Images of Catalonia

Abstract

Abstract. The aim of this article is to offer an account of the Catalan nationalist discourse contained in the works of Jordi Pujol, leader of the Convergence and Unity Party (Convergéncia i Unió or CiU) which has been in power since the first democratic election to the Catalan parliament in 1980 having renewed its mandate for the fifth time in 1995.The article is divided into three parts. First, it explores the political scenario set up by the 1978 Constitution which recognised the existence of ‘nationalities and regions’ within Spain and allowed the country to be divided into seventeen autonomous communities. Second, it analyses the image of Catalonia contained in the 1979 Statute of Autonomy. Third, it offers an account of the nationalist discourses put forward by the four major Catalan nationalist parties emphasising their different content depending upon the political ideology with which they are associated. This section provides a detailed examination of the Convergence and Unity Party's nationalist discourse which is based upon the defence of a non‐violent nationalism aiming at the development of Catalan identity without seeking independence from Spain and stressing the potential role of nations without a state in the constitution of a united Europe.