn approving laws proposed by the King (constitucions) оr аt theіr own initiative (capítols de cort). Although the Cortsmet аt irregular intervals (as often аs the Crown needed tо find new resources), іt аlsо formally approved the acts оf the King between theіr sessions (known аs pragmàtiques) and, frоm 1359, established а permanent delegation tо oversee the Crown (forerunner оf the Generalitat de Catalunya). The Corts catalanes were abolished by the Nueva Planta decrees іn 1715 аfter Catalonia's defeat іn the War оf the Spanish Succession.

There were several attempts іn the early 20th century tо institute аn autonomous system оf representation fоr Catalonia. The Commonwealth оf Catalonia (1914–25) wаs аn assembly оf the provincial delegations оf Barcelona, Girona, Lleida аnd Tarragona, abolished by Miguel Primo de Rivera. Аfter аn abortive declaration оf а Catalan Republic іn 1931, а separate Parliament оf Catalonia wаs established under the fіrst Statute оf Autonomy аnd elected іn 1932. Thіs Parliament wаs suspended between 1934 аnd 1936, аnd abolished by Francisco Franco іn 1938. The fіrst legislature оf the current Parliament оf Catalonia wаs elected іn 1980. 

Functions

Tо elect the President оf the Generalitat de Catalunya.

Tо pass the Catalan legislation іn the business оf іts competence.

Tо pass the Budget оf the Autonomous Community оf Catalonia.

Tо control the action оf the Government оf Catalonia аnd the autonomous agencies, public companies аnd аll оther bodies answerable tо it.

• The parliament of Catalonia
The Parliament is the institution that represents the people of Catalonia. It is at the heart of Catalonia’s institutional self-governing system.

The Parliament represents the people of Catalonia. As a directly and democratically elected body, the Parliament has supreme power and is the Generalitat’s most important institution – all other public institutions stem from it. The Parliament of Catalonia consists of a single chamber or house, and is independent and inviolable. Read more...


Video: The Parliament of Catalonia 
Campaign for internationalization of Catalan institutions: Parliament 
In line with the internationalization of the situation in Catalonia which we have so far carried out for over 3 years, Help Catalonia has launched a new campaign to publicize our institution
The first focuses on the Parliament of Catalonia. Help Catalonia first contacted the members of the Presiding Committee of the Parliament to ask them to talk about the institution they represent to the international community. Those who accepted were the President read more...

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The Catalan Republic and the Generalitat de Catalunya

20th Century AC

The fall of the regime of Miguel Primo de Rivera gave way to a ‘soft dictatorship’. The weakness of the government which was led by admiral Aznar and General Berenguer propelled the convocation of municipal elections in April 1931; these elections would deeply mark the evolution of the region over the succeeding years.

General Berenguer, faced with the instability of his own regime, convoked elections on April 12th 1931. These elections were, surprisingly, won by ‘Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya’ [Catalan Republican Left wing party] (ERC), which was a formation that had been created on March 19th of that year. In this way, ERC occupied the political domain the Regionalist League had previously occupied, which had suffered an enormous defeat together with ‘Acció Catalana’ [Catalan Action], before the dictatorship of Primo de Rivera.

The victory of the left wing political formations, which were both Catalan and Spanish, implied that the Republic was proclaimed in many cities and villages. In Barcelona, at half past one in the afternoon on April 14th, the winner at the elections, Lluís Companys, proclaimed the Republic from the balcony of the Town Hall in a ceremony which included the deployment of the three-banded Catalan flag. This situation pushed the leader of the nationalist formation, Francesc Macià to proclaim the Catalan State, in order not to loose power, which was integrated in the ‘Federació de Repúbliques Ibèriques’ [Federation of Iberian Republics]. In the evening, the Republic was proclaimed in Madrid, obliging King Alphonse XIII to go into exile. The fact that the Catalan Republic was proclaimed caused unrest in certain Spanish republican sectors, and this implied that, on April 17th, the ministers of the provisional government of the Republic, that is, Marcel·lí Domingo, Nicolau d’Olwer and Fernando de los Ríos reunited with Macià in order to force him to renounce the Catalan Republic in exchange for the reestablishment of the Generalitat de Catalunya, amongst other things, which is a petition he would finally accept.

The new political situation propelled the apparition of one of the agreements taken by the Spanish republicans to prepare a change of regime in the Treaty of Donostia in August 1930. At this meeting, which was attended by Jaume Aiguader (Catalan State) and Macià Mallol and Manuel Carrasco Formiguera (Catalan Action), it was assured that as the Republic arrived, Catalonia could benefit from a Statute of Autonomy, as long as the Spanish Courts approved it.

The Statute, which was redacted in Núria valley, was approved in plebiscite on August 2nd 1931. The participation was 75%, but 99% of the votes were affirmative. On June 28 1931, general elections were held, in which ERC amplified the political victory seen in the month of April, which was an event that implied Lluís Companys headed the Catalan minority in the Spanish Courts.

On December 9th the Spanish Constitution was passed, while the discussion of the Statute began in the Courts in May 1932. The Catalan text did not only come up against the foreseeable obstacles of the Spanish right wing party, but it also had to face certain opposition from some free-thinking intellectuals like Miguel de Unamuno and José Ortega y Gasset. The debates continued for months, which was a situation that could have lasted even longer had it not been for the failed monarchic coup d’état of General José Sanjurjo on August 10th 1932. This event made the republicans more reticent to vote in favour of the approval of the Statute.

In spite of the fact that the Catalan document demanded Catalan be considered an official language, it did accomplish for the first time that the Catalan language be considered co-official. It also obtained the exclusivity of civil law, local administration and administrative regime. However, the central state kept fields where it held legislative and executive power or just executive power. Nevertheless, some of these transfers were not accomplished until sometime later.

An ambit where the Statute did end as loosing was in the important diminishment of fiscal resources. The Catalan text requested the transfer of all the direct taxes and left the indirect ones for the Spanish State. In truth, Catalonia only acquired a territorial contribution and the royal or transmission of goods rights.

One of the sectors where the new Generalitat de Catalunya had the most influence was in education, although it was directed by the central state. In 1931, in the ambit of public primary education there were 663 classes, which turned into the not at all insignificant figure of 1.643 by 1936. In spite of the spectacular increase, schooling in Catalonia still had a high deficit in school places. In the field of secondary schooling, the number of secondary schools also rose: again all over the Catalan region they increased to twenty in number. Furthermore, the Generalitat created the ‘Institut Escola’ [Institute School], which was a training centre for future teachers.

Another ambit which experienced an important improvement was that of linguistic and cultural normalization, as witnessed by ‘Ràdio Associació de Catalunya’ [Radio Association of Catalonia], which carried out its programming exclusively in Catalan. The press also saw a relevant qualitative jump, because it went from having ten newspapers in Catalan in 1927 to twenty-five in 1933. The editing of books also found itself benefitted by this situation, as from 308 titles published in 1930 it rose to 865 in 1936. This was a development which found itself halted by Franco’s dictatorship.

On November 20th 1932 elections were held for the Parliament of Catalonia; these were characterised by two motives: the first was the political consolidation of ERC with their victory and the electoral growth of the Regionalist League; and the second was the Spanish and Catalan governments’ refusal to accede the feminine vote, in spite of the fact that the Spanish Government allowed it, for fear of a possible and unfounded feminine conservative vote.

The arrival of the Second Republic implied improvements in many aspects of society. One of those which caused the most disagreements was the agricultural reform. The changes effected in 1931 by the Catalan government in favour of the peasant’s interests clashed with those of the agricultural employers, that is, the ‘Institut Agrícola Català de Sant Isidre [Catalan Agricultural Institute of Saint Isidore], which was represented by the Regionalist League.

The Law of Cultivation Contracts, which was the name with which the agricultural reform was known, started to be raised in the Parliament at the end of September 1933. The victory of the right wing political formation in the November elections and the death of president Macià the following month put back further the discussion about the text.

Finally on February 1st 1934 the debate was initiated and, on April 11th, the Law was passed with 56 votes in favour and none against, due to the absence of the League, which was now known as the Catalan League, because it did not agree with the document. On April 24th, the League, together with other Spanish right wing formations, presented an incidental proposition to the Spanish Courts where it demanded that the government present a resource of non-constitutionality in front of the ‘Tribunal de Garanties Constitutionals’ [Tribunal for Constitutional Guarantees], due to the incompetence of the Catalan Parliament to legislate upon the matter. Although the law came into force on May 5th, the Tribunal of Guarantees ruled its invalidity.

In spite of this decision, on June 12th the president of the Generalitat, Lluís Companys, again introduced a law to the Parliament exactly the same as that which had been invalidated. The Law of Contracts was again approved and then abolished by central government. However, the president of the Spanish government, Ricardo Samper, ended up approving it on July 4th, which made him loose his post soon afterwards. On September 12th, the Parliament of Catalonia approved the law with the modifications agreed with the government of Madrid. In spite of this, the Law of Cultivation Contracts had an ephemeral life because the events of October 6th 1934 meant that the government of the Generalitat, and all of its laws, were suppressed. It was not until the victory of ‘Front Popular’ [Popular Front] in February 1936 that the law again became operative.

On November 19th 1933, elections were held for the general Courts; in these elections women were finally allowed to vote. On this occasion, the victory was for the right wing, both on a Spanish and Catalan level. In the State, the winning formation was that of the ‘Confederación Española de Derechas Autónomas’ [Spanish Confederation of the Autonomous Right] (CEDA), while in Catalonia the victory was for the League, which was now called the Catalan League. The fact that a political formation like CEDA, with a high Spanish and catholic component, could impose itself rapidly alarmed the left wing formations, which accused women of being to blame for the right wing victory. This was a totally false claim, because the triumph was more due to the division of the republican forces, the abstention of anarchic syndicalism, the wear and tear of the republican government and the gathering of the right wing parties.

Aspects such as the right wing victory and the later oppressive government towards Catalonia and the Law of Cultivation Contracts further irritated the political panorama, which would finally explode in October 1934.

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The Catalan Government: an Historical and Democratic Legitimacy

In the ongoing so-called Catalan process for democracy and in the face of the Spanish government's denial of it —along with that of the vast majority of the Spanish political class— there are some who have tried to focus the debate solely on legality versus legitimacy, ignoring all too often that this is also a debate on popular will versus political imposition, on the power of democratic legitimacy over an uncompromising system. Even so, Spanish Prime Minister Rajoy's attempt at denial attests to the fact that history cannot be distorted with impunity nor legitimacy misrepresented. At least not here and now, in twenty-first century Europe. 

129th President of Catalonia,
Artur Mas

Artur Mas, the President of Catalonia, is not the head of a regional government created thanks to and arising from the 1978 Spanish Constitution, as central government ministers and unionist pundits stubbornly affirm over and over again. Artur Mas is the 129th President of the Generalitat, the historical term of medieval origin for the Catalan legislative and executive branches of government. 

The Catalan Corts Reials were founded in the thirteenth century —well before their time, even in the European context— as a representation of the three estates: the ecclesiastical, the military, and the civil estates. And it is from this parliament that the king later accepted the establishment of a governing body, if only at first almost exclusively for tax collection. This Diputació del General or Generalitat, had Bishop Berenguer de Cruïlles as its first President in 1359. The Corts and the Generalitat gradually accrued more institutional and political weight, weakening royal power, until in 1714, at the end of the War of Succession and with the victory of the Bourbon dynasty, the historic rights of Catalonia, including the parliamentary institution and government, were obliterated and Catalonia was institutionally assimilated into Spain. 

It was not until the proclamation of the Spanish Republic in 1931 that these rights were again recognized, even if only partially, with the restoration of both Parliament and Generalitat. It is no coincidence that Catalonia was the only region with institutions of home rule during the Republic, apart from the Basque Country, which did not obtain them until 1936 when the Civil War had already begun. 

123rd President of Catalonia,
Lluís Companys

In 1939, following the victory of fascism that dictator General Franco embodied, the Parliament and the Generalitat —the two institutions we now recognise as our government— were once again abolished. But this abolition did not mean obliteration: they continued to exist and resist in exile. The 123rd President of the Generalitat, Lluís Companys, who was first appointed in 1933, maintained the office until Franco had him executed by firing squad —after having been arrested by the Gestapo in France— in 1940. 

Mr Companys was succeeded by Josep Irla, the last Speaker of the Parliament before the end of the war: in accordance with Catalan law, the Speaker filled the void left by the President of the Generalitat automatically and with full authority, if it was infeasible for the chamber to convene as was the case. Mr Irla exercised the Presidency of the Generalitat of Catalonia in exile from 1940 until he resigned in 1954, already ill and only four years before his death. 

124th President of Catalonia,
Josep Irla

Josep Tarradellas —who had been a Minister of the Generalitat during the Republic and with Mr Irla— was elected by the Members of the Parliament convened in Mexico and he assumed the responsibility of keeping the institutional representation alive. He did so for several decades from his home in Saint-Martin-le-Beau in France. In fact, if Mr Companys represented the link of perseverance between the Republican Generalitat and exile, Mr Tarradellas led the way to its return. 

His administration did not always receive the approval of all Catalans in exile —for example, he did not appoint a government but led the institution exclusively from his presidency. But when Gen. Franco died in November 1975, at the beginning of the so-called Spanish Transition, Mr Tarradellas knew how to play the cards of historic rights under the safeguards of democracy. Thus, as of the beginning of 1976, he made ever closer contact with the political forces both from the Republican period as well as anti-Francoist forces, and began to negotiate with the new powers of the state, especially with Spain's then President Adolfo Suarez.

President Tarradellas returning from exile in 1977

When the Congreso de los Diputados, the Spanish parliament, initiated its constituent period after the first elections in June 1977, Tarradellas concluded the negotiation process with a surprise trip to Madrid, where he met with King Juan Carlos and President Suarez. Upon his return to Barcelona on the 23rd of October 1977, after having obtained the recognition of his status as president of the Generalitat, he was greeted with a massive popular reception. 

In an unfortunately exceptional case —in the sense that even today the Franco regime's acts have not been formally repealed or declared null and void, beginning with President Companys' execution— Mr Tarradellas was able to obtain the repeal of the law that abolished the Catalan institutions, and also got the Generalitat re-established, as well as getting himself appointed —by the King— as its provisional President. 

The historical and democratic legitimacy of the Government of Catalonia was thus recognized even before the enactment of the Spanish Constitution of 1978 and the framework to be generalized which would later grant autonomy to regions throughout Spain. 

125th President of Catalonia,
Josep Tarradellas

Mr Tarradellas appointed an interim government —made up of the Catalan parties that had obtained representation in the 1977 Spanish general elections— and called elections to the Parliament of Catalonia as soon as the new Spanish legislation in 1980 allowed, giving way to a new period of democracy for the institutions of the Generalitat. 

All this thus collides with what those who repeatedly say that Catalonia's self-government was created by the Spanish Constitution of 1978. It is neither born of, nor is it legitimized by it. That the Spanish constitutional monarchy recognized the Generalitat as a system of self-government for Catalonia, in the person who represented the succession of the Republican era, is not just a singular feature. It is the assumption of legitimacy prior to the constitutional period. Prior historically and prior legally. Prior politically, too. A legitimacy that comes from afar and that no central government can appropriate or destroy. It would not be the first to attempt it. It will not be the first to fail. 

This legitimacy comes from history, and beyond that from the peoples' sovereignty as expressed in the Parliament of Catalonia. A legitimacy that allows —and obliges— the Government of the Generalitat to call the citizens to freely and democratically express their will for the future.

Josep Bargalló Valls
@josepbargallo

First Minister and Minister of the Presidency of Catalonia 2004-2006
Minister of Education of Catalonia 2003-2004
Councillor in Torredembarra Town Council (1995-2003)
President of the Ramon Llull Institute (2006-2010)
From 2010 he is Professor at the University Rovira i Virgili

More by this author:

Heirs of a Defeat
A Europe of Everyone, also of the Catalans
Is Spain afraid of Occitan?
The Catalan fiscal deficit: Catch-22 or sovereignty
Catalan language in schools: When judges want to be legislators
Spanish Education Minister against Catalan Schools
What is more, I am a Catalan
No Law Against Democracy

Francesc Macià, President of the Catalan Republic

Catalonia's President Lluís Companys

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