ABSTRACT
Since the end of the Spanish Civil War in 1939, war and overt conflict have not reached Barcelona. The city and its residents suffered under the authoritarian rule of Francisco Franco Bahamonde for over 35 years, experienced a political transition of great uncertainty for five years after Franco’s death in 1975, and since 1980 have experienced democracy in the city and a high degree of regional autonomy for its home region of Catalonia (see Figure 3.2). For the past 25 years, there has been limited overt conflict owing to nationalism, no Catalan terrorism or paramilitaries, and mainly indirect references to I ndependence on the part of political leaders. Yet, when one examines the
history, talks to the people, and goes beneath the mesmerizing authenticity of Barcelona, one finds a deeply rooted Catalan nationalism based on the region’s distinctive culture, language, and history which differs substantially from the centralist nationalism that has permeated the Spanish state for centuries. Politics in Catalonia are dominated by the “national question”—specifically the appropriate political relationship between Catalonia and the Spanish state. Since the 1978 Spanish Constitution and the 1979 Autonomy Statute created Catalonia as an autonomous region in a democratic Spain, the push and pull of nationalist politics has been an ever-present characteristic of Catalonia’s social and political life.
