Historical and Constitutional Background: An Account of the Catalan Secessionist Process

Abstract

This chapter puts together the historical background of Catalan nationalism and secessionism, and the relevant facts that occurred in Catalonia and in Spain since the beginning of the so-called sovereigntist process around 2010. It tries to present the different actors (such as the national governments—Populars and Socialists, the Constitutional Court, and the secessionist leaders which have been in charge of the Catalan government since 2010) and to describe the main constitutional and political issues. Among these, the “Estatuto de Autonomia” passed in 2006; the judgement of the Constitutional Court which nullified part of it in 2010; the resolutions of the Catalan parliament which declared Catalonia a sovereign subject entitled to the “right to decide”; the “consultation” of November 2014; the (illegal) referendum of October 2017; the emergency intervention of the national government which dissolved the Catalan institutions and prosecuted its leaders; the results of the Catalan elections held from 2003 to 2017. The final part is an attempt of expounding the possible reasons which are at the basis of the Catalan secessionist bid.