Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
massive petition against language restrictions was raised in 1963; and a sit-in by Catalan in-
tellectuals at Montserrat was organized in protest against repression in the Basque Country.
NO NUDES PLEASE, WE'RE CATALAN
BarcelonaisoneofEurope'smostpopularcity-breakdestinations,buttourismhasbrought
its own problems, as Barcelona has acquired a not-always-welcome reputation as a beach
resortandpartytown.Theroamingstagpartiesandantisociallate-nightbehaviourbyvisit-
ors causes much hand-wringing at City Hall (and much street-hosing early each morning),
while certain old-town areas are now virtual tourist-only zones for much of the year. After
Spanish newspapers published pictures in 2009 of tourists having sex with prostitutes on
the Ramblas, locals talked sadly of the city being sullied, and it was no surprise when in
2011 - following regular local media complaints - the city council banned resort-style be-
haviour on Barcelona's streets. You can take your shirt off, or walk around in swimwear
on the beach or on the beach promenade (complete nudity is allowed on just one beach),
but strolling up and down the Ramblas as if you're on the Costa del Sol will no longer be
tolerated by the local police.
Franco's death and the new democracy
When Franco died in 1975,
King Juan Carlos
was officially designated to succeed as head
of state - approved of by the powerful army and groomed for the succession by Franco him-
self. The king's initial moves were cautious in the extreme, though to his credit, Juan Carlos
recognized that some real break with the past was inevitable, and, accepting the resignation
of his prime minister, set in motion the process of
democratization
. His newly appointed
prime minister, Adolfo Suárez, steered through a Political Reform Act, which allowed for a
two-chamber parliament and a referendum in favour of democracy; he also legitimized the
Socialist Party (the PSOE) and the Communists, and called elections for the following year,
the first since 1936.
In the elections of 1977, the
Pacte Democratico per Catalunya
- an alliance of pro-
Catalan parties - gained ten seats in the lower house of the Spanish parliament, which was
otherwise dominated by Suárez' own centre-right UCD party but also had a strong Socialist
presence. In a spirit of consensus, it was announced that Catalunya was to be granted a de-
gree of autonomy, and a million people turned out on the streets of Barcelona to witness the
re-establishment of the Generalitat and to welcome home its president-in-exile,
Josep Tar-
radellas
.
A new Spanish constitution of 1978 allowed for a sort of devolution within a unitary state,
and the
Statute of Autonomy
for Catalunya was approved on December 18, 1979, with the
firstregionalelectionstakingplaceinMarch1980.Theconservative
JordiPujoliSoley
and
