Catalonia, Spain

• Catalunya (Catalan)
• Catalonha (Occitan)
• Cataluña (Spanish)

• 1Etymology and pronunciation
  
• 2History
  
  
  
  • 2.1Prehistory
    
  • 2.2Pre-Roman and Roman period
    
  • 2.3Middle Ages
    
  • 2.4Modern Era
    
  • 2.5Industrialisation and civil war era
    
  • 2.6Under Franco's rule (1939–1975)
    
  • 2.7Contemporary era (1975–2014)
    
  • 2.8Independence movement (2014–present)
    
  
  
  
• 3Geography
  
  
  
  • 3.1Climate
    
  • 3.2Topography
    
  • 3.3Flora and fauna
    
  • 3.4Hydrography
    
  
  
  
• 4Politics
  
  
  
  • 4.1Statute of Autonomy
    
  • 4.2Government and law
    
  • 4.3Security forces and Justice
    
  • 4.4Administrative divisions
    
  
  
  
• 5Economy
  
  
  
  • 5.1Transport
    
  
  
  
• 6Demographics
  
  
  
  • 6.1Religion
    
  • 6.2Languages
    
  
  
  
• 7Culture
  
  
  
  • 7.1Art and architecture
    
  • 7.2Literature
    
  • 7.3Festivals and public holidays
    
  • 7.4Music and dance
    
  • 7.5Media and cinema
    
  • 7.6Philosophy
    
  • 7.7Sport
    
  • 7.8Symbols
    
  • 7.9Cuisine
    
  
  
  
• 8Image gallery
  
• 9Twinning and covenants
  
• 10See also
  
• 11Notes
  
• 12References
  
• 13External links
  

Etymology and pronunciation

• Catalunya derives from the term "land of castles", having evolved from the term castlà or castlan, the medieval term for the ruler of a castle.^[11][14] This theory therefore suggests that the names Catalunya and Castile have a common root.
  
  
• The source is of Celtic origin, meaning "chiefs of battle". Although the area is not known to have been occupied by Celts, a Celtic culture was present within the interior of Iberia in pre-Roman times.^[15]
• The Lacetani, an Iberian tribe that lived in the area and whose name, due to the Roman influence, could have evolved by metathesisto Katelans and then Catalans.^[16]
• Miguel Carrasquer Vidal [1], finding serious shortcomings with earlier proposals (such as that an original -t- would have, by normal sound laws in the local Romance languages, developed into -d-), suggested an Arabic etymology: qattāl (قتالو), pl. qattālūn (قتالون) meaning "killer" could have been applied by Muslims to groups of raiders and bandits on the southern border of the Spanish March. The name, originally derogatory, could have been reappropriated by Christians as an autonym. This is comparable to attested development of the term Almogavar in nearby areas. In this model, the country name Catalunya derives from the plural qattālūn while the adjective and language name català derives from the singular qattāl, both with the addition of common Romance suffixes.

History

Prehistory

Pre-Roman and Roman period

Middle Ages

Modern Era

Ferdinand II of Aragon, the grandson of Ferdinand I, and Queen Isabella I of Castile were married in 1469, later taking the title the Catholic Monarchs; subsequently, this event was seen by historiographers as the dawn of a unified Spain. At this time, though united by marriage, the Crowns of Castile and Aragon maintained distinct territories, each keeping its own traditional institutions, parliaments, and laws. Castile commissioned expeditions to the Americas and benefited from the riches acquired in the Spanish colonisation of the Americas, but, in time, also carried the main burden of military expenses of the united Spanish kingdoms. After Isabella's death, Ferdinand II personally ruled both kingdoms.
By virtue of descent from his maternal grandparents, Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile, in 1516 Charles I of Spain became the first king to rule the Crowns of Castile and Aragon simultaneously by his own right. Following the death of his paternal (House of Habsburg) grandfather, Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor, he was also elected Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, in 1519.^[21]
Over the next few centuries, the Principality of Catalonia was generally on the losing side of a series of wars that led steadily to more centralization of power in Spain. Despite this fact, between the 16th and 18th centuries, the participation of the political community in the local and the general Catalan government was increased, while the kings remained absent and its constitutional system continued to consolidate. The Catalan Revolt (1640–1652) saw Catalonia rebel (briefly as a republic led by Pau Claris) with French help against the Spanish Crown for overstepping Catalonia's rights during the Thirty Years' War. Most of Catalonia was reconquered by the Spanish monarchy but Catalan rights were recognised. Roussillon was lost to France by the Peace of the Pyrenees (1659).

The most significant conflict concerning the governing monarchy was the War of the Spanish Succession, which began when the childless Charles II of Spain, the last Spanish Habsburg, died without an heir in 1700. Charles II had chosen Philip V of Spain from the French House of Bourbon. Catalonia, like other territories that formed the Crown of Aragon, rose up in support of the Austrian Habsburg pretender Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor, in his claim for the Spanish throne as Charles III of Spain. The fight between the houses of Bourbon and Habsburg for the Spanish Crown split Spain and Europe.
The fall of Barcelona on 11 September 1714 to the Bourbon king Philip V militarily ended the Habsburg claim to the Spanish Crown, which became legal fact in the Treaty of Utrecht. Philip felt that he had been betrayed by the Catalan Courts, as it had initially sworn its loyalty to him when he had presided over it in 1701. In retaliation for the betrayal, the first Bourbon king introduced the Nueva Planta decrees that incorporated the territories of the Crown of Aragon, including Catalonia, as provinces under the Crown of Castile in 1716, terminating their separate institutions, laws and rights, within a united kingdom of Spain. During the second half of 18th century Catalonia started a successful process of proto-industrialization.

Industrialisation and civil war era

At the beginning of the nineteenth century Catalonia was severely affected by the Napoleonic and Carlist Wars. In the latter half of the 19th century, it became an industrial center. This process was boosted by, amongst other things, national protectionist laws (although the policy of the Spanish government during those times changed many times between free trade and protectionism) and the conditions of proto-industrialization of the prior two centuries of the Catalan urban areas and its countryside. To this day it remains one of the most industrialised areas of Spain. During those years, Barcelona was the focus of important revolutionary uprisings, while the Catalan language saw a cultural renaissance (the Renaixença).

The Anarchists had been active throughout the early 20th century, achieving the first eight-hour workday in Europe in 1919. In the first third of the 20th century, Catalonia gained and lost varying degrees of autonomy several times. In 1914, the four Catalan provinces were authorized to create a Commonwealth (Mancomunitat), without any legislative power or specific autonomy, that was disbanded in 1925 by the dictatorship of Primo de Rivera. After the fall of the dictator and a brief proclamation of the Catalan Republic, it received its first Statute of Autonomy during the Second Spanish Republic (1931), establishing an autonomous body, the Generalitat of Catalonia, which included a parliament, a government and a court of appeal, and the left-wing independentist leader Francesc Macià was elected its first President. The governments of the Republican Generalitat tried to implement an advanced social program. This period was marked by political unrest and the preeminence of Revolutionary Catalonia during the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939).

Under Franco's rule (1939–1975)

The defeat of the Second Spanish Republic in the Spanish Civil War brought fascist Francisco Franco to power. His regime imposed linguistic, political and cultural restrictions across Spain. In Catalonia, any kind of public activities associated with Catalan nationalism, republicanism, anarchism, socialism, liberalism, democracy or communism, including the publication of books on those subjects or simply discussion of them in open meetings, was banned.

Franco's regime banned the use of Catalan in government-run institutions and during public events, and also the Catalan institutions of self-government were abolished. The pro-Republic of Spain President of Catalonia, Lluís Companys, was taken to Spain from his exile in the German-occupied France, and was tortured and executed in the Montjuïc Castle of Barcelona for the crime of 'military rebellion'.^[22]
During later stages of Francoist Spain, certain folkloric and religious celebrations in Catalan resumed and were tolerated. Use of Catalan in the mass media had been forbidden, but was permitted from the early 1950s^[23] in the theatre. Despite the ban during the first years and the difficulties of the next period, publishing in Catalan continued throughout his rule.^[24]
The years after the war were extremely hard. Catalonia, like many other parts of Spain, had been devastated by the war. Recovery from the war damage was slow and made more difficult by the international trade embargo against Franco's regime. By the late 1950s the country had recovered its pre-war economic levels and in the 1960s was the second fastest growing economy in the world in what became known as the Spanish miracle. During this period there was a spectacular growth of industry and tourism in Catalonia that drew large numbers of workers to the region from across Spain and made the area around Barcelona into one of Europe's largest industrial metropolitan areas.

Contemporary era (1975–2014)

After Franco's death in 1975, Catalonia voted for the adoption of a democratic Spanish Constitution in 1978, in which Catalonia recovered political and cultural autonomy, restoring the Generalitat (exiled since the end of the Civil War in 1939) in 1977 and adopting a new Statute of Autonomy in 1979. Today, Catalonia is one of the most economically dynamic communities of Spain. The Catalan capital and largest city, Barcelona, is a major international cultural centre and a major tourist destination. In 1992, Barcelona hosted the Summer Olympic Games.
The new Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia, approved after a referendum in 2006, was contested by important sectors of the Spanish society, especially by the conservative Popular Party, which sent the law to the Constitutional Court of Spain. In 2010, the Court declared non valid some of the articles that established an autonomous Catalan system of Justice, better aspects of the financing, a new territorial division, the status of Catalan language or the symbolical declaration of Catalonia as a nation.^[25] This decision was severely contested by large sectors of Catalan society, which increased the demands of independence.^[26]

Independence movement (2014–present)

Main article: Catalan independence

A referendum held in Catalonia in 2014 indicated that 92% of the 2.3 million voters supported Catalonia's transformation into a state. 80% of the 2.3 million voters expressed their preference that this state would be independent.^[27] Estimates for the turnout as published by the news media ranged from 37.0%, as given in The Economist and El País among others, to 41.6% as per the Catalan government's preliminary data. On 9 November 2015, Catalan lawmakers approved a plan for secession from Spain by 2017 with a majority vote 72 to 63. The plan was suspended by the Spanish Constitutional Court, but the Catalan government has insisted that it will complete the plan despite the suspension.^[28][29] On 9 June 2017, the Catalan government announced that an independence referendum would be held 1 October 2017. However, Spanish courts had declared the referendum to be illegal, and the Public Prosecutor's Office of Catalonia ordered the seizure of paraphernalia related to the referendum, including ballots, ballot boxes, promotional materials, and websites.^{[30][31][32][33]} On 20 September 2017, eleven days prior to the referendum, the Civil Guard mounted an operation to raid the offices of government ministries and detain officials involved in the referendum, which resulted in large protests by supporters.^[34]
A controversial independence referendum was held in Catalonia on 1 October 2017, using a disputed voting process.^[35][36][37] It was declared illegal on 6 September 2017 and suspended by the Constitutional Court of Spain because it breached the 1978 Constitution.^[38][39] Subsequently, the European Commission agreed that the referendum was illegal.^[36] The referendum asked the question: "Do you want Catalonia to become an independent state in the form of a republic?". More than 2,020,000 voters (91.96%) answered "Yes" and around 177,000 answered "No",^[40][41] on a turnout of 43.03%. The Catalan government estimated that up to 770,000 votes were not cast due to polling stations being closed off during the police crackdown, although the "universal census" system introduced earlier in the day allowed electors to vote in any given polling station. Catalan government officials have argued that the turnout would be higher were it not for Spanish police suppression of the vote,^[42] and that were it not for closures and police pressure, turnout could have been as high as 55%.^[43] On the other hand, many voters who did not support Catalan independence did not turn out.^[44] Anti-independence groups have alleged that there are irregularities in the voting, such as the same people voting more than once.^[45]
In the first interview since the referendum, Catalonia's regional president, Carles Puigdemont, stated he would declare independence as soon as a final vote tally was determined, and would subsequently act in a matter of days.^[46][47] Spain's King Felipe criticized the referendum for “erod[ing] the harmony and co-existence within Catalan society itself, managing, unfortunately, to divide it”.^[48]
On October 5, the Constitutional Court of Spain suspended the Catalan parliamentary session on Monday, October 9, after Puigdemont said they would be pushing for a declaration of independence.^[49] On October 10, Puigdemont signed a declaration of independence.^[50]On 22 October 2017, Catalans demonstrated against prime minister Mariano Rajoy's plan to impose direct rule.
On 27 October 2017, The Catalan parliament voted to declare independence.

Geography

Climate

The climate of Catalonia is diverse. The populated areas lying by the coast in Tarragona, Barcelona and Girona provinces feature a Hot-summer Mediterranean climate (Köppen Csa). The inland part (including the Lleida province and the inner part of Barcelona province) show a mostly Mediterranean climate (Köppen Csa). The Pyrenean peaks have a continental (KöppenD) or even Alpine climate (Köppen ET) at the highest summits, while the valleys have a maritime or oceanic climate sub-type (Köppen Cfb).
In the Mediterranean area, summers are dry and hot with sea breezes, and the maximum temperature is around 26–31 °C (79–88 °F). Winter is cool or slightly cold depending on the location. It snows frequently in the Pyrenees, and it occasionally snows at lower altitudes, even by the coastline. Spring and autumn are typically the rainiest seasons, except for the Pyrenean valleys, where summer is typically stormy.
The inland part of Catalonia is hotter and drier in summer. Temperature may reach 35 °C (95 °F), some days even 40 °C (104 °F). Nights are cooler there than at the coast, with the temperature of around 14–17 °C (57–63 °F). Fog is not uncommon in valleys and plains; it can be especially persistent, with freezing drizzle episodes and subzero temperatures during winter, mainly along the Ebro and Segre valleys and in Plain of Vic.

Topography

See also: List of mountains in Catalonia

Catalonia has a marked geographical diversity, considering the relatively small size of its territory. The geography is conditioned by the Mediterranean coast, with 580 kilometres (360 miles) of coastline, and large relief units of the Pyrenees to the north. The Catalan territory is divided into three main geomorphological units:^[51]

• The Pyrenees: mountainous formation that connects the Iberian Peninsula with the European continental territory, and located in the north of Catalonia;
  
  
• The Catalan Coastal mountain ranges or the Catalan Mediterranean System: an alternating delevacions and planes parallel to the Mediterranean coast;
  
  
• The Catalan Central Depression: structural unit which forms the eastern sector of the Valley of the Ebro.
  
  

Central Catalan Depression is a plain located between the Pyrenees and Pre-Coastal Mountains. The Depression lands are located between 200 and 600 metres (660 and 1,970 feet). The plains and the water that descend from the Pyrenees have made it fertile territory for agriculture and there are built numerous irrigation canals. Other important plain is the Empordà, located on the northeast.
The Catalan Mediterranean system is based on two (more or less) parallel ranges to the coast, in a Northwest direction towards the Southwest. These two mountain ranges are the Coastal and the Pre-Coastal. The Coastal Range is minor extent and it has lower altitudes, while the Pre-Coastal is larger in both length and height. The most relevant mountains of this area are Montserrat, Montsenyand Ports. Within the ranges are a series of plains, the entities over which form the Coastal and the Pre-Coastal Depressions. The Coastal Depression is located on the East of the Coastal Range towards the coast. The Pre-Coastal, on the other hand, is located in the interior, between the two mountain ranges, and constitutes the basis of the plains of Vallès and Penedès.

Flora and fauna

Catalonia is a showcase of European landscapes on a small scale. Just over 30,000 square kilometres (12,000 square miles) hosting a variety of substrates, soils, climates, directions, altitudes and distances to the sea. The area is of great ecological diversity and a remarkable wealth of landscapes, habitats and species.
The fauna of Catalonia comprises a minority of animals endemic to the region and a majority of non-native animals. Much of Catalonia enjoys a Mediterranean climate (except mountain areas), which makes many of the animals that live there adapted to Mediterranean ecosystems. Of mammals, there are plentiful wild boar, red foxes, as well as roe deer and in the Pyrenees, the Pyrenean chamois. Other large species such as the bear have been recently reintroduced.
Waters of Balearic Sea are rich in biodiversity, and even the megafaunas of ocean; various type of whales (such as fin, sperm, and pilot) and dolphins live within the area.^[52][53]

Hydrography

See also: List of rivers of Catalonia

Most of Catalonia belongs to the Mediterranean Basin. The Catalan hydrographic network consists of two important basins, the one of the Ebro and the one that comprises the internal basins of Catalonia (respectively covering 46.84% and 51.43% of the territory), all of them flow to the Mediterranean. Furthermore, there is the Garona river basin that flows to the Atlantic Ocean, but it only covers 1.73% of the Catalan territory.
The hydrographic network can be divided in two sectors, an occidental slope or Ebro river slope and one oriental slope constituted by minor rivers that flow to the Mediterranean along the Catalan coast. The first slope provides an average of 18,700 cubic hectometres (4.5 cubic miles) per year, while the second only provides an average of 2,020 hm³ (0.48 cu mi)/year. The difference is due to the big contribution of the Ebro river, from which the Segre is an important tributary. Moreover, in Catalonia there is a relative wealth of groundwaters, although there is inequality between comarques, given the complex geological structure of the territory.^[54] In the Pyrenees there are many small lakes, remnants of the ice age. The biggest are the lake of Banyoles and the recently recovered lake of Ivars.
The Catalan coast is almost rectilinear, with a length of 580 kilometres (360 mi) and few landforms—the most relevant are the Cap de Creus and the Gulf of Roses to the north and the Ebro Delta to the south. The Catalan Coastal Range hugs the coastline, and it is split into two segments, one between L'Estartit and the town of Blanes (the Costa Brava), and the other at the south, at the Costes del Garraf.
The principal rivers in Catalonia are the Ter, Llobregat, and the Ebro, all of which run into the Mediterranean.

Politics

Statute of Autonomy

Government and law

Legislature

Presidency

Executive

Security forces and Justice

Administrative divisions

Provinces

• Province of Barcelona: 5,507,813 population
  
  
• Province of Girona: 752,026 population
  
  
• Province of Lleida: 439,253 population
  
  
• Province of Tarragona: 805,789 population
  
  

Municipalities

• Catalan capital cities
  
  
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  An aerial view of Barcelona
   
  
  
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  The city of Tarragona
   
  
  
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  The city of Lleida
   
  
  
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  The city of Girona
  
  
  

Comarques

Politics

Statute of Autonomy

Government and law

Legislature

Presidency

Executive

Security forces and Justice

Administrative divisions

Provinces

• Province of Barcelona: 5,507,813 population
  
  
• Province of Girona: 752,026 population
  
  
• Province of Lleida: 439,253 population
  
  
• Province of Tarragona: 805,789 population
  
  

Municipalities

• Catalan capital cities
  
  
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  An aerial view of Barcelona
   
  
  
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  The city of Tarragona
   
  
  
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  The city of Lleida
   
  
  
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  The city of Girona
  
  
  

Comarques

Vegueries

Main article: Vegueries of Catalonia
The vegueria is a new type of division defined as a specific territorial area for the exercise of government and inter-local cooperation with legal personality. The current Statute of Autonomy states vegueries are intended to supersede provinces in Catalonia, and take over many of functions of the comarques.
The territorial plan of Catalonia (Pla territorial general de Catalunya) provided six general functional areas,^[89] but was amended by Law 24/2001, of 31 December, recognizing the Alt Pirineu i Aran as a new functional area differentiated of Ponent.^[90] On 14 July 2010 the Catalan Parliament approved the creation of the functional area of the Penedès.^[91]

• Alt Pirineu i Aran: Alta Ribagorça, Alt Urgell, Cerdanya, Pallars Jussà, Pallars Sobirà and Val d'Aran.
  
  
• Àmbit Metropolità de Barcelona: Baix Llobregat, Barcelonès, Garraf, Maresme, Vallès Oriental and Vallès Occidental.
  
  
• Camp de Tarragona: Tarragonès, Alt Camp, Baix Camp, Conca de Barberà and Priorat.
  
  
• Comarques gironines: Alt Empordà, Baix Empordà, Garrotxa, Gironès, Pla de l'Estany, La Selva and Ripollès.
  
  
• Comarques centrals: Anoia (8 municipalities of 33), Bages, Berguedà, Osona and Solsonès.
  
  
• Penedès: Alt Penedès, Baix Penedès, Anoia (25 municipalities of 33) and Garraf.
  
  
• Ponent: Garrigues, Noguera, Segarra, Segrià, Pla d'Urgell and Urgell.
  
  
• Terres de l'Ebre: Baix Ebre, Montsià, Ribera d'Ebre and Terra Alta.
  
  

Economy

Main article: Economy of Spain

A highly industrialized land, the nominal GDP of Catalonia in 2014 was €200 billion (the highest in Spain)^[92] and the per capita GDP was €27,000 ($30,000), behind Madrid (€31,000), the Basque Country (€30,000), and Navarre (€28,000).^[93] In that year, the GDP growth was 1.4%.^[93] In recent years there has been a negative net relocation rate of companies based in Catalonia moving to other autonomous communities of Spain. In 2014, for example, Catalonia lost 987 companies to other parts of Spain (mainly Madrid), gaining 602 new ones from the rest of the country.^[94]
Catalonia's long-term credit rating is BB (Non-Investment Grade) according to Standard & Poor's, Ba2 (Non-Investment Grade) according to Moody's, and BBB- (Low Investment Grade) according to Fitch Ratings.^[95][96][97] Catalonia's rating is tied for worst with between 1 and 5 other autonomous communities of Spain, depending on the rating agency.^[97]
In the context of the 2008 financial crisis, Catalonia was expected to suffer a recessionamounting to almost a 2% contraction of its regional GDP in 2009.^[98] Catalonia's debt in 2012 was the highest of all Spain's autonomous communities,^[99] reaching €13,476 million, i.e. 38% of the total debt of the 17 autonomous communities,^[100] but in recent years its economy recovered a positive evolution and the GDP grew a 3.3% in 2015.^[101]
In 2011, Catalonia ranked the 64th largest country subdivision by GDP (nominal). Catalonia belongs to the organisation Four Motors for Europe.
The distribution of sectors is as follows:^[102]

• Primary sector: 3%. The amount of land devoted to agricultural use is 33%.
  
  
• Secondary sector: 37% (compared to Spain's 29%)
  
  
• Tertiary sector: 60% (compared to Spain's 67%)
  
  

The main tourist destinations in Catalonia are the city of Barcelona, the beaches of the Costa Brava in Girona, the beaches of the Costa del Maresme and Costa del Garraf from Malgrat de Mar to Vilanova i la Geltrú and the Costa Daurada in Tarragona. In the High Pyrenees there are several ski resorts, near Lleida. On 1 November 2012, Catalonia started charging a tourist tax.^[103] The revenue is used to promote tourism, and to maintain and upgrade tourism-related infrastructure.
Many savings banks are based in Catalonia, with 10 of the 46 Spanish savings banks having headquarters in the region. This list includes Europe's premier savings bank, La Caixa.^[104] The first private bank in Catalonia is Banc Sabadell, ranked fourth among all Spanish private banks.^[105]
The stock market of Barcelona, which in 2004 traded almost €205,000 million,^{[citation needed]} is the second largest of Spain after Madrid, and Fira de Barcelona organizes international exhibitions and congresses to do with different sectors of the economy.
The main economic cost for the Catalan families is the purchase of a home. According to data from the Society of Appraisal on 31 December 2005 Catalonia is, after Madrid, the second most expensive region in Spain for housing: 3,397 €/m² on average (see Spanish property bubble).

Transport

Airports

See also: List of airports in Spain
Airports in Catalonia are owned and operated by Aena (a Spanish Government entity) except two airports in Lleida which are operated by Aeroports de Catalunya (an entity belonging to the Government of Catalonia).

• Barcelona El Prat Airport (BCN, Aena)
  
  
• Girona-Costa Brava Airport (GRO, Aena)
  
  
• Reus Airport (REU, Aena)
  
  
• Lleida-Alguaire Airport (ILD, Aeroports de Catalunya)
  
  
• Sabadell Airport (QSA, Aena)
  
  
• La Seu d'Urgell Airport (LEU, Aeroports de Catalunya)
  
  

Ports

See also: List of ports in Spain
Since the Middle Ages, Catalonia has been well integrated into international maritime networks. The port of Barcelona (owned and operated by Puertos del Estado, a Spanish Government entity) is an industrial, commercial and tourist port of worldwide importance. With 1,950,000 TEUs in 2015, it is the first container port in Catalonia, the third in Spain after Valencia and Algeciras in Andalusia, the 9th in the Mediterranean Sea, the 14th in Europe and the 68th in the world. It is sixth largest cruise port in the world, the first in Europe and the Mediterranean with 2,364,292 passengers in 2014. The ports of Tarragona (owned and operated by Puertos del Estado) in the southwest and Palamós near Girona at northeast are much more modest. The port of Palamós and the other ports in Catalonia (26) are operated and administered by Ports de la Generalitat, a Catalan Government entity.
The development of these infrastructures, resulting from the topography and history of the Catalan territory, responds strongly to the administrative and political organization of this autonomous community.

Roads

See also: List of primary highways in Catalonia

There are 12,000 kilometres (7,500 mi) of roads throughout Catalonia.
The principal highways are  AP-7  [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] (Autopista de la Mediterrània) and  A-7  (Autovia de la Mediterrània). They follow the coast from the French border to Valencia, Murcia and Andalusia. The main roads generally radiate from Barcelona. The  AP-2  [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] (Autopista del Nord-est) and  A-2  (Autovia del Nord-est) connect inland and onward to Madrid.
Other major roads are:

Public-own roads in Catalonia are either managed by the autonomous government of Catalonia (e.g.,  C-  roads) or the Spanish government (e.g.,  AP- ,  A- ,  N-  roads).

Railways

Catalonia saw the first railway construction in the Iberian Peninsula in 1848, linking Barcelona with Mataró. Given the topography most lines radiate from Barcelona. The city has both suburban and inter-city services. The main east coast line runs through the province connecting with the SNCF (French Railways) at Portbou on the coast.
There are two publicly owned railway companies operating in Catalonia: the Catalan FGC that operates commuter and regional services, and the Spanish national RENFE that operates long-distance and high-speed rail services (AVE and Avant) and the main commuter and regional service Rodalies de Catalunya, administered by the Catalan government since 2010.
High-speed rail (AVE) services from Madrid currently reach Lleida, Tarragona and Barcelona. The official opening between Barcelona and Madrid took place 20 February 2008. The journey between Barcelona and Madrid now takes about two-and-a-half hours. A connection to the French high-speed TGV network has been completed, but is awaiting the completion of stations along the route to begin passenger service in April 2013. This new line (currently the LGV Perpignan–Figueres-Vilafant) passes through Girona and Figueres with a tunnel through the Pyrenees. There is a direct train from Barcelona Estació de França to Paris Austerlitz along the older railway tracks.

Demographics

Main article: Catalan people

As of 2016, the official population of Catalonia was 7,448,332.^[106] About 1,104,782 residents had non-Spanish nationalities representing about 15% of the population.^[107]
The Urban Region of Barcelona includes 5,217,864 people and covers an area of 2,268 km²(876 sq mi). The metropolitan area of the Urban Region includes cities such as L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Sabadell, Terrassa, Badalona, Santa Coloma de Gramenet and Cornellà de Llobregat.
In 1900, the population of Catalonia was 1,966,382 people and in 1970 it was 5,122,567.^[106] The sizeable increase of the population was due to the demographic boom in Spain during the 60s and early 70s^{[citation needed]} as well as in consequence of large-scale internal migration from the rural economically weak regions to its more prospering industrial cities. In Catalonia that wave of internal migration arrived from several regions of Spain, especially from Andalusia, Murcia^[108] and Extremadura.^{[citation needed]}
Immigrants from other countries settled in Catalonia in the 1990s and 2000s; a large percentage came from Africa and Latin America, and smaller numbers from Asia and Eastern Europe, often settling in urban centers such as Barcelona and industrial areas.^{[citation needed]}

Religion

Main article: Religion in Catalonia

Languages

Main article: Languages of Catalonia
See also: Catalan language, Spanish language, Occitan language, and Catalan Sign Language

According to the linguistic census held by the Government of Catalonia in 2013, Spanish is the most spoken language in Catalonia (46.53% claim Spanish as "their own language"), followed by Catalan (37.26% claim Catalan as "their own language"). In everyday use, 11.95% of the population claim to use both languages equally, whereas 45.92% mainly use Spanish and 35.54% mainly use Catalan. There is a significant difference between the Barcelona metropolitan area (and, to a lesser extent, the Tarragona area), where Spanish is more spoken than Catalan, and the more rural Catalonia, where Catalan clearly prevails over Spanish.^[110]
Since the Statute of Autonomy of 1979, Aranese (a dialect of Gascon Occitan) has also been official and subject to special protection in Val d'Aran. This small area of 7,000 inhabitants was the only place where a dialect of Occitan has received full official status. Then, on 9 August 2006, when the new Statute came into force, Occitan became official throughout Catalonia. Occitan is the mother tongue of 22.4% of the population of Val d'Aran.^[111] Catalan Sign Language is also officially recognised.^[8]
Originating in the historic territory of Catalonia, Catalan has enjoyed special status since the approval of the Statute of Autonomy of 1979which declares it to be "Catalonia's own language",^[112] a term which signifies a language given special legal status within a Spanish territory, or which is historically spoken within a given region. The other languages with official status are Spanish, which has official status throughout Spain, and Aranese Occitan, which enjoys co-official status with Catalan and Spanish in the Val d'Aran.
Although not considered an "official language" in the same way as Catalan, Spanish, and Aranese, Catalan Sign Language, with about 18,000 users in Catalonia,^[113] is granted official recognition and support: "The public authorities shall guarantee the use of Catalan sign language and conditions of equality for deaf people who choose to use this language, which shall be the subject of education, protection and respect."^[8]

Under the Franco dictatorship, Catalan was excluded from the public education system and all other official use, so that for example families were not allowed to officially register children with Catalan names.^[116] Although never completely banned, Catalan language publishing was severely restricted during the early 1940s, with only religious texts and small-run self-published texts being released. Some books were published clandestinely or circumvented the restrictions by showing publishing dates prior to 1936.^[117] This policy was changed in 1946, when unrestricted publishing in Catalan resumed.^[118]
Rural–urban migration originating in other parts of Spain also reduced the social use of Catalan in urban areas and increased the use of Spanish. Lately, a similar sociolinguistic phenomenon has occurred with foreign immigration. Catalan cultural activity increased in the 1960s and Catalan classes began thanks to the initiative of associations such as Òmnium Cultural.
After the end of Franco's dictatorship, the newly established self-governing democratic institutions in Catalonia embarked on a long-term language policy to increase the use of Catalan^[119] and has, since 1983, enforced laws which attempt to protect and extend the use of Catalan. This policy, known as the "linguistic normalisation" (normalització lingüística in Catalan, normalización lingüística in Spanish) has been supported by the vast majority of Catalan political parties through the last thirty years. Some groups consider these efforts a way to discourage the use of Spanish,^{[120][121][122][123]} whereas some others, including the Catalan government^[124] and the European Union^[125] consider the policies respectful,^[126] or even as an example which "should be disseminated throughout the Union".^[127]
Today, Catalan is the main language of the Catalan autonomous government and the other public institutions that fall under its jurisdiction. Basic public education is given in Catalan, except for two hours per week of Spanish medium instruction. Businesses are required to display all information (e.g. menus, posters) in Catalan under penalty of fines. There is no obligation to display this information in either Occitan or Spanish, although there is no restriction on doing so in these or other languages. The use of fines was introduced in a 1997 linguistic law^[128] that aims to increase the public use of Catalan and defend the rights of Catalan speakers.
The law ensures that both Catalan and Spanish – being official languages – can be used by the citizens without prejudice in all public and private activities,^[129] but primary education can only be taken in Catalan language. The Generalitat uses Catalan in its communications and notifications addressed to the general population, but citizens can also receive information from the Generalitat in Spanish if they so desire.^[130] Debates in the Catalan Parliament take place almost exclusively in Catalan and the Catalan public television broadcasts programs only in Catalan.
Due to the intense immigration which Spain in general and Catalonia in particular experienced in the first decade of the 21st century, many foreign languages are spoken in various cultural communities in Catalonia, of which Rif-Berber,^[131] Moroccan Arabic, Romanian^{[citation needed]} and Urdu are the most common ones.^[132]
Recently, some of these policies have been criticised for trying to promote Catalan by imposing fines on businesses. For example, following the passage of a March 2010 law on Catalan cinema, which establishes that half of the movies shown in Catalan cinemas must be in Catalan, a general strike of 75% of the cinemas took place.^[133] In Catalonia, on the other hand, there is a high social and political consensus on the language policies favoring Catalan, also among Spanish speakers and speakers of other languages.^{[134][134][135][136][137]} The United Nations Human Rights Committee ruled in 1993 against similar policies in Quebec stating that "A State may choose one or more official languages but it may not exclude outside the spheres of public life, the freedom to express oneself in a certain language".^[138] The US government, based on its Human Rights Report,^[139] questions the linguistic law^[140] and reports irregularities of the rights of the Spanish speakers in Catalonia. On the other hand, such organisations as Plataforma per la Llengua reported different violations of the linguistic rights of the Catalan speakers in Catalonia and the other Catalan-speaking territories in Spain, most of them caused by the institutions of the Spanish government in these territories.^[141]
In Catalonia, the Catalan language policy has been challenged by some Catalan intellectuals like Albert Boadella. Since 2006, the liberal Citizens - Party of the Citizenry, currently the main opposition party, has been one of the most consistent critics of the Catalan language policy within Catalonia. The local Catalan branch of the People's Party has a more ambiguous position on the issue: on one hand, it demands a bilingual Catalan–Spanish education and a more balanced language policy that would defend Catalan without favoring it over Spanish,^[142] whereas on the other hand, a few local PP politicians have supported in their municipalities measures privileging Catalan over Spanish^[143] and it has defended some aspects of the official language policies, sometimes against the positions of its colleagues from other parts of Spain.^[144]

Culture

Art and architecture

Monuments and World Heritage Sites

• Archaeological Ensemble of Tarraco, Tarragona
  
  
• Catalan Romanesque Churches of the Vall de Boí, Lleida province
  
  
• Poblet Monastery, Poblet, Tarragona province
  
  
• Works of Lluís Domènech i Montaner:
  
  
  
  • Palau de la Música Catalana, Barcelona
    
  • Hospital de Sant Pau, Barcelona
    
  
  
  
  
• Works of Antoni Gaudí:
  
  
  
  • Sagrada Família, Barcelona
    
  • Parc Güell, Barcelona
    
  • Palau Güell, Barcelona
    
  • Casa Milà (La Pedrera), Barcelona
    
  • Casa Vicens, Barcelona
    
  • Casa Batlló, Barcelona
    
  • The Church of Colònia Güell, Santa Coloma de Cervelló, Barcelona province
    
  
  
  

Literature

Festivals and public holidays

Music and dance

Media and cinema

Philosophy

Sport

Symbols

• The flag of Catalonia, called the Senyera, is a vexillological symbol based on the heraldic emblem of Counts of Barcelona and the coat of arms of the Crown of Aragon, which consists of four red stripes on a golden background. It has been an official symbol since the Statute of Catalonia of 1932.
  
  
• The National Day of Catalonia^[152] is on the Eleventh of September, and it is commonly called La Diada. It commemorates the 1714 Siege of Barcelona defeat during the War of the Spanish Succession.
  
  
• The national anthem of Catalonia is Els Segadors and was written in its present form by Emili Guanyavents in 1899. The song is official by law from 25 February 1993.^[153][154] It is based on the events of 1639 and 1640 during the Catalan Revolt.
  
  
• St George's Day (Catalan: Diada de Sant Jordi) is widely celebrated in all the towns of Catalonia on 23 April, and includes an exchange of books and roses between couples or family members.
  
  

Cuisine

Image gallery

Twinning and covenants

• [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] Nuevo León, Mexico^{[157][158][159]}
  
  
• [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] California, United States^[160]
  
  
• [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] Quebec, Canada
  
  

See also

• [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]European Union portal
  
  
• [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]Spain portal
  
  
• [You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]Catalan-speaking countries portal
  
  

• Outline of Catalonia
  
  
• List of European regions by GDP
  
  

Notes

References