ABSTRACT
The chapter examines how Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya (ERC) has constructed the narrative of fiscal victimisation that has recently been adopted by the wider Catalan movement for independence. It stresses the presence of a cultural-determinist explanation of the region’s socio-economic development that legitimises the rejection of solidarity with the rest of Spain on the basis of the deservingness criteria of control and reciprocity. It confirms the existence of substantial fiscal transfers from the periphery to the centre, but also nuances some of the party’s fiscal arguments. The chapter further shows how, politically, the main source of conflict has lain in Catalonia’s recognition as a nation within the Spanish state.
