Catalan independentism (Catalan: Independentisme català; Eastern Catalan: [indəpəndənˈtizmə kətəˈɫa], Western Catalan: [independenˈtizme kataˈla]) is a political movement, derived from Catalan nationalism, which supports the independence of Catalonia or the so-called Catalan countries from Spain and France. Catalan independentism is based on the thesis that Catalonia is a nation, derived from its own history, language and culture.
The beginnings of the movement can be traced back to the early 20th century, when some organisations and political parties started demanding full independence of Catalonia from Spain. During the following years, and mainly due to Franco's regime oppression against the Catalan people and culture, the movement gained more sympathizers. More recently, there has been an increase in the number of followers and non-binding and unofficial referendums have been held in municipalities around Catalonia.
The Estelada flag, in its blue and red versions, has become its main symbol.
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Some Catalan separatist authors argue that first precedents of Catalan independentism may date back as far as 1640, with the unsuccessful first Catalan Republic after the Reaper's War, and subsequently during the War of the Spanish Succession. However, in the modern sense, the first political parties which started defining themselves as independentists[1] were created between the 1920s and the 1930s in Spanish Catalonia. The main separatist party created at this time was Estat Català[1] and its branch called Bandera Negra. Estat Català evolved into the new party Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya, although some of its members refused it and remained faithful to the original Estat Català, now a minor party.
After the Spanish Civil War, members of Estat Català and Nosaltres Sols founded the Front Nacional de Catalunya which became the main pro-independence party. However, one might argue that modern Catalan independentism was actually born in the 1960s with the Partit Socialista d'Alliberament Nacional (PSAN). Since then, the pro-independence movement has assumed a mostly left-wing political trend and has often shifted its focus from "independence for Catalonia" to "independence for the 'Catalan Countries'".
By the 1970s, the PSAN split into several factions, and many other groups appeared, including the armed organization Terra Lliure. In the 1980s, the Moviment de Defensa de la Terra (MDT) became the major pro-independence political group but this too became divided by the end of the decade. During the 1990s, existing political parties such as Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya and the linguistic-national initiative Crida a la Solidaritat progressively evolved towards a more pro-independence stance.
The parties explicitly campaigning for independence are: Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya, Solidaritat Catalana per la Independència and Reagrupament; the former two are currently represented in the Catalan Parliament. They won 11,6% of the total Catalan votes in the Catalan Parliament in the Catalonian parliamentary election, 2010 [2] becoming the 3rd most important party and having the key for the government. They are present as well in another parliament in the Catalan countries, namely that of the Balearic Islands, where they have one member.[3] They also have an elected member in the Consell de Mallorca[4] which belongs to the autonomic government. Out of Catalan Countries they have one MEP and 3 members of the Spanish Parliament.
A number of members and voters of Convergència i Unió (CiU), nationalist federation of 2 parties[5] with the majority of seats at the Catalan parliament (38.5% of the vote in the 2010 Catalan parliamentary election) also give, usually less explicit, support to independence. This tendency inside the party has presumably been growing since its leader proposed in 2007 the so called Casa Gran del Catalanisme project which, among other causes, includes the defense of self-determination for Catalonia. Finally, the left wing party Iniciativa per Catalunya (7.5% of the vote in the 2010 Catalan parliamentary election) claims to give full support to self-determination right and has several members explicitly supporting Catalan independence.
The political parties that explicitly reject Catalan independence and self-determination rights are the Socialists' Party of Catalonia,[6] the People's Party of Catalonia[7] and Ciutadans[8] which had 18,6%, 12,2% and 3,4% of the vote respectively in the 2010 Catalan parliamentary election. However, there is a significant fraction within the Socialist Party supporting the sovereignty of Catalonia within a federalized Spain.[9]
Other independentist smaller parties or coalitions, without present representation in any parliament, are Estat Català, Unitat Nacional de Catalunya, Endavant, PSAN, MDT, CUP and Reagrupament. There are also youth organizations such as Maulets or Coordinadora d'Assemblees de Joves de l'Esquerra Independentista, and the student unions SEPC and FNEC.
In recent years some of the rationale for Catalan independentism has received support from individuals coming from a broader political spectrum other than the usual left or far-left Catalan nationalism. Relevant examples are the liberal economists Xavier Sala i Martín[10] and Ramon Tremosa Balcells (elected deputy for CiU in the European parliament in the 2009 election), the lawyer and FC Barcelona president Joan Laporta[11] or the jurist and former member of the Consejo General del Poder Judicial Alfons López Tena.[12]
The think tank Cercle d'Estudis Sobiranistes, led by the jurists Alfons López Tena and Hèctor López Bofill was founded in 2007. Since then it has summoned a number of lawmakers, professors, businessmen, professionals, economists, journalists and intellectuals for the cause of Catalonia's independence.
In Spain, some considered this trend to have been stimulated as a reaction especially against the policy of the latter Spanish governments of the Partido Popular party, and its opposition to certain legislative reforms such as the new proposal of Statute of Catalonia.
Since 13 December 2009, non-official referendums on Catalan independence are being carried out[13][14][15] in 167[16] towns, villages and 5 Comarcal council covering more than 700,000[17] citizens with 15,000 volunteers,[18] following the first one celebrated in Arenys de Munt in the 13th of September, 30[16] international observers have been accredited, like the MEPs (Jill Evans from Plaid Cymru, Frieda Brepoels from Flanders, François Alfonsi from Corse and Oriol Junqueras from Catalonia).[19]
Polls on the matter are troublesome as the question of independence is not on the daily political agenda, something which may be distorting replies from the interviewed. What is more, polls from different institutions vary greatly.
The position of Catalans regarding the independence of either Catalonia or of the Catalan Countries must be studied taking into account an important fact, namely, that a huge number of Catalan citizens are of immigrant origin and that many of them feel little or no connection to the Catalan language or culture. It has been reckoned that the total population of Catalonia with no migrations would have grown from 2 million people in 1900 to just 2.4 million in 1980,[20] merely 39% of the actual population of 6.1 million at that date. This population has continued growing and was over 7.4 million in 2009.
A few institutions have performed polls which also include questions on the independence issue in Catalonia. The following are the most prominent ones: (1) Center for Social Research (Centro de Investigaciones Sociales CIS) which belongs to the Spanish government, (2) Social and Political Sciencies Institute of Barcelona (Institut de Ciències Polítiques i Socials ICPS) belonging to the Autonomous University of Barcelona and Diputation of Barcelona, and (3) Center for Opinion Studies (Centre d'Estudis d'Opinió CEO). The CEO was depending on the Economy Department of the Generalitat of Catalonia until early 2011. Since then it has been placed under direct control of the Presidency of the Generalitat. It is now headed by Jordi Argelaguet i Argemí.
CIS performed a poll in Catalonia on 2001, including an explicit question on independence with the following results: 35.9% supporting it, 48.1% opposing, 13.3% indifferent, 2.8% did not reply.
ICPS performs annually an opinion poll since 1989, which always includes a section on independence.
The question of independence has not been polled so far in other Catalan-speaking territories outside of Catalonia, but anecdotal evidence (basically the total absence of the independentist question in those territories) suggests that there is no sizeable support for the idea of independence of the Catalan-speaking territories outside of Catalonia.
All in all, polls seem to indicate an ambivalent and far from universal feeling. For example, the 2007 ICPS poll indicated that, when asked about the independence of Catalonia, 51% of the population would be against it, 32% would favour it, while 17% do not have an opinion, but, in this same poll, when asked about the meaning of Spain, only 5% of the interviewed identified with the downright independentist option ("Spain is an alien State of which my country is not a part").[21]
The results are in the following table:
| Year | Support (%) | Against (%) | Indifferent (%) | Do not reply (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | 35 | 50 | 11 | 4 |
| 1992 | 31 | 53 | 11 | 5 |
| 1993 | 37 | 50 | 9 | 5 |
| 1994 | 35 | 49 | 14 | 3 |
| 1995 | 36 | 52 | 10 | 3 |
| 1996 | 29 | 56 | 11 | 4 |
| 1997 | 32 | 52 | 11 | 5 |
| 1998 | 32 | 55 | 10 | 3 |
| 1999 | 32 | 55 | 10 | 3 |
| 2000 | 32 | 53 | 13 | 3 |
| 2001 | 33 | 55 | 11 | 1 |
| 2002 | 34 | 52 | 12 | 1 |
| 2003* | 43 | 43 | 12 | 1 |
| 2004* | 39 | 44 | 13 | 3 |
| 2005 | 36 | 44 | 15 | 6 |
| 2006 | 33 | 48 | 17 | 2 |
| 2007 | 31.7 | 51.3 | 14.1 | 2.9 |
| 2011[22] | 41.4 | 22.9 | 26.5 | 9.2 |
CEO performs regular polls studying political opinion of Catalan citizens. The following table contains the answers to the question "Which kind of political entity should Catalonia be with respect to Spain?"[23]:
| Date | Independent state (%) | Confederal (%) | Keep it as it is (%) | Spanish region (%) | Do not know (%) | Do not reply (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 2005 | 13.6 | 31.3 | 40.8 | 7.0 | 6.2 | 1.1 |
| November 2005 | 12.9 | 35.8 | 37.6 | 5.6 | 6.9 | 1.2 |
| March 2006 | 13.9 | 33.4 | 38.2 | 8.1 | 5.1 | 1.2 |
| July 2006 | 14.9 | 34.1 | 37.3 | 6.9 | 6.1 | 0.7 |
| October 2006 | 14.0 | 32.9 | 38.9 | 8.3 | 5.1 | 0.8 |
| November 2006 | 15.9 | 32.8 | 40.0 | 6.8 | 3.7 | 0.8 |
| March 2007 | 14.5 | 35.3 | 37.0 | 6.1 | 4.9 | 2.2 |
| July 2007 | 16.9 | 34.0 | 37.3 | 5.5 | 5.4 | 1.0 |
| October 2007 | 18.5 | 34.2 | 35.0 | 4.7 | 6.0 | 1.5 |
| December 2007 | 17.3 | 33.8 | 37.8 | 5.1 | 5.0 | 1.0 |
| January 2008 | 19.4 | 36.4 | 34.8 | 3.8 | 4.1 | 1.6 |
| May 2008 | 17.6 | 33.4 | 38.9 | 5.1 | 4.3 | 0.7 |
| July 2008 | 16.1 | 34.7 | 37.0 | 6.1 | 5.2 | 0.9 |
| November 2008 | 17.4 | 31.8 | 38.3 | 7.1 | 4.2 | 1.2 |
| February 2009[24] | 16.1 | 35.2 | 38.6 | 4.5 | 3.6 | 2.0 |
| May 2009[25] | 20.9 | 35.0 | 34.9 | 4.4 | 3.0 | 1.7 |
| July 2009[26] | 19.0 | 32.2 | 36.8 | 6.2 | 4.2 | 1.6 |
| December 2009[27] | 21.6 | 29.9 | 36.9 | 5.9 | 4.1 | 1.6 |
| 2010 1st series[28] | 19.4 | 29.5 | 38.2 | 6.9 | 4.4 | 1.6 |
| 2010 2nd series[29] | 21.5 | 31.2 | 35.2 | 7.3 | 4.0 | 0.7 |
| 2010 3rd series[30] | 24.3 | 31.0 | 33.3 | 5.4 | 4.9 | 1.0 |
| 2010 4th series[31] | 25.2 | 30.9 | 34.7 | 5.9 | 2.7 | 0.7 |
| 2011 1st series[32] | 24.5 | 31.9 | 33.2 | 5.6 | 3.5 | 1.3 |
| 2011 2nd series[33] | 25.5 | 33.0 | 31.8 | 5.6 | 3.4 | 0.8 |
| 2011 3rd series[34] | 28.2 | 30.4 | 30.3 | 5.7 | 3.9 | 1.5 |
| Date | In favor (%) | Against (%) | Abstain (%) | Other (%) | Do not know (%) | Do not reply (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 2nd series[33] | 42.9 | 28.2 | 23.3 | 0.5 | 4.4 | 0.8 |
| 2011 3rd series[34] | 45.4 | 24.7 | 23.8 | 0.6 | 4.6 | 1.0 |
La Vanguardia
| Date | Yes (%) | No (%) | Other (%) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 02/11/09 [35] | 35 | 46 | 19 |
| 15/03/10 [36] | 36 | 44 | 20 |
| 19/05/10 [37] | 37 | 41 | 22 |
| 18/07/10 [38] | 47 | 36 | 17 |
| 07/09/10 [39] | 40 | 45 | 15 |
| 11/04/11 [40] | 34 | 30 | 35 |
El Periódico
| Date | Yes (%) | No (%) | Other (%) |
|---|---|---|---|
| October 2007 [41] | 33,9 | 43,9 | 22,3 |
| December 2009 [42] | 39,0 | 40,6 | 20,4 |
| June 2010 [43] | 48,1 | 35,3 | 16,6 |
| Date | Yes (%) | No (%) | Other (%) |
|---|---|---|---|
| April 2011 [44] | 34 | 30 | 36 |