Hello and welcome to the history page. After
a slight detour last week into the rich history of Catalonia
and its millenarian tradition of self-government - initially
as a confederation of independent counties and later as a
principality within successively larger states - we will now
return to our regular narrative. We had been discussing the
Catalan Statue of Autonomy, one of the most successful, albeit
controversial, reforms instituted by the Azaña administration
during its first year at the helm of the Second Republic.
Despite the fact that Franco abolished the entire political
oeuvre of the Republic when he came to power, the implementation
of Catalan autonomy is held to be a success on the grounds
that, unlike the Agrarian Reform, it survived the reactionary
backlash of the Black Biennium. Indeed, Catalan autonomy remained
fully effective until the end of the civil war in 1939.
Ready and Waiting
By the early 1930s, every nerve and fiber
of Catalan society was geared for the imminent resumption
of self-government within the larger Spanish state - as had
been their custom in days of yore. If we recall the Pact of
San Sebastián (a republican coalition formed in 1930
directly prior to the proclamation of the new regime), we
will remember that one significant outcome of these talks
was the agreement that Catalonia be granted its autonomy once
the Republic became effective. True to the stipulations of
the Pact, in the summer of 1931, a plebiscite was held in
Catalonia in order to gauge public sentiment on the matter.
The results were virtually unanimous with 97% of the electorate
voting in favour of autonomy. Despite grave reservations in
the rest of Spain regarding the issue, Azaña felt honour-bound
to make good on the San Sebastián promise, subsequently
reaffirmed by the plebiscite. To this end, he delivered an
impassioned speech which succeeded in winning over a landslide
majority of parliament members, many of whom had previously
been skeptical as to the sagacity of the statute. Azaña
argued that:
[Primo de Riveras] dictatorship
tried to treat, and did treat, the Catalan national sentiment
with violence, with oppression, with persecution
and,
at the same time that it did this in Catalonia
it did
the same with Spanish civil liberties. Is it in any way remarkable
or extraordinary that [both movements] have been reborn together?
The result, naturally, is that Catalan autonomists
have put their utmost faith in the Spanish Republic, identifying
for the first time a local and provincial cause with a greater
Spanish cause
for which reason, this regime holds up
as a primordial concern in the organization of State
that which, until now, has been a local problem of Catalan
nationalism
(Delivered in Parliament on 12th
May 1932)
Autonomy in Practice
The practical organization of the pre-Franco
Catalan government was quite similar to that subsequently
adopted by the remainder of Spanish autonomies (Ibiza included)
that were constituted after the dictators death. One
cannot help but note that, as usual, Catalonia was well ahead
of the times, in the sense that the concept of political autonomy,
so revolutionary in the 1930s, is now an accepted mundane
reality, a political right freely exercised by each of Spains
seventeen autonomies.
The Catalan government ruled over its four
provinces (Barcelona, Tarragona, Lérida and Gerona)
by means of a political organism known as the Generalitat,
an institution created in medieval times, resuscitated in
1932, and still in use today. The Generalitat was (and is)
divided into three branches of power represented by a president,
an executive council and a parliament, whose representatives
also held seats in the central parliament in Madrid. The executive
council was divided into consellerías or departments
(analogous to the ministries in Madrid) which determined local
policies in matters of internal revenue, economy, education,
culture, health, transport, communications and public order;
while, the areas of foreign affairs, national defense, border
control, etc. remained under the competency of the central
government. Potential onflicts arising from the overlap of
central and autonomous authority would be arbitrated by the
Tribunal of Constitutional Guarantees. Also enormously significant
for the people of these lands was the fact that, for the first
time since 1714, Catalan was accepted as the official language
of government as well as the autonomy as a whole.
The first Catalan elections held in 1932
saw the victory of the left-wing republican factions that
had rallied for and obtained the Statute of Autonomy. Francesc
Macià, lifelong champion of the Catalan cause, returned
from exile at the age of 72 to assume a swansong presidency
of the Generalitat, being succeeded upon his death in 1933
by Lluis Companys.
Basque-Navarro Dichotomies
The Basques and Navarros also possessed
a strong independent streak; however, fundamental ideological
differences prevented them from achieving political autonomy
during the Second Republic. The first attempt at drafting
a Statute of Basque-Navarro Autonomy took place in 1931 when
the conservative and profoundly Catholic PNV (Nationalist
Basque Party) met with Navarras reactionary Carlist
Party, a monarchical faction advocating the return of absolutism.
Among other privileges and liberties, the resulting bill upheld
the regions right to deal directly with the Vatican,
unfettered by ecclesiastic mediation from any of Spains
bishoprics. Not surprisingly, the socialist and republican
sectors of Basque society dismissed the proposed statute as
retrogressive.
A second attempt at achieving autonomy was
temporarily delayed due to the withdrawal of Basque-Navarro
representatives from parliament, in protest against the anticlerical
legislation instituted by the Azaña administration.
A year later, on 19th June1932, local elections were held
to determine the level of acceptance of a new version of the
statue. Of the Basque Countrys three provinces, two
(Biscay and Guipúzcoa) voted in favour of the proposed
statute, while Álavas urns produced a tie. Navarra,
the centre of monarchical resistence, rejected the proposal
altogether, refusing to negotiate with an atheist
republic.
At this juncture, Navarra began to distance
itself from the Basque nationalists, who sought autonomy within
the Republic, insisting instead that Navarras traditional
charters - abolished in the early 18th century like those
of Catalonia - be reinstated. At least they were never denied
the right to run with bulls! Although, how this custom fits
in with the regions extreme Catholicism is rather baffling.
At any rate, Navarras migration away from Basque nationalism
soon caused the ultra-right Carlists to politically realign
with the more prevalent brand of monarchists, i.e. those who
advocated the return of Alfonso XIII - who, while not an absolute
monarch was, at least, a monarch. As we shall see in future
inst! alments, the combined support of these monarchical factions
proved instrumental in Francos grab for power.
Closing
A year later, a third ill-fated attempt
to establish Basque autonomy was obstructed by the rise to
power of the conservative Black Biennium (1933-1935). Join
us next week as we soldier on to explore the Azaña
administrations drastic curtailment of military and
clerical power in Spain.
Emily Kaufman
emilykaufman@ibizahistoryculture.com
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