Catalonia: Difference between revisions

Catalonia (Catalan: Catalunya, Aranese: Catalonha, Spanish: Cataluña, French: Catalogne) is an Autonomous Region in the north-east of Spain. Historically, Catalonia included the comarques (sg: comarca) of Vallespir, Conflent, Fenolleda, Capcir, Alta Cerdanya and Rosselló, which following the Treaty of the Pyrenees became under French administration and nowadays form part of the département of Languedoc-Roussillon (66). These territories are commonly referred to as Catalunya Nord in Catalan.

The autonomous region of Catalonia covers an area of 31,950 km². with a population of 6.3 million, and its capital is Barcelona.

Administration and Government of Catalonia

The Generalitat is the government of Catalonia, comprising its legislative and executive branches.

The region has widespread autonomy and for example its own police force Mossos d'Esquadra, coexisting with the Guardia Civil and Policía Nacional, under the authority of the Spanish government, and the local polices.

Unlike the autonomous communities of Navarre and the Basque Country, it lacks its own fiscal system, thus the economic sustainment of the regional administration depends almost entirely on the Spanish government budgets.

See comarques of Catalonia for the administrative division in comarques (roughly equivalent to counties).

Spanish administration divides Catalonia into four provinces: Barcelona, Girona, Lleida, Tarragona.

History of Catalonia

See History of Catalonia, Catalan Countries

The territory that is now Catalonia was colonized by Ancient Greeks and Carthaginians. Like the rest of the Iberian Peninsula, it participated in the pre-Roman Iberian culture and was part of the Roman Empire, followed by Visigothic rule. In the eighth century it was part of Moorish (Muslim-ruled) al-Andalus, but was conquered within a century by the expanding Carolingian Empire.

Identifiably Catalan culture begins in the Middle Ages under the rule of the Counts of Barcelona. As part of the Aragonese Empire the Catalonia became a great maritime power, expanding by trade and conquest into Valencia, the Balearic Islands, and even Sardinia and Sicily.

The marriage of Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon (1469) unified Christian Spain; in 1492, the last of al-Andalus was conquered and the Spanish conquest of the Americas began. Political power began to shift away from Catalonia toward Castile.

For some time, Catalonia continued to retain its own laws, but these gradually eroded (albeit with occasional periods of regeneration). Over the next few centuries, Catalonia was generally on the losing side of a series of wars that led steadily to more centralization of power in Spain.

In the latter half of the 19th century, Catalonia became a center of Spain's industrialization; to this day it remains the most industrialized part of Spain, rivaled only by the Basque Country. In first third of the 20th century, Catalonia several times gained and lost varying degrees of autonomy, but Catalan autonomy and culture were crushed to an unprecedented degree after the defeat of the Second Spanish Republic (founded 1931) in the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939) brought Francisco Franco to power. Even public use of the Catalan language was banned.

After Franco's death (1975) and the adoption of a democratic Spanish constitution (1978), Catalonia recovered cultural autonomy and some political autonomy. Today, Catalonia is almost universally recognized as the most economically dynamic region of Spain and the Catalan capital, Barcelona, is second only to Madrid as a cultural center.

Language

Catalonia constitutes the original nucleus and the most important and extensive territory where Catalan is spoken.

Catalan is the official language of Catalonia, as laid down in the Catalan Statute of Autonomy [1], in addition to Spanish, which is official in all of Spain as mandated by the 1978 Spanish Constitution.

Occitan, in its Aranese variety (a dialect of Gascon) is official and subject to special protection in the Val d'Aran (Aran Valley), which is notable, as this small region of 7,000 is the only place where Occitan (spoken mainly in France and some Italian valleys) has full official status.

The following information refers only to the Autonomous Region of Catalonia, and generally cannot be extrapolated to other Catalan-speaking territories.

Literacy

According to the 2001 Linguistic Census[2], about 5,900,000 people in Catalonia, nearly 95% of residents, understand the Catalan language. The percentage of people aged two and older who can speak, read and write Catalan is as follows:

Knowledge of Catalan
Ability	Individuals	Percentage
Understands	5,872,202	94.5%
Speaks	4.630.640	74.5%
Reads	4.621.404	74.4%
Writes	3.093.223	49.8%
Population	6.215.281	100%

Over the last 20 years, knowledge of Catalan has advanced significantly in all these areas, with the ability to write it having experienced the most pronounced increase, from 31.6% of the population in 1986 to 49.8% in 2001.

By age groups, those between 10 and 29 have the higher level of Catalan-language literacy (e.g., 98.2% aged 10-14 understand it, and 85.2% can write it); this is attributed to these individuals having received their full education in Catalan.

Geographically, Catalan is most understood in northeast Catalonia (Alt Pirineu, Val d'Aran), at 97.4%, followed by south and western Catalonia, whereas Barcelona's metropolitan area sees the lowest knowledge, at 93.8%. The situation is analogous for written-language skills, with central Catalonia scoring the highest percentages (61.4%), and Barcelona the lowest (46.4%).

Barcelona is one of the centers of Spanish book industry in Spanish and the major center in Catalan.

Social Use

According to a study carried out in 2003 by the Generalitat de Catalunya [[3], Catalan is used by 50.1% of the population in everyday situations.

Significantly, over 55% of respondents use Spanish to address their parents (versus 42% who choose Catalan), while a majority (52.6%) use Catalan with their children (42.3% Spanish). This is attributed to massive immigration from Southern Spain on the second half of the 20th century up to the 1980s, as a consequence of which many Catalans have one or both parents from outside Catalonia.

Outside the family, 48.6% of the population indicate that they address strangers exclusively or preferently in Catalan, while the proportion of those who use Spanish is 41.7%. 8.6% claim to use both equally.

See Catalan language for further information.

Aranese

According to the 2001 Aranese Linguistic Census [4], knowledge of Aranese in the Occitan-speaking territory of Aran is as follows:

Knowledge of Aranese
Ability	Individuals	Percentage
Understands	6,712	88.88%
Speaks	4,700	62.24%
Reads	4,413	58.44%
Writes	2,016	26.69%

Comparing to previous data from 1996, the number of those able to understand Aranese has declined slightly (90.5% in 1996), while at the same time there has been a marginal increase in the number of those able to write it (24.97% in 1996).

By age groups, the largest percentage of those with knowledge of Aranese is in the 15-19 and 65-69 groups (both above 96%), while those aged 30-34 score lowest (just over 80%). Literacy is higher in the 10-19 group with over 88% declaring themselves able to read, and 76% able to write Aranese. Those over 80 are the least literate, with only about 1.5% of them being able to write the language.

According to their place of origin, it is significant to note that in the Val d'Aran those born outside Spain outnumber Spaniards born outside Aran and Catalonia in the active use of Aranese (17% of non-Spaniards can write Aranese, while the percentage for Spaniards excluding Catalans is 10%).

Politics of Catalonia

During the late 19th century and the 20th century, Catalonia was one of the centers of Spanish industrialization. The struggle between the Barcelonese conservative bourgeoisie and the working class, often immigrants from the rest of Spain dominated Catalan politics.

Catalan nationalist and federalist movements arose in the nineteenth century, and when the Spanish Republic was declared in 1931, Catalonia became an autonomous region. In 1939, Francisco Franco came to power and suppressed Catalan autonomy, and also tried to suppress the Catalan language and Catalan culture. During the last decade of Franco's rule, renewed nationalist sentiment built up in Catalonia.

In 1975, Franco died and democracy was restored soon after. Once again, Catalonia became an autonomous region within Spain. The Catalan nationalist leader Jordi Pujol came to power in the first regional elections in 1980, and his party, Convergence and Unity (Convergència i Unió or CiU), held power for 23 years.

Terra Lliure ("Free Land") tried to achieve independence through violence against Spanish interest, but it never achieved the support and results of Basque ETA and disolved after negotiations with the Spanish government.

Despite his radical background, Pujol became increasingly conservative in office, and supported José María Aznar's conservative People's Party (PP) government in Madrid. Nationalist factions became increasingly dissatisfied with his rule, especially the ERC. At the same time, the Catalan Socialists' Party (Partit dels Socialistes de Catalunya, PSC-PSOE), based in the industrial heartland of Barcelona, regained its strength.

One of the keys to Catalan politics is the fact that Barcelona, because it attracts migrants from all over Spain and Latin America, is a majority Spanish-speaking city, particularly in working-class areas, while the rural regions, and the middle- and upper-class urban areas, remain solidly Catalan-speaking. The Socialists have become the party of those who resent the dominance of middle-class Catalan nationalists over Barcelona. In any case, while Catalan is experiencing a spectacular revival, the dominating presence of Spanish-speakers will continue to make universal use of Catalan unlikely. Recently there has been an influx of African and East European immigrants, but this has not yet influenced much the political make-up.

At the regional elections held on November 16 2003, at which Pujol retired, the combined parties of the left defeated the CiU for the first time, and Pasqual Maragall i Mira became President of the Generalitat. Maragall's Socialists, however, actually lost seats: the big winners were the Republican Left of Catalonia (Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya or ERC), which favours full Catalan independence, and the Greens. While PSC mantains the post of President of the Generalitat (Maragall), ERC nominates the conseller en cap (prime minister) — currently, Bargalló.

Maragall's government is an alliance between PSC, ERC, and ICV.

Parties

CiU — Convergència i Unió (Convergence and Unity) - federation
- CDC — Convergència Democràtica de Catalunya (Democratic Convergence of Catalonia)
- UDC — Unió Democràtica de Catalunya (Democratic Union of Catalonia)
ERC — Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya (Republican Left of Catalonia)
ICV-EUiA — Iniciativa per Catalunya-Verds – Esquerra Unida i Alternativa (Green Initiative for Catalonia-Left United Alternative)
PP — Partit Popular (People's Party)
PSC-PSOE — Partit dels Socialistes de Catalunya-Partido Socialista Obrero Español (Socialist Party of Catalonia-Spanish Socialist Workers' Party)

Summary of votes and seats

Votes and seats are compared with those won at the 1999 election.

Voters:                               5,307,837
Voting:                               3,319,276   62.5%
Invalid votes:                            8,793   00.3%
Valid votes:                          3,310,483   99.7%
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Party                                 Votes       %               Seats
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Convergència i Unió                   1,024,425   30.9  (-06.8)    46  (-10) 
Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya       544,324   16.4  (+07.7)    23  (+11) 
Iniciativa Verds-Esquerra Alternativa   241,163   07.3  (+04.8)     9  (+06) 
Partit Popular                          393,499   11.9  (+02.4)    15  (+03) 
Partit Socialista de Catalunya        1,031,454   31.2  (-06.6)    42  (-10) 
Others                                   75,618   02.3              -
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Total                                 3,310,483                   135
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Geography

The Spanish autonomous comunity of Catalonia borders on Valencia to the south, Aragon to the west, France and Andorra to the north, and the Mediterranean Sea to the east and southeast.

Mountains:

Catalan Pyrenees: Val d'Aran in the north face, Pica d'Estats 3141 m., Puigmal 2911 m., Cerdanya depression, Perthus pass (near the ancient Roman road).
Catalan Litoral mountains: Montseny, Montserrat, Montsant.
Iberic system: Maestrat.

Major rivers:

Fluvià
Ter
Llobregat
Foix
Francolí
Gaià
Ebre and its tributaries: Noguera, Segre, Valira.

UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Catalonia

There are several UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Catalonia:

Archaeological Ensemble of Tarraco, Tarragona
Catalan Romanesque Churches of the Vall de Boí
Parc Güell, Barcelona
Palau Güell, Barcelona
Casa Milà, Barcelona
Poblet Monastery, Poblet, Tarragona province
Palau de la Música Catalana, Barcelona
Hospital de Sant Pau, Barcelona

Traditions

Catalonia's festivals and traditions unify Catalan society and help to give it its particular character. Amongst the most striking of festive events are the correfocs, in which "devils" play with fire and with the people. These devils are not the incarnation of evil; they are sprightly and festive, dancing to the sound of the tambourine and the traditional oboe, while they set off their fireworks.

But perhaps the most spectacular of the Catalan festivals are those of the colles castelleres, groups of enthusiasts who form impressive human towers (up to ten people high). This is an old tradition of the Tarragona region, which has now spread to many parts of Catalonia, and has become a real spectacle, or sport, that attracts thousands of Catalans. Amongst other important festivities are the carnival in Vilanova i la Geltrú and the Patum in Berga.

Then, there is the very special music of the cobles, the wind bands that play sardanes. The sardana is a circular, open dance, that originated in the Empordà region (north of the country by the Mediterranean sea) and the Pyrenees (Catalan Pirineus), and is now danced in many squares and streets. Anyone can join in.

As in other countries, there is a Santa Claus tradition. In Catalonia it is enacted in the very popular figure of the Tió de Nadal.

The anthem of Catalonia is "Els Segadors" (The Reapers). National day is September 11, after the defeat and surrender of Barcelona to the French-Castilian army of Philip V of Spain.

The football club FC Barcelona is "more than a club" and acts as an unofficial national team for Catalonia.

External links

Statistical information from Idescat (Catalan Institute of Statistics)

Template:Spain minnan:Catalunya tokipona:ma Katala

@@ Line 232: / Line 232: @@
 But perhaps the most spectacular of the Catalan festivals are those of the [[Castells|''colles castelleres'']], groups of enthusiasts who form impressive human towers (up to ten people high). This is an old tradition of the Tarragona region, which has now spread to many parts of Catalonia, and has become a real spectacle, or sport, that attracts thousands of Catalans. Amongst other important festivities are the [[carnival]] in [[Vilanova i la Geltrú]] and the [[Patum]] in [[Berga]].
-Then, there is the very special music of the [[cobles]], the wind bands that play ''sardanes''. The [[sardana]] is a [[round dance|circular]], open dance, that originated in the [[Empordà]] region (north of the country by the [[Mediterranean]] sea and the [[Pyrenees]] (Catalan ''Pirineus''), and is now danced in many squares and streets. Anyone can join in.
+Then, there is the very special music of the [[cobles]], the wind bands that play ''sardanes''. The [[sardana]] is a [[round dance|circular]], open dance, that originated in the [[Empordà]] region (north of the country by the [[Mediterranean]] sea) and the [[Pyrenees]] (Catalan ''Pirineus''), and is now danced in many squares and streets. Anyone can join in.
 As in other countries, there is a [[Santa Claus]] tradition. In Catalonia it is enacted in the very popular figure of the [[Tió de Nadal]].

Revision as of 17:59, 20 November 2004