Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
HOMAGE TO CATALUNYA
While it's never had the same high profile or the violence associated with Basque separ-
atism,
Catalan independence
is a hot topic, futher complicated by the economic crisis
that Spain is slowly emerging from. Much of the debate boils down to practicalities. The
Catalan government - the
Generalitat
- based in Barcelona, enjoys a high profile con-
trollingsocialservices,urbanplanning,culture,regionaltransport,industry,trade,tourism,
fisheries and agriculture. However, as long as its budget is based on
tax
collected by cent-
ral government the Generalitat is forced to
share jurisdiction
on strategic matters such as
health, education and justice with the Spanish state.
Over the years steps have been taken to create at least the illusion of independence.
Catalan (as opposed to Spanish) tourism, trade and industry are increasingly promoted
abroad, while
policing
is gradually being taken over by the Mossos d'Esquadra, Catalun-
ya's autonomous police force. Culturally, emphasis has been on the promotion of the
Catalan language
- currently one of the fastest-growing languages in the world. All
Catalunya's children are taught in Catalan (you'll also spot a burgeoning number of .cat
domain names online), and there are ongoing discussions about making Catalan an official
EU language.
Contemporary politics
In the
general election of 2000
, the PP won a resounding victory in the national parliament,
while Catalunya was left under CiU control. For the first time, the PP was no longer depend-
ent on other parties to pass legislation and was high on confidence, though within two years
Aznar's government had begun to lose its way. In particular, Aznar's fervent support of US
and British
military action in Iraq
in 2003 led to huge discontent, with polls showing that
ninety percent of Spaniards opposed the conflict.
However, in the local elections of 2003, Aznar and the PP defied the polls, holding off the
PSOE in many major cities (Barcelona excepted). With the PSOE beset by corruption scan-
dals and affected by the strong separatist showing in regional elections, it seemed that the
best the PSOE could hope for was to deny the PP an absolute majority in the
2004 general
election
. That was before the dramatic events of March 11, 2004, when terrorists killed two
hundred people in coordinated
train bombings in Madrid
. Spain went to the polls in shock
a few days later, and voted in the PSOE against all expectations.
The Socialists took power in a minority administration led by PSOE prime minister
José
Luis Rodriguez Zapatero
, forced to rely on parliamentary support from Catalan separatists
and other regional parties. Over the term, Zapatero played his cards well, pointing to meas-
uressuchasthewithdrawaloftroopsfromIraq,anincreaseintheminimumwageandmater-
nityleaveandeventhelegalization ofgaymarriage asevidence ofanewdirection forSpain.
