Generalitat de Catalunya

The Generalitat de Catalunya ("Government of Catalonia" , Generalidad de Cataluña in Spanish) is the institution under which the Spanish region ("autonomous community") of Catalonia is politically organised. It consists of the Parliament, the President of the Generalitat and the Executive Council or Government of Catalonia.

History

Medieval origins

The Generalitat of Catalonia descends from the medieval institution which ruled the Principality of Catalonia, within the Crown of Aragon, in the name of the King of Aragon (in a constitutional system some say is the first in Europe (14th century)).

The first Catalan constitution is that of the Corts of Barcelona from 1283. The last was promulgated by the Corts of 1702. The compilations of the constitutions and other rights of Catalonia followed the Roman tradition of the Codex.

First abolition

Catalonian institutions which depended on the Generalitat were abolished in what is currently known as Northern Catalonia, one year after the signature of the Treaty of the Pyrenees. Some years later, after the Decretos de Nueva Planta, they were completely abolished in the rest of the territory.

First restoration

The Generalitat of Catalonia was restored in Spanish Catalonia in 1932, during the Second Spanish Republic with Francesc Macià as president. President Macià died in 1933, and the next president was Lluís Companys. After the Spanish right wing won the elections in 1934, the Generalitat of Catalonia rebelled against the Spanish authorities, and was suspended from 1934 to 1936.

Second abolition

In 1939, President Companys marched into exile, but in 1940 he was returned to Francoist Spain by German agents, and was shot at the Castle of Montjuïc in Barcelona.

Second restoration

The succession of presidents of the Generalitat was maintained in exile from 1939 to 1977, when Josep Tarradellas returned to Catalonia and was recognized as the legitimate president by the Spanish government. Tarradellas, when he returned to Catalonia, made his famous remark to Catalans Ja sóc aqui (I'm here, now!), reassuming the autonomous powers of Catalonia, one of the historic nationalities of present-day Spain. After this, the powers given to the autonomous Catalan government were transferred in conformity with the new Spanish Constitution (1978), which required the approval of the Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia (Estatut d'Autonomia). In 1980, Jordi Pujol was elected president of the Generalitat of Catalonia, leading the center-right nationalist party Convergence and Unity. He was reelected 5 more times, and retired from politics in 2003, after 23 years in office.

Current status

Pasqual Maragall is the current President of the Generalitat (also leader of the Socialist Party, and is backed up by a coalition of left-wing political parties. His party actually won fewer seats in parliament than the CiU party, but as he had more support from other parties in the Generalitat, he was able to form a coalition government and send CiU to the opposition for the first time in 23 years.

The Catalan Statute is still in force today. On June 18, 2006, a reformed version was approved in referendum and will go into effect in July. In its inception, the reform was promoted by both the leftist parties in the government and by the main opposition party (CiU), which were united in pushing for increased devolution of powers from Madrid, enhanced fiscal autonomy and finances, and explicit recognition of Catalonia's national identity.

An autonomous system of government

The Generalitat consists of the Executive Council, the President and the Parliament. Some people wrongly apply this name only to the Council, as if it was the same as Cabinet - however, Generalitat de Catalunya is the (autonomous) Catalan system of government, just like, for example, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg is the (independent) Luxembourg system of government.

The region has gradually achieved a greater degree of autonomy since 1979. After the Navarre and the Basque Country regions, Catalonia has the greatest level of self-government in Spain. The Generalitat holds exclusive jurisdiction in various matters of culture, environment, communications, transportation, commerce, public safety and local governments. [1] In many aspects relating to education, health and justice, the region shares jurisdiction with the Spanish government. [2]

One example of Catalonia's degree of autonomy is its own police force, the Mossos d'Esquadra (literally 'squad lads'), which is currently in the process of taking over most of the role within Catalonia of the Guardia Civil and Policía Nacional, which are under the authority of the Spanish national government. However, even at the end of the transition process in 2008 [3], the Spanish government will keep a few agents in the region for matters relating to terrorism and immigration. Like the Mossos d'Esquadra, national police forces are under the authority of the government of Catalonia [4].

With few exceptions, most of the justice system is administered by national judicial institutions. The legal system is uniform throughout the Spanish State, with the exception of so-called "civil law". This is administered separately within Catalonia [5]. Catalan civil law provides for an ombudsman (Síndic de Greuges) [6] to address problems that may arise between private citizens or organizations and the Generalitat or local governments.

As an autonomous community of Spain, Catalonia has no official status or recognition at an international level. However, as the region has progressively gained a greater degree of autonomy in recent years, the Catalan Government has opened some representative offices overseas. Most of these carry out limited functions such as the promotion of Catalan culture, trade and foreign investment, and even the hiring of foreign labour (with a view toward easing problems with illegal immigration). [7][8][9][10]

On June 18, 2006, the Catalan people approved a reform of the Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia which would expand the powers of the Generalitat.

Northern Catalonia

There are no specifically Catalan political institutions in Northern Catalonia, in the French département of Pyrénées-Orientales. However, since the 5 September 2003, there has been a Casa de la Generalitat in Perpignan, which aims to promote Catalan culture and facilitate exchanges between Catalans on each side of the Franco-Spanish border.

The Generalitat of Catalonia also has several offices all around the world in cities such as Sydney, San Francisco, Santiago de Chile and Johannesburg.

The Valencian Autonomous Government is also called Generalitat Valenciana.