ABSTRACT
In this chapter I study the processes of cultural resistance which contributed to the survival of Catalan identity during the Franco regime. To begin with, I offer a brief analysis of three periods corresponding to the first stage of Francoism, and I then discuss the various actions that led to the reemergence of Catalan nationalism after the Civil War. The chapter focuses on the following key periods of Catalan resistance to the dictatorship: (1) initial reactions to the Republican defeat and the desire for the new regime to be short-lived; (2) the acceptance of an increasing consolidation of Francoism, together with the rise of a new generation opposed to the dictatorship; and (3) the unity of the Catalan resistance in its defence of democracy and the right to political autonomy within the context of a decaying dictatorship. In the last part of this chapter, I examine some of the consequences of Castilian-speaking mass immigration from other parts of Spain into Catalonia.
