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News, April and May, 2006New Catalan Statute completes hard Congress passageEarly April. After a stormy passage through the national Cortes, the Catalan Estatut, or regional government bill, has finally been accepted. Many differing opinions can be found concerning whether this is a good or bad thing, but they largely depend on where people live and their consequent concept of 'Spain'. In Catalonia itself, as well as the Basque Country and some other 'regions', the small increase in local autonomy, including the sensitive areas of finance and language - particularly what is a 'nation'- the changes are welcomed. On the other hand the Castilian concept of Spain is seen by many as under threat. Former vice-president Alfonso Guerra has said the current political situation is similar to that in the Soviet Union in 1990: 'Spain' is about to break up. 2nd November (23rd January see below). An already much debated proposal goes before the Congress today. It is the new Catalan regional Estatut, outlining a greater degree of autonomous rule for the region in Spain's North East, which considers itself rather different to the rest of Spain, not the least due to having its own language and partly a different history. The government wants to change some parts of the proposal, while the opposition Partido Popular wants it completely thrown out as being unconstitutional, even in adapted form. After much hard negotiating and discussion, in the Catalan Parlament regional party leaders came to agreement on 30th September over the final proposal for the new, 3rd Catalan Statute. This was passed by the regional Parlament and now goes up to the national Cortes for final approval, adaptation or rejection. The first Estatut was given to Catalonia during the Second Republic (1930s), returning some of the 'traditional rights' that Catalonia had had under the crown until 1713. Franco replaced this regime with a unified system based in Madrid. The second statute reintroduced many of the rights in a move towards regional government across Spain at the start of the present democracy after Franco's death. Gradually other regions were given home rule, but the Catalans and Basques have always felt special and different and expect rather more than the rest, both on historical grounds and because of their different languages and cultures. Recently, Valencia agreed a new Statute, so the Catalans were under pressure to put the finishing touches to theirs by the end of the month. Argument between the main regional parties, governing PSC (socialists) and CiU (liberal democrats) was enhanced by pronouncements from the Constitutional Tribunal that a number of the proposed articles were unconstitutional. The Socialists were also under pressure from the central government not to allow articles which would give the Statute difficulties in Madrid. 23 Jan '06 It remains to be seen whether the new Statute will be approved by the Madrid Cortes. The government has now agreed with Catalan parties a number of changes, but the opposition Partido Popular has been very negative to date, finally with the exception of the Catalan PP, which accepts the final agreements. One of the most contentious issues is the abrupt Article one: 1.1 'Catalonia is a Nation.' On 6th October president Zapatero said he will make a change to the article, since it conflicts with Article 2 of the Spanish Constitution, which reserves the term 'nation' for the Spanish state as a whole. 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 Catalan Government site, information about the Generalitat, with good historical background. Read the Estatut itself here. Sources: El Mundo, El País, TVE |