Catalonia
is an autonomous community of Spain which has the status of nationality. Catalonia
is comprised of four provinces, namely: Barcelona, which is the capital and
largest city, and the second most populated municipality in Spain. Others
include Girona, Lleida, and Tarragona. Geographically, Catalonia is located at
the eastern farthest end of the Iberian Peninsula and shares boundaries with
France and Andorra in the north, Valencia in the south, the Mediterranean Sea
in the east and the communities of Aragon in the west.
Historically,
Catalonia appears to be a political fallout put together by the Frankish
kingdom as feudal vassals which acted as a bulwark against Muslim invasions. By
the 12th century, Catalonia and the Kingdom of Aragon forged a unity under the
Crown of Aragon and latterly, around 1469 to 1516, the marriage between Ferdinand
II of Aragon and Queen Isabella I of Castile meant that both jointly ruled
their kingdoms together. However, the union established for the first time
since the 8th century a political entity that we today call Spain.
Catalonia
might be described as a hotbed of revolt and wealth of intrigue. Hence, it has
seen its fair share of violence, domination, and conquests. No wonder, during
the Franco-Spanish War (1635-1659), Catalonia revolted against the nuisance and
presence of military personnel in its territory and inevitably became a
protectorate under the French. France later controlled Catalonia until the
Spanish army recaptured it. At the end of the Franco-Spanish War, the Spanish Crown
gave up the northern parts of Catalonia to France, as parts of the county of
Roussillon.
Culturally,
Catalonia caused rulers to jitter at the influence and pervasiveness of its
autonomy. As a result, between 1701-1714 saw the abolition of non-Castilian
institutions in all of Spain, including languages, such as Catalan and the
replacement with Spanish.
Nevertheless,
Catalonia has grown in leaps and bounds, though adversely hit by the Napoleonic
and Carlist Wars in the 19th century. It has been fortunate to relish
remarkable and continued industrialization, which rekindled its cultural
peculiarity and nationalism.
Historically,
Catalonian autonomy has been echoed and muffled, re-echoed, and re-muffled
because it reverberates around Spanish political integrity and economic
independence. The reason is obvious; Barcelona the second most populated
municipality in Spain and the seventh most populous urban centre in Europe is
the capital city of Catalonia. It has been argued that democracies do not go to
war with each other, however, internal turmoil and violence make democracy look
totalitarian.
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