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113-686: The National Day of Catalonia ( Catalan : Diada Nacional de Catalunya [diˈaðə nəsi.uˈnal də kətəˈluɲə] ), also known as the Diada , is a day-long festival in Catalonia and one of its official national symbols , celebrated annually on 11 September. It is one of the public holidays in Catalonia. It commemorates the end of the siege of Barcelona during the War of the Spanish Succession in 1714 and
226-665: A Catalan literary revival , culminating in the early 1900s. The word Catalan is derived from the territorial name of Catalonia , itself of disputed etymology. The main theory suggests that Catalunya ( Latin : Gathia Launia ) derives from the name Gothia or Gauthia ('Land of the Goths '), since the origins of the Catalan counts, lords and people were found in the March of Gothia , whence Gothland > Gothlandia > Gothalania > Catalonia theoretically derived. In English,
339-516: A totalitarian regime ". Javier Tusell pointed out that "those who in the past were in bed with totalitarianism now felt entitled to prohibit the totalitarianism of others". The reforms of the Fundamental Laws governing royal succession and the composition of the Cortes, designed by Fraga, also failed. Fraga had intended to make the Cortes bicameral , with one chamber elected by universal suffrage and
452-626: A 2011 study the total number of Catalan speakers was over 9.8 million, with 5.9 million residing in Catalonia. More than half of them spoke Catalan as a second language, with native speakers being about 4.4 million of those (more than 2.8 in Catalonia). Very few Catalan monoglots exist; virtually all of the Catalan speakers in Spain are bilingual speakers of Catalan and Spanish, with 99.7% of Catalan speakers in Catalonia able to speak Spanish and 99.9% able to understand it. In Roussillon , only
565-534: A French-inspired absolute monarchy . The holiday was first celebrated on 11 September 1886. In 1888, coinciding with the inauguration of the Barcelona Universal Exposition , a statue in honor of Rafael Casanova was set up, which would become the point of reference of the events of the Diada. The celebration gained popularity over the following years; the Diada of 1923 was a great mass event, with more than
678-463: A clear political program based on two points: This program was clear and unequivocal, but its realization tested the political capacity of Suárez. He had to convince both the opposition to participate in his plan and the army to allow the process to run uninterrupted, and at the same time needed to bring the situation in the Basque Country under control. Despite these challenges, Suárez's project
791-517: A constitution, in the middle of 1977. In 1978, the Moncloa Pact was passed: an agreement amongst politicians, political parties, and trade unions to plan how to operate the economy, during the transition. The Spanish Constitution of 1978 went on to be approved in a referendum, on 6 December 1978. Prime Minister Adolfo Suárez's party, the UCD, received a plurality , but not an absolute majority , in both
904-452: A democratic, constitutional and parliamentary monarchy. For the transition to succeed, the army needed to refrain from intervening in the political process on behalf of Francoist elements within the existing government. As Raymond Carr explains, In containing the right and keeping the army loyal to the government the support of the King, as commander-in-chief of the army, was critical, enabling
1017-424: A denomination based on cultural affinity and common heritage, that has also had a subsequent political interpretation but no official status. Various interpretations of the term may include some or all of these regions. The number of people known to be fluent in Catalan varies depending on the sources used. A 2004 study did not count the total number of speakers, but estimated a total of 9–9.5 million by matching
1130-646: A dream of Spanish intellectuals since the end of the 19th century. Previous attempts at democratization included the First Spanish Republic and the Second Spanish Republic . General Francisco Franco came to power in 1939, following the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939), and ruled as a dictator until his death in 1975. In 1969, he designated Prince Juan Carlos , grandson of Spain's most recent king, Alfonso XIII , as his official successor. For
1243-428: A further clear agenda. Many UCD members were fairly conservative and did not want further change. For example, a bill to legalize divorce caused much dissension inside the UCD, in spite of being supported by the majority of the populace. The UCD coalition fell apart. The clashes among the several factions, inside the party, eroded Suárez's authority and his role as leader. The tension exploded in 1981: Suárez resigned as
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#17328912083231356-521: A large number of Catalan colonies that today continue to maintain the Catalan language. They also founded many Catalan casals (associations). One classification of Catalan is given by Pèire Bèc : However, the ascription of Catalan to the Occitano-Romance branch of Gallo-Romance languages is not shared by all linguists and philologists, particularly among Spanish ones, such as Ramón Menéndez Pidal . Catalan bears varying degrees of similarity to
1469-602: A large part of the army to oppose Suárez, opposition that further intensified when the PCE was legalized. Meanwhile, Gutiérrez Mellado promoted officials who supported political reform and removed those commanders of the security forces (the Policía Armada and the Guardia Civil ) who seemed to support preserving the Francoist regime. Suárez wanted to demonstrate to the army that
1582-495: A minority of French Catalans speak Catalan nowadays, with French being the majority language for the inhabitants after a continued process of language shift . According to a 2019 survey by the Catalan government, 31.5% of the inhabitants of Catalonia predominantly spoke Catalan at home whereas 52.7% spoke Spanish, 2.8% both Catalan and Spanish and 10.8% other languages. Spanish was the most spoken language in Barcelona (according to
1695-647: A network of community-run schools engaged in Catalan language immersion programs. In Alicante province , Catalan is being replaced by Spanish and in Alghero by Italian . There is also well ingrained diglossia in the Valencian Community , Ibiza , and to a lesser extent, in the rest of the Balearic islands . During the 20th century many Catalans emigrated or went into exile to Venezuela , Mexico , Cuba , Argentina , and other South American countries. They formed
1808-1052: A shared history with the Western Romance innovative core, especially Occitan. Like all Romance languages, Catalan has a handful of native words which are unique to it, or rare elsewhere. These include: The Gothic superstrate produced different outcomes in Spanish and Catalan. For example, Catalan fang "mud" and rostir "to roast", of Germanic origin, contrast with Spanish lodo and asar , of Latin origin; whereas Catalan filosa "spinning wheel" and templa "temple", of Latin origin, contrast with Spanish rueca and sien , of Germanic origin. The same happens with Arabic loanwords. Thus, Catalan alfàbia "large earthenware jar" and rajola "tile", of Arabic origin, contrast with Spanish tinaja and teja , of Latin origin; whereas Catalan oli "oil" and oliva "olive", of Latin origin, contrast with Spanish aceite and aceituna . However,
1921-469: A thousand floral offerings, acts throughout Catalonia and a certain institutional participation. But the demonstrations caused 17 wounded, five policemen and 12 protesters, and several arrests. The dictatorship of Primo de Rivera banned the celebration. During the Second Spanish Republic (1931–1939), the Generalitat de Catalunya (the autonomous government of Catalonia established in 1931) institutionalized
2034-513: A transition from Medieval to Renaissance values, something that can also be seen in Metge 's work. The first book produced with movable type in the Iberian Peninsula was printed in Catalan. With the union of the crowns of Castille and Aragon in 1479, the Spanish kings ruled over different kingdoms, each with its own cultural, linguistic and political particularities, and they had to swear by
2147-415: Is mandatory in all schools, but it is possible to use Spanish for studying in the public education system of Catalonia in two situations—if the teacher assigned to a class chooses to use Spanish, or during the learning process of one or more recently arrived immigrant students. There is also some intergenerational shift towards Catalan. More recently, several Spanish political forces have tried to increase
2260-579: Is pronounced [kətəˈla] in the Eastern Catalan dialects, and [kataˈla] in the Western dialects. In the Valencian Community and Carche , the term valencià [valensiˈa] is frequently used instead. Thus, the name "Valencian", although often employed for referring to the varieties specific to the Valencian Community and Carche, is also used by Valencians as a name for
2373-554: Is said to have concluded after the landslide victory of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) in the 1982 general election and the first peaceful transfer of executive power . Democracy was on the road to being consolidated. The end result of the Transition according to Casanova was "at least from 1982 onwards, a parliamentary monarchy, based on a democratic constitution, with a large number of rights and freedoms,
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#17328912083232486-671: Is spoken in the Pyrénées-Orientales department of France and in two further areas in eastern Spain: the eastern strip of Aragon and the Carche area in the Region of Murcia . The Catalan-speaking territories are often called the Països Catalans or "Catalan Countries". The language evolved from Vulgar Latin in the Middle Ages around the eastern Pyrenees . Nineteenth-century Spain saw
2599-661: The Catalan constitutions and lives from the expected repression. After months of intense fighting, the Army of Catalonia raised for that purpose, as well the Coronela (urban militia) of Barcelona were finally defeated at the Siege of Barcelona by the combined Spanish and French armies on 11 September 1714 after 14 months of siege, in which the Head Councillor (mayor) of Barcelona, Rafael Casanova ,
2712-722: The Crown of Aragon , and Catalan was present all over the Mediterranean world. During this period, the Royal Chancery propagated a highly standardized language. Catalan was widely used as an official language in Sicily until the 15th century, and in Sardinia until the 17th. During this period, the language was what Costa Carreras terms "one of the 'great languages' of medieval Europe". Martorell 's novel of chivalry Tirant lo Blanc (1490) shows
2825-463: The Gascon dialect ) is similar to the distance among different Occitan dialects. Catalan was considered a dialect of Occitan until the end of the 19th century and still today remains its closest relative. Catalan shares many traits with the other neighboring Romance languages (Occitan, French, Italian , Sardinian as well as Spanish and Portuguese among others). However, despite being spoken mostly on
2938-479: The Honor Award of Catalan Letters (1969). The first Catalan-language TV show was broadcast in 1964. At the same time, oppression of the Catalan language and identity was carried out in schools, through governmental bodies, and in religious centers. In addition to the loss of prestige for Catalan and its prohibition in schools, migration during the 1950s into Catalonia from other parts of Spain also contributed to
3051-479: The Iberian Peninsula , Catalan has marked differences with the Iberian Romance group ( Spanish and Portuguese ) in terms of pronunciation , grammar, and especially vocabulary; it shows instead its closest affinity with languages native to France and northern Italy, particularly Occitan and to a lesser extent Gallo-Romance ( Franco-Provençal , French , Gallo-Italian ). According to Ethnologue ,
3164-530: The Movimiento Nacional , he declared that the purpose of his government was the continuity of Francoism through a "democracy in the Spanish way" ( Spanish : democracia a la española ). He believed political changes should be limited: he would give the parliament, the Cortes Españolas, the task of "updating our laws and institutions the way Franco would have wanted". The reform programme adopted by
3277-504: The consul in Barcelona was also asked. He declared that Catalan "is taught in schools, it is printed and spoken, not only among the lower class, but also among people of first quality, also in social gatherings, as in visits and congresses", indicating that it was spoken everywhere "with the exception of the royal courts". He also indicated that Catalan was spoken "in the Kingdom of Valencia, in
3390-453: The laws of each territory before the respective parliaments . But after the War of the Spanish Succession , Spain became an absolute monarchy under Philip V , which led to the assimilation of the Crown of Aragon by the Crown of Castile through the Nueva Planta decrees , as a first step in the creation of the Spanish nation-state ; as in other contemporary European states, this meant
3503-560: The regime change that moved from the Francoist dictatorship to the consolidation of a parliamentary system , in the form of constitutional monarchy under Juan Carlos I . The democratic transition began after the death of Francisco Franco , in November 1975. Initially, "the political elites left over from Francoism" attempted "to reform of the institutions of dictatorship" through existing legal means, but social and political pressure saw
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3616-600: The 11th and 14th centuries. During the 11th and 12th centuries the Catalan rulers expanded southward to the Ebro river , and in the 13th century they conquered the lands that would become the Kingdoms of Valencia and the Majorca . The city of Alghero in Sardinia was repopulated with Catalan speakers in the 14th century. The language also reached Murcia , which became Spanish-speaking in
3729-645: The 15th century. In the Low Middle Ages , Catalan went through a golden age, reaching a peak of maturity and cultural richness. Examples include the work of Majorcan polymath Ramon Llull (1232–1315), the Four Great Chronicles (13th–14th centuries), and the Valencian school of poetry culminating in Ausiàs March (1397–1459). By the 15th century, the city of Valencia had become the sociocultural center of
3842-454: The 19th century saw a Catalan literary revival ( Renaixença ), which has continued up to the present day. This period starts with Aribau 's Ode to the Homeland (1833); followed in the second half of the 19th century, and the early 20th by the work of Verdaguer (poetry), Oller (realist novel), and Guimerà (drama). In the 19th century, the region of Carche , in the province of Murcia
3955-523: The 2010s. Catalan language Catalan ( català ) is a Western Romance language . It is the official language of Andorra , and an official language of three autonomous communities in eastern Spain : Catalonia , the Balearic Islands and the Valencian Community , where it is called Valencian ( valencià ). It has semi-official status in the Italian comune of Alghero , and it
4068-515: The 28th Congress of the PSOE in May 1979, secretary-general Felipe González resigned, rather than ally with the strong revolutionary elements that seemed to dominate the party. A special congress was called that September, and realigned the party along more moderate lines, renouncing Marxism and allowing González to take charge once more. Throughout 1982, the PSOE confirmed its moderate orientation and brought in
4181-465: The Arabic element is generally much more prevalent in Spanish. Situated between two large linguistic blocks (Iberian Romance and Gallo-Romance), Catalan has many unique lexical choices, such as enyorar "to miss somebody", apaivagar "to calm somebody down", and rebutjar "reject". Traditionally Catalan-speaking territories are sometimes called the Països Catalans (Catalan Countries),
4294-532: The Civil War still haunted Spain. Francoists on the far right enjoyed considerable support within the Spanish Army , and people of the left distrusted a king who owed his position to Franco. The King's legitimacy rested on this appointment; his father, Don Juan, did not renounce his claim until 14 May 1977. Liberal opinion at the time held therefore, that the throne's legitimacy could only be saved by establishing
4407-896: The Constituent Cortes were carried out in June 1977. The elections held on 15 June 1977 confirmed the existence of four important political forces, at the national level. The votes broke down in the following manner: With the success of the Basque Nationalist Party ( Basque : EAJ, Euzko Alderdi Jeltzalea ; Spanish : PNV, Partido Nacionalista Vasco ) winning 8 seats and the Democratic Pact for Catalonia (PDC, Pacte Democrátic per Catalunya ) winning 11 seats in their respective regions, nationalist parties also began to show their political strength in these elections. The Constituent Cortes (elected Spanish parliament) then began to draft
4520-517: The Cortes rejected changes to the Criminal Code, which had previously made it a crime to be affiliated with a political party other than FET y de las JONS . The members of the Cortes, who vehemently opposed the legalization of the Communist Party, added an amendment to the law that banned political organizations that "submitted to an international discipline" and "advocated for the implantation of
4633-640: The Fundamental Laws. It also had to garner support within the Armed Forces and in the Spanish Labour Organisation . It also needed to appease the democratic opposition to Francoism. The approach towards the dissenters was that they would not be part of the reform process, but would be allowed to participate in politics more generally, with the exception of the Communist Party of Spain ( Partido Comunista de España , PCE). This conservative reform
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4746-449: The June 1977 and March 1979 elections. To exercise power, the UCD had to form parliamentary coalitions with other political parties. From 1979, the government spent much of its time working to hold together the many factions within the party itself, as well as their coalitions. In 1980, the Suárez government had, for the most part, accomplished its goal of a transition to democracy and lacked
4859-510: The Political Reform Act. Suárez had to risk even more to involve the opposition forces in his plan. In December 1976, the PSOE celebrated its 27th Congress in Madrid , and began to disassociate itself from the demands of the PCE, affirming that it would participate in the next call for elections for the Constituent Cortes. At the beginning of 1977, the year of the elections, Suárez confronted
4972-712: The Principles of the Movimiento Nacional (National Movement), the political system of the Franco era; took possession of the crown before the Francoist Cortes Españolas ; and respected the Organic Law of the State for the appointment of his first head of government . Only in his speech before the Cortes did he indicate his support for a transformation of the Spanish political system. This de facto alliance between Juan Carlos and
5085-868: The Roman province of Hispania Tarraconensis to the south. From the 8th century onwards the Catalan counts extended their territory southwards and westwards at the expense of the Muslims , bringing their language with them. This process was given definitive impetus with the separation of the County of Barcelona from the Carolingian Empire in 988. In the 11th century, documents written in macaronic Latin begin to show Catalan elements, with texts written almost completely in Romance appearing by 1080. Old Catalan shared many features with Gallo-Romance , diverging from Old Occitan between
5198-473: The Spanish province of Alicante settled around Oran , while those from French Catalonia and Menorca migrated to Algiers . By 1911, there were around 100,000 speakers of Patuet , as their speech was called. After the Algerian declaration of independence in 1962, almost all the Pied-Noir Catalan speakers fled to Northern Catalonia or Alicante. The French government only recognizes French as an official language. Nevertheless, on 10 December 2007,
5311-414: The Transition. While often cited as a paradigm of peaceful, negotiated transition, political violence during the Spanish transition was far more prevalent than during the analogous democratization processes in Greece or Portugal , with the emergence of separatist, leftist, fascist and vigilante terrorist groups and police violence. The re-democratization also led to Spain's integration into Europe,
5424-431: The afternoon of 23 February 1981. The coup leaders claimed to be acting in the king's name. However, early on the following morning, Juan Carlos gave a nationwide speech unequivocally opposing it, saying that "the Crown, symbol of the permanence and unity of the nation, will not tolerate, in any degree whatsoever, the actions or behavior of anyone attempting, through use of force, to interrupt the democratic process." The coup
5537-446: The army and exercised influence over important sectors of the military. The ever-present threat of a coup d’etat from the hardliners required careful navigation. To resolve the issue, Suárez intended to support himself with a liberal group within the military, centered on General Díez Alegría . Suárez gave the members of this group the positions of authority with the most responsibility. The most notable personality of this faction within
5650-461: The army was General Manuel Gutiérrez Mellado . However, in July 1976, the Vice President for Defense Affairs was General Fernando de Santiago , a member of a hardline group within the army. De Santiago had shown his restlessness before, during the first amnesty in July 1976. He had opposed the law granting the right to unionize. Suárez dismissed Fernando de Santiago, nominating Gutiérrez Mellado instead. This confrontation with General de Santiago caused
5763-445: The celebration. The National Days that took place during the Spanish Civil War (1936, 1937 and 1938) had a marked anti-fascist character and the anarchist trade union CNT took part of the celebrations. It was suppressed, as part of the anti-Catalan policies, by the Francoist dictatorship in 1939, relegated to the family and private sphere where the holiday continued to be celebrated clandestinely. The monument of Rafael Casanova
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#17328912083235876-499: The changes through a popular referendum . On 15 December 1976, with a 77.72% participation rate, 94% of voters indicated their support for the changes. From this moment, it was possible to begin the electoral process (the second part of the Suárez program), which would serve to elect the members of the Constituent Cortes , the body that was to be responsible for creating a democratic constitution. With this part of his plan fulfilled, Suárez had to resolve another issue: should he include
5989-399: The commission meant that Fraga and the reformists lost control of much of the legislative direction of the country; the reformists had been planning updated "Laws of Assembly and Association", which included a reform of the Spanish Criminal Code . Even so, the new Law of Assembly was passed by the Francoist Cortes on 25 May 1976, allowing public demonstration with government authorization. On
6102-417: The conditions that the opposition groups first demanded in 1974. These opposition forces met in November 1976 to create an association of democratic organizations called the Democratic Convergence Platform . Suárez had initiated political contact with the opposition by meeting with Felipe González , secretary general of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE), in August 1976. The positive attitude of
6215-404: The consequence of a complex transition, riddled with conflicts, foreseen and unforeseen obstacles and problems, in the context of economic crisis and political uncertainty." However, as then-prime minister González said later, "the state apparatus was retained, in its entirety, from the dictatorship". Importantly, most of the significant aspects in the Transition were adopted by consensus between
6328-421: The continuation of terrorist attacks by ETA (m) ("ETA Military"; later simply "ETA") or to a lesser extent, GRAPO. Meanwhile, restlessness in various sections of the armed forces created fear of an impending military coup . Reactionary elements in the army attempted a coup known as 23-F , in which Lieutenant Colonel Antonio Tejero led an occupation by a group of Guardia Civil of the Congress of Deputies , on
6441-613: The defence of the city such as Rafael Casanova and General Moragues , marking their stand against the Bourbon king Philip V of Spain . Typically, Catalan pro-independence organizations carry demonstrations and meet at the Fossar de les Moreres in Barcelona, where they pay homage to the defenders of city who died during the siege and were buried there. Throughout the day, there are patriotic demonstrations and cultural events in many Catalan villages and many citizens wave senyeres and estelades . The event has become more explicitly political and particularly focused on independence rallies in
6554-419: The diminished use of the language. These migrants were often unaware of the existence of Catalan, and thus felt no need to learn or use it. Catalonia was the economic powerhouse of Spain, so these migrations continued to occur from all corners of the country. Employment opportunities were reduced for those who were not bilingual . Daily newspapers remained exclusively in Spanish until after Franco's death, when
6667-522: The door to parliamentary democracy in Spain, this legislation could not simply create a new political system by eliminating the obstacles put in place by the Franco regime against democracy: it had to liquidate the Francoist system through the Francoist Cortes itself. The Cortes, under the presidency of Fernández-Miranda, debated this bill throughout the month of November; it ultimately approved it, with 425 votes in favor, 59 against, and 13 abstentions. The Suárez government sought to gain further legitimacy for
6780-420: The elections pushed Suárez to take the riskiest step of the transition: the legalization of the PCE in April 1977. However, throughout this critical period the government began a strategy of providing greater institutional space to the Unión General de Trabajadores (UGT) union, more moderate and linked to the Socialists, in comparison to the Communist-oriented CCOO . The manner in which a unified trade union
6893-451: The first one in Catalan since the end of the Civil War, Avui , began to be published in 1976. Since the Spanish transition to democracy (1975–1982), Catalan has been institutionalized as an official language, language of education, and language of mass media; all of which have contributed to its increased prestige. In Catalonia , there is an unparalleled large bilingual European non-state linguistic community. The teaching of Catalan
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#17328912083237006-399: The formation of a democratic parliament in the 1977 general election, which had the imprimatur to write a new constitution that was then approved by referendum in December 1978. The following years saw the beginning of the development of the rule of law and establishment of regional government , amidst ongoing terrorism, an attempted coup d'état and global economic problems. The Transition
7119-469: The government to retire factious generals who regarded it as their duty to maintain the existing constitution. The King did not initially appoint a new prime minister, leaving in place the incumbent head of government under Franco, Carlos Arias Navarro . Arias Navarro had not initially planned a reform of the Francoist regime; in the National Council of the Movement , an advisory assembly of the ruling FET y de las JONS ( Falange ) party and other groups in
7232-407: The government was the one proposed by Manuel Fraga , rejecting Antonio Garrigues' plan to elect a constituent assembly . Fraga's programme aimed to achieve a "liberal democracy" that was "comparable to the rest of the Western European countries" through a "gradual and controlled process", through a series of reforms of the pseudo-constitutional Fundamental Laws of the Realm . This is why his proposal
7345-427: The governments and the opposition. In addition to this pragmatic, civic, "a-nationalist" leadership in Madrid, contributing factors to the success of the Transition were a Monarchy as a cohesive unitary symbol and the neutralisation of the Army's influence on political life. Additionally, the contrasting action of Basque violence and the peaceful mobilisation of Catalonia, successfully transformed Spanish politics during
7458-505: The head of government, and Leopoldo Calvo Sotelo was appointed, first to lead the new cabinet, and later, to the presidency of the UCD; social democrats led by Francisco Fernández Ordóñez defected from the coalition, later joining the PSOE, while Christian democrats left to form the People's Democratic Party . While the democratic normalization had succeeded in convincing ETA (pm) , the "political-military" faction of ETA, to abandon arms and enter parliamentary politics, it did not stop
7571-420: The imposition of the political and cultural characteristics of the dominant groups. Since the political unification of 1714, Spanish assimilation policies towards national minorities have been a constant. The process of assimilation began with secret instructions to the corregidores of the Catalan territory: they "will take the utmost care to introduce the Castilian language, for which purpose he will give
7684-425: The islands of Mallorca, Menorca, Ibiza, Sardinia, Corsica and much of Sicily, in the Vall d "Aran and Cerdaña". The defeat of the pro-Habsburg coalition in the War of Spanish Succession (1714) initiated a series of laws which, among other centralizing measures, imposed the use of Spanish in legal documentation all over Spain. Because of this, use of the Catalan language declined into the 18th century. However,
7797-436: The kidnapping of two important figures of the regime: the President of the Council of the State José María de Oriol , and General Villaescusa, President of the Superior Council of the Military Justice. From the right, during these kidnappings, members of the neo-fascist Alianza Apostólica Anticomunista conducted the Atocha massacre, three of them labor lawyers , in an office on Atocha Street in Madrid, in January 1977. In
7910-410: The language as a whole, synonymous with "Catalan". Both uses of the term have their respective entries in the dictionaries by the Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua (AVL) and the Institut d'Estudis Catalans (IEC). (See also status of Valencian below). By the 9th century, Catalan had evolved from Vulgar Latin on both sides of the eastern end of the Pyrenees , as well as the territories of
8023-606: The language in features closer to Occitan (and French ). There is evidence that, at least from the 2nd century AD, the vocabulary and phonology of Roman Tarraconensis was different from the rest of Roman Hispania. Differentiation arose generally because Spanish, Asturian , and Galician-Portuguese share certain peripheral archaisms (Spanish hervir , Asturian and Portuguese ferver vs. Catalan bullir , Occitan bolir "to boil") and innovatory regionalisms (Spanish novillo , Asturian nuviellu vs. Catalan torell , Occitan taurèl "bullock"), while Catalan has
8136-566: The lexical similarity between Catalan and other Romance languages is: 87% with Italian; 85% with Portuguese and Spanish; 76% with Ladin and Romansh ; 75% with Sardinian; and 73% with Romanian. During much of its history, and especially during the Francoist dictatorship (1939–1975), the Catalan language was ridiculed as a mere dialect of Spanish . This view, based on political and ideological considerations, has no linguistic validity. Spanish and Catalan have important differences in their sound systems, lexicon, and grammatical features, placing
8249-480: The linguistic census held by the Government of Catalonia in 2013) and it is understood almost universally. According to 2013 census, Catalan was also very commonly spoken in the city of 1,501,262: it was understood by 95% of the population, while 72.3% over the age of two could speak it (1,137,816), 79% could read it (1,246.555), and 53% could write it (835,080). The share of Barcelona residents who could speak it (72.3%)
8362-456: The linguistic varieties subsumed under the cover term Occitan language (see also differences between Occitan and Catalan and Gallo-Romance languages ). Thus, as it should be expected from closely related languages, Catalan today shares many traits with other Romance languages. Some include Catalan in Occitan, as the linguistic distance between this language and some Occitan dialects (such as
8475-534: The middle of 1976 had seemed open to a limited truce after Franco's death, resumed armed confrontation again in October. The time from 1978 to 1980 would be ETA's three deadliest years ever. However, it was between December 1976 and January 1977 that a series of attacks brought about a situation of high tension in Spain. The Maoist GRAPO ( Grupos de Resistencia Antifascista Primero de Octubre ) began its armed struggle by bombing public locations, and then continued with
8588-496: The midst of these provocations, Suárez convened his first meeting with a significant number of opposition leaders, who published a condemnation of terrorism and gave their support to Suárez's actions. During this turbulent time, the Búnker capitalized on the instability and declared that the country was on the brink of chaos. Despite the increased violence by the ETA and GRAPO, elections for
8701-481: The most temperate and disguised measures so that the effect is achieved, without the care being noticed". From there, actions in the service of assimilation, discreet or aggressive, were continued, and reached to the last detail, such as, in 1799, the Royal Certificate forbidding anyone to "represent, sing and dance pieces that were not in Spanish". The use of Spanish gradually became more prestigious and marked
8814-448: The next six years, Prince Juan Carlos remained in the background during public appearances and seemed ready to follow in Franco's footsteps. Once in power as King of Spain , however, he facilitated the development of a constitutional monarchy as his father, Don Juan de Borbón , had advocated since 1946. King Juan Carlos I began his reign as head of state without leaving the confines of Franco's legal system. As such, he swore fidelity to
8927-496: The officers strongly declared opposition to the legalization of the PCE. The PCE, for its part, acted ever more publicly to express its opinions. According to the Communists, the Political Reform Act was anti-democratic and the elections for the Constituent Cortes should be called by a provisional government including members from the opposition. The Communists particularly and the opposition more broadly did not show any enthusiasm for
9040-519: The opposition groups who had not participated at the beginning of the transition? Suárez also had to deal with a third problem: coming to terms with the anti-Francoist opposition. Suárez adopted a series of measured policies to add credibility to his project. He issued a partial political amnesty in July 1976, freeing 400 prisoners; he then extended this in March 1977, and finally granted a blanket amnesty in May of
9153-499: The other hand, there are several language shift processes currently taking place. In the Northern Catalonia area of France, Catalan has followed the same trend as the other minority languages of France, with most of its native speakers being 60 or older (as of 2004). Catalan is studied as a foreign language by 30% of the primary education students, and by 15% of the secondary. The cultural association La Bressola promotes
9266-511: The other having an " organic " character. Torcuato Fernández-Miranda , the president of the Council of the Realm , placed Adolfo Suárez on a list of three candidates for King Juan Carlos to choose to become the new head of government, replacing Arias Navarro. The king chose Suárez because he felt he could meet the challenge of the difficult political process that lay ahead: persuading the Cortes, which
9379-469: The percentage of speakers to the population of each area where Catalan is spoken. The web site of the Generalitat de Catalunya estimated that as of 2004 there were 9,118,882 speakers of Catalan. These figures only reflect potential speakers; today it is the native language of only 35.6% of the Catalan population. According to Ethnologue , Catalan had 4.1 million native speakers and 5.1 million second-language speakers in 2021. According to
9492-480: The political forces opposed to maintaining the status quo is considered to be a key part to the success of Spain’s transition to democracy. The transition was an ambitious plan that counted on ample support both within and outside of Spain. Western governments, headed by the United States , now favoured a Spanish constitutional monarchy, as did many Spanish and international liberal capitalists . The spectre of
9605-500: The political normalization of the country meant neither anarchy nor revolution. In this, he counted on the cooperation of Santiago Carrillo, but he could in no way count on the cooperation of terrorist groups. The Basque Country remained, for the better part of this period, in a state of political turbulence. Suárez granted a multi-stage amnesty for numerous Basque political prisoners, but the confrontations continued between local police and protesters. The separatist group ETA , which in
9718-460: The population self-identifies with both Catalan and Spanish equally, 36.4% with Catalan and 47.5% only Spanish. In 2003 the same studies concluded no language preference for self-identification within the population above 15 years old: 5% self-identified with both languages, 44.3% with Catalan and 47.5% with Spanish. To promote use of Catalan, the Generalitat de Catalunya (Catalonia's official Autonomous government) spends part of its annual budget on
9831-556: The problem of legalizing the PCE. After the public indignation against anti-reformists aroused by the Massacre of Atocha in January 1977, when far-right terrorists murdered labor leaders aligned with the PCE, Suárez opened negotiations with Communist leader Santiago Carrillo in February. Carrillo's willingness to cooperate without prior demands and his offer of a "social pact" for the period after
9944-404: The promotion of the use of Catalan in Catalonia and in other territories, with entities such as Consorci per a la Normalització Lingüística (Consortium for Linguistic Normalization). In Andorra , Catalan has always been the sole official language. Since the promulgation of the 1993 constitution , several policies favoring Catalan have been enforced, such as Catalan medium education. On
10057-536: The rest of the territories. (% of the population 15 years old and older). (% of the population 15 years old and older). Spanish transition to democracy The Spanish transition to democracy , known in Spain as la Transición ( IPA: [la tɾansiˈθjon] ; ' the Transition ' ) or la Transición española ( ' the Spanish Transition ' ), is a period of modern Spanish history encompassing
10170-618: The restitution of Catalan self-government, in which the Casanova's statue was repositioned in its place, and the celebration was reinstated officially in 1980 by the Generalitat de Catalunya, upon its reestablishment after the Spanish transition to democracy , being the first law approved by the also restored Parliament of Catalonia . Catalan organizations, political parties and institutions traditionally lay floral offerings at monuments of those who led
10283-538: The same day the Law of Political Associations was also approved, supported by Suárez, who affirmed in parliamentary session that "if Spain is plural, the Cortes cannot afford to deny it". Suárez's intervention in favor of this reform shocked many, including Juan Carlos I. This intervention was key in Juan Carlos' decision to appoint Suárez as Prime Minister in the following month. The Arias-Fraga reform collapsed on 11 June, when
10396-593: The same year. In December 1976, the Tribunal de Orden Público (TOP), a sort of Francoist secret police , was dissolved. The right to strike was legalized in March 1977, with the right to unionize being granted the following month. Also in March, a new electoral system act ( Ley Electoral ) introduced the necessary framework for Spain's electoral system to be brought into accord with those of other countries that were liberal parliamentary democracies . Through these and other measures of government, Suárez complied with
10509-419: The social democrats, who had just broken from the UCD. Winning an absolute majority in parliament in two consecutive elections (1982 and 1986 ), and exactly half the seats in 1989 , allowed the PSOE to legislate and govern without establishing pacts with the other parliamentary political forces. In this way, the PSOE could make laws to achieve the goals of its political program, " el cambio " ("the change"). At
10622-496: The social level, including in schools and the University of Barcelona . The Catalan language and culture were still vibrant during the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939), but were crushed at an unprecedented level throughout the subsequent decades due to Francoist dictatorship (1939–1975), which abolished the official status of Catalan and imposed the use of Spanish in schools and in public administration in all of Spain , while banning
10735-490: The socialist leader gave further support for Suárez to carry forward his reforms, but everyone clearly perceived that the big problem for the political normalization of the country would be the legalization of the Communist Party (PCE), which at the time had more activists and was more organized than any other group in the political opposition. However, in a meeting between Suárez and the most important military leaders in September,
10848-592: The sole official language of the region. Shortly after the French Revolution (1789), the French First Republic prohibited official use of, and enacted discriminating policies against, the regional languages of France, such as Catalan, Alsatian , Breton , Occitan , Flemish , and Basque . After the French colony of Algeria was established in 1830, many Catalan-speaking settlers moved there. People from
10961-512: The start of the decline of Catalan. Starting in the 16th century, Catalan literature came under the influence of Spanish, and the nobles, part of the urban and literary classes became bilingual . With the Treaty of the Pyrenees (1659), Spain ceded the northern part of Catalonia to France , and soon thereafter the local Catalan varieties came under the influence of French , which in 1700 became
11074-765: The subsequent loss of Catalan institutions and laws. After the evacuation of the pro-Habsburg armies from Spain at the end of the War of the Spanish Succession , as a result of the Peace of Utrecht (1713) in which the Bourbon pretender Philip V was recognized king of the Iberian dominions of the Spanish Monarchy , the Principality of Catalonia unilaterally decided to remain in the war by decision of its Junta de Braços (Catalan assembly of Estates ) on 9 July 1713, in order to protect
11187-457: The term referring to a person first appears in the mid 14th century as Catelaner , followed in the 15th century as Catellain (from Middle French ). It is attested a language name since at least 1652. The word Catalan can be pronounced in English as / ˈ k æ t ə l ə n , - æ n / KAT -ə-lən, -lan or / ˌ k æ t ə ˈ l æ n / KAT -ə- LAN . The endonym
11300-826: The then General Council of the Pyrénées-Orientales officially recognized Catalan as one of the départment's languages and seeks to further promote it in public life and education. In 1807, the Statistics Office of the French Ministry of the Interior asked the prefects for an official survey on the limits of the French language . The survey found that in Roussillon , almost only Catalan was spoken, and since Napoleon wanted to incorporate Catalonia into France, as happened in 1812,
11413-403: The use of Catalan in them. Between 1939 and 1943 newspapers and book printing in Catalan almost disappeared. Francisco Franco's desire for a homogeneous Spanish population resonated with some Catalans in favor of his regime, primarily members of the upper class, who began to reject the use of Catalan. Despite all of these hardships, Catalan continued to be used privately within households, and it
11526-542: The use of Spanish in the Catalan educational system. As a result, in May 2022 the Spanish Supreme Court urged the Catalan regional government to enforce a measure by which 25% of all lessons must be taught in Spanish. According to the Statistical Institute of Catalonia , in 2013 the Catalan language is the second most commonly used in Catalonia, after Spanish , as a native or self-defining language: 7% of
11639-498: Was able to survive Franco's dictatorship. At the end of World War II , however, some of the harsh measures began to be lifted and, while Spanish language remained the sole promoted one, limited number of Catalan literature began to be tolerated. Several prominent Catalan authors resisted the suppression through literature. Private initiative contests were created to reward works in Catalan, among them Joan Martorell prize (1947), Víctor Català prize (1953) Carles Riba award (1950), or
11752-523: Was broken later that day, but demonstrated the existence of insurrectionary elements within the army. Calvo Sotelo dissolved parliament and called for elections in October 1982. In the 1979 election, the UCD had achieved a plurality, but in 1982, it suffered a spectacular defeat with only 11 seats in the Parliament. The 1982 elections gave an absolute majority to the PSOE, which had already spent many years preparing its image of an alternative government. At
11865-556: Was carried out without delay between July 1976 and June 1977. He had to act on many fronts during this short period of time in order to achieve his aims. The draft of the Political Reform Act ( Ley para la Reforma Política ) was written by Torcuato Fernández-Miranda, speaker of the Cortes, who handed it over to the Suárez government in July 1976. The project was approved by the Suarez Government in September 1976. To open
11978-447: Was composed of appointed Francoist politicians, to dismantle Franco's system. In this manner, he would formally act within the Francoist legal system and thus avoid the prospect of military intervention in the political process. Suárez was appointed as the 138th Prime Minister of Spain by Juan Carlos on 3 July 1976, a move that, given his Francoist past, was opposed by leftists and some centrists. As Prime Minister, Suárez quickly presented
12091-563: Was dubbed as a "reform in the continuity", and his support came mostly from those who defended a Francoist sociological model. In order for reform to succeed, it had to earn the support of the hardcore Francoist faction known as the Búnker , which had a major presence in the Cortes and the National Council of the Movement, the two institutions that would have to eventually approve the reforms of
12204-624: Was lower than that of the overall Catalan population, of whom 81.2% over the age of 15 spoke the language. Knowledge of Catalan has increased significantly in recent decades thanks to a language immersion educational system. An important social characteristic of the Catalan language is that all the areas where it is spoken are bilingual in practice: together with French in Roussillon, with Italian in Alghero, with Spanish and French in Andorra, and with Spanish in
12317-490: Was partly inspired by the historical period of the semi-democratic Bourbon Restoration (1876–1931), and was criticised for not taking into account the social and political circumstances of the time. The project coalesced into a proposal to reform three of the Fundamental Laws, but the exact changes would be determined by a mixed commission of the Government and the National Council of the Movement, as proposed by Torcuato Fernández-Miranda and Adolfo Suárez . The creation of
12430-457: Was removed. Since 1940 the National Front of Catalonia took advantage of the day to carry out some propaganda actions: distribution of anti-fascist leaflets, clandestine hanging of Catalan flags, etc. It was celebrated again publicly for the first time on 11 September 1976, one year after the death of Francisco Franco, being followed the next year by a huge demonstration in Barcelona demanding
12543-510: Was repopulated with Valencian speakers. Catalan spelling was standardized in 1913 and the language became official during the Second Spanish Republic (1931–1939). The Second Spanish Republic saw a brief period of tolerance, with most restrictions against Catalan lifted. The Generalitat (the autonomous government of Catalonia, established during the Republic in 1931) made a normal use of Catalan in its administration and put efforts to promote it at
12656-507: Was severely wounded during the defence of the wall. The subsequent promulgation of the Nueva Planta decrees (1716) abolished most of the Catalan constitutions and institutions (among them the Catalan Courts , the Generalitat , and the Consell de Cent ), meaning the end of the Principality of Catalonia as a separate state, becoming a province of a centralized Kingdom of Spain reorganized as
12769-464: Was strategically countered is an important feature of the Spanish transition, as it limited radical opposition and created the basis for a fractured industrial relations system. Adolfo Suárez knew well that the Búnker —a group of hard-line Francoists led by José Antonio Girón and Blas Piñar , using the newspapers El Alcázar and Arriba as their mouthpieces—had close contacts with officials in
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