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News, September 2006New Catalan Statute takes effect9 August. The Catalan Estatut, the region's local 'constitution' takes effect today after a year of hard negotiations and political haggling at regional and national level, including a number of recourses to the Constitutional Court due to apparent conflicts with the Spanish Constitution, notably about what constitutes a 'Nation'. The process is now complete, but in its wake a number of other regions, such as Andalusia and the island archipelagos, have also begun the process of renegotiating their Statutes. Most non-Catalan (or Basque) Spaniards believe 'Spain is a nation', so the Catalan claim is regarded by them as outrageouly divisive. British people, at least the Welsh and the Scots, will understand what the Catalan people mean and how they view their identity. Nevertheless, the fact that the new Estatut mentions Spain as little as possible, just occasionally mentioning the State, also irritates Castilians. Even the Chief of Staff and other army officers have spoken out against the Catalan claim, raising the spectre of the military involvement in politics which slowed Spain's progress over 150 years. The PP claims that in accepting the proposal for debate, the PSOE has buried the spirit consensus developed during the Transition to democracy in the late '70s. Others would argue the opposite! The final solution to the debate seems to have been to state that the Catalan Parliament, reflecting the feeling of the citizens, has stated that Catalonia is a nation, as permitted in article 2 of the Constitution. The remaining references to Nation have reverted to the previous denomination Nationality. Remaining questions about Finances have also been resolved, with Catalonia getting its own tax authority, more taxes -but not all- going direct into its coffers and more State investment in the region over the coming 7 years. Tax and investment agreements can be revised every five years. Background and the divisions in modern Spain BBC comment Sources: El Mundo, El País, TVE |