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son with the Basques, eventually aban-
doned the course of violence.
In 2005 a new Spanish government
headed by J
OSÉ
L
UIS
R
ODRÍGUEZ
Z
APATERO
was in power. It faced the problems created
by Islamist terrorism and the perennial
danger of ETA attacks still to be feared on
the Basque flank. It was now that Catalan
nationalism once again posed a clear and
present danger. Following Pujol's retire-
ment from politics a new set of Catalan
leaders emerged in Barcelona and touched
off a new political firestorm by announcing
their intention to reopen the whole ques-
tion of Catalan status. The most alarming
point made in their initial statement was
that Catalonia must be recognized as a
“nation.” Prime Minister Zapatero promptly
responded that the constitution was clear
on the matter of autonomy and that no
alteration could or should be made. The
constitution referred to the rights and inter-
ests of “nationalities” and did not speak of
any “nation” except the Spanish nation,
whose unity was asserted as a fundamental
fact. While outsiders might regard the dis-
tinction between
nationality
and
nation
as a
mere legalistic quibble, it was a far more
serious matter to the disputants. Madrid
considered
nationalities
to be essentially
another term for ethnic minorities, but the
Catalans seemed to be asking for virtual
independence. Some Catalan politicians
even spoke of Catalonia as a sovereign state,
linked to Spain by a form of association.
Others talked of a kind of melting away of
traditional boundaries into a shared mem-
bership in the European Union that made
traditional labels irrelevant.
By early 2006 a new element had entered
the debate as officers of the Spanish army
with clear ties to ultrarightist groups spoke
out on the threat that Catalan aspirations
posed to the unity of Spain. The two gener-
als were given early retirement. Even more
disturbing was the statement that came
from a lower-ranking retired officer, the
lieutenant colonel who had led the abortive
military coup in 1981: When he and his
men seized the parliamentary chamber in
Madrid and held the legislators hostage for
hours, the country seemed on the brink of
ruin. These armed members of the Civil
Guards were perceived as the agents of a
military conspiracy that was poised to over-
throw democracy and restore a Franquist
dictatorship in the name of “unity and sta-
bility.” After King J
UAN
C
ARLOS
intervened
to halt the insurrection Spain had seemed
to have escaped the specter of militarism.
Now here was a voice from the past sug-
gesting that Spanish patriots should be pre-
pared to use military force to preserve unity.
Political scientists had previously judged
that Basque nationalism was essentially
self-isolating and therefore could not hope
to fulfill its broadest dreams. They had
argued that Catalan nationalism was more
inclusive and would, in any case, be crushed
by the large non-Catalan speaking popula-
tion of Barcelona. Both these soothing
analyses suddenly seemed less realistic.
Most urgently, the course of Catalan nation-
alism might well provoke a more immedi-
ate backlash from Spanish nationalists than
that of the Basque.
Catherine of Aragon (Catalina)
(1485-1536)
Spanish queen-consort of England
Catherine was the daughter of F
ERDINAND
V
of A
RAGON
and I
SABELLA
I of C
ASTILE
. Her
marriage to Arthur, Prince of Wales, in 1501
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