Catalonia

Abstract

Abstract This chapter presents the first case study, Catalonia. By the mid 2010s, the traditional autonomism of Catalan nationalism had become a minority position. The basic argument of the chapter is that Catalonia’s autonomy within Spain, at least since 2010, is static, which means Catalans consider there is little chance that the current system can adapt to their national identity and take into consideration their evolving collective interests. The 2010 Spanish Constitutional Court’s judgment, that invalidated and narrowly interpreted many articles of the reform to the Catalan Stature of Autonomy negotiated four years earlier between the Catalan and Spanish governments, represented a clear statement of the static nature of Catalan autonomy. That statement generated mounting pressures by civil society on nationalist parties, particularly CiU, to adopt clear secessionist positions. The status quo and secession seem to be the only two possible constitutional options, and defending the status quo for Catalonia’s nationalist parties was an untenable political and electoral position. As such, the Catalan secessionist turn involved CiU’s own secessionist turn. As the Catalan government embarked on a process of self-determination, the Spanish state responded by declaring any independence referendum, as well as the act of secession itself, unconstitutional. In so doing, the Spanish state reaffirmed that Catalonia’s autonomy was static insofar as no Catalan political act could trigger a progressive change in the powers of the Generalitat. This stance consolidated the new secessionist pathway of Catalan nationalism.