The Case of the Catalans by Clara Ponsati sampler
Imagine if your country voted to become independent and that vote was then ignored. This was what the people of Catalonia faced in 2017 when Catalonian pro-independence leaders organised a referendum vote that was declared illegal by Spain’s constitutional court. Following that declaration of the illegitimatcy of the referendum, Clara Ponsatí, Education Minister, along with Catalan Prime Minister Carles Puigdemont were charged with sedition. They had to leave Catalonia and go into self-imposed exile, and seven of their former cabinet colleagues were imprisoned. The Case of the Catalans is a landmark book that explains the injustice Catalans have faced by being marginalised with their political beliefs rendered unlawful by the Spanish government.In this book, Ponsatí and her team of influential academics discuss the future of the Catalan people and the political and social tensions that led to the famous ‘illegal’ referendum. In a clear and accessible style, they aim to educate as many people as possible, whether interested in politics or not, about the extraordinarily backward democratic process that currently defines Spain’s national identity and has defied the settled will of the Catalan people.
Imagine if your country voted to become independent and that vote was then ignored. This was what the people of Catalonia faced in 2017 when Catalonian pro-independence leaders organised a referendum vote that was declared illegal by Spain’s constitutional court.
Following that declaration of the illegitimatcy of the referendum, Clara Ponsatí, Education Minister, along with Catalan Prime Minister Carles Puigdemont were charged with sedition. They had to leave Catalonia and go into self-imposed exile, and seven of their former cabinet colleagues were imprisoned. The Case of the Catalans is a landmark book that explains the injustice Catalans have faced by being marginalised with their political beliefs rendered unlawful by the Spanish government.In this book, Ponsatí and her team of influential academics discuss the future of the Catalan people and the political and social tensions that led to the famous ‘illegal’ referendum. In a clear and accessible style, they aim to educate as many people as possible, whether interested in politics or not, about the extraordinarily backward democratic process that currently defines Spain’s national identity and has defied the settled will of the Catalan people.
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1808–14 – Following Napoleon’s invasions <strong>of</strong> Spain,<br />
Catalonia is governed as a province <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> French Empire<br />
between 1812 and 1814.<br />
1810–27 – Spanish American Wars <strong>of</strong> Independence.<br />
Spain loses most <strong>of</strong> its colonial Empire as its colonies in<br />
Central and South America gain independence.<br />
1868–73 – Spain seeks a new monarch, and invites King<br />
Amadeo, from <strong>the</strong> Italian Savoy dynasty, to take <strong>the</strong><br />
throne. He rules Spain from 1871 to 1873.<br />
1873 – <strong>The</strong> First Spanish Republic is proclaimed, but is<br />
overthrown <strong>by</strong> <strong>the</strong> army just a few months later in 1874.<br />
1898 – Spain is defeated <strong>by</strong> <strong>the</strong> United States in <strong>the</strong><br />
Spanish-American War. This results in Cuba gaining independence,<br />
and Puerto Rico, Guam and <strong>the</strong> Philippines<br />
being annexed <strong>by</strong> <strong>the</strong> United States.<br />
1901 – Formation <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> bourgeois Catalan Regionalist<br />
League, supporting autonomy, not independence.<br />
1914 – Limited self-government returned to Catalonia<br />
under <strong>the</strong> leadership <strong>of</strong> Enric Prat de la Riba.<br />
1923 – Miguel Primo de Rivera imposes a military dictatorship<br />
in Spain. Catalan self-government and language<br />
suppressed once again.<br />
1931 – With <strong>the</strong> collapse <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Primo de Rivera dictatorship,<br />
<strong>the</strong> second Spanish Republic is proclaimed. In Barcelona,<br />
Francesc Macià briefly proclaims a Catalan Republic, but<br />
renounces it in order to lead <strong>the</strong> autonomous Catalan<br />
government.<br />
1934 – Following <strong>the</strong> election <strong>of</strong> a right wing Spanish<br />
government new Catalan president, Lluís Companys,<br />
timeline 13
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