From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Catalan nationalism. (Discuss)

The blue estelada flag

Catalan independentism is a political movement which supports the independence of Catalonia, but nowadays more commonly of the whole Catalan Countries, from Spain and France.

The Estelada flag, in its blue and red versions, has become its main symbol.

Some Catalanist authors argue that first precedents of Catalan independentism may date back as far as 1640, with the unsuccessful first Catalan Republic after Reaper's War, and subsequently during the War of the Spanish Succession. However, in the modern sense, the first political parties which started defining themselves as separatists were created between the 1920s and the 1930s in Spanish Catalonia. Some of these parties were: Estat Català, Bandera Negra, Nosaltres Sols or the Partit Català Proletari.

Official polls about support for independence in the Autonomous Community of Catalonia (1991-2005)

After the Spanish Civil War, the Front Nacional de Catalunya became the main pro-independence party. However, one might argue that modern Catalan independentism was actually born in the 1960s with the Partit Socialista d'Alliberament Nacional (PSAN). Since then, the pro-independence movement has assumed a mostly left-wing political trend and has often shifted its focus from "independence for Catalonia" to "independence for the 'Catalan Countries'". By the 1970s, the PSAN split into several factions, and many other groups appeared, including the armed organization Terra Lliure. In the 1980s, the Moviment de Defensa de la Terra became the major pro-independence political group but this too became divided by the end of the decade. During the 1990s, existing political parties such as Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya and the linguistic-national initiative Crida a la Solidaritat progressively evolved towards a more pro-independence stance.

Víctor Alexandre's Jo no sóc espanyol (I'm not Spanish) is one of the most popular books related to Catalan independentism

In 2005, the only organization represented in a Parliament, such as the European or the Catalonian ones, that campaigns explicitly for independence is the Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya. They won 14.06% of the total votes in the last 2006 elections of the Catalan Parliament.

Other present-day independentist parties or coalitions, without present representation in any regional parliament, are Endavant, the PSAN, the MDT and the CUP. There are also youth sections such as the JERC, Maulets or the Coordinadora d'Assemblees de Joves de l'Esquerra Independentista, and a students' organization, SEPC.

In recent years Catalan independentism reasons is also increasingly being supported by a wider political spectrum; for instance, with personalities such as the liberal economist Xavier Sala i Martín [1].

In Spain, some consider this current rising may have been triggered as a reaction especially against the policy of the latter Spanish governments of the Partido Popular party, and the fierce opposition to certain legislative reforms such as the new proposal of Statute of Catalonia.

• Anti-Catalanism
• List of active autonomist and secessionist movements
• Catalan Countries
• History of Catalonia
• Catalan language
• Catalan nationalism
• Racó Català. Popular web portal related to Catalan independentism.

• Independentist sites at the Open Directory Project (suggest site) . (Catalan)
• History of Catalan independentism. Dossier of the Catalan magazine El Temps. (Catalan)

This Catalonia-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

This politics-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.