Which Way Will Catalonia Go?

Abstract

Catalonia’s historical fate, the peculiarities of regional history drawn against the background of relations with the Spanish capital and, thus, the Catalan separatism are the issues examined in Ramón Tamames’ book that has appeared in its seventh edition in 2018. Showing both diachronic and comparative perspectives, the work of Prof. Tamames provides fruitful insights into modern traces of centurieslasting complex, complicated, if not to say tense attitudes of the Spanish government to Barcelona and local visions of the central authority. The new edition of the book embraces the nuances of this phenomenon in the period from the rise of the unified Spanish monarchy in 1479 up to the 2017 controversial independence referendum. According to the findings of Prof. Tamames, Catalonia’s independence project lacks legitimacy in many ways and, consequently, is absurd. This issue is growing in importance now, in the wake of the coronavirus crisis shaking the precarious balance of Spain’s center-region relations.