Pitarch, Ismael E.

Revistes Catalanes amb Accés Obert

I N S T I T U T I O N S  
THE CATALAN PARLIAMENT (1). 
A H I S T O R I C A L  REPORT 
THE CATALANS' GREAT LOVE OF FREEDOM AND THEIR 
PASSIONATE DEFENCE OF THEIR COUNTRY'S TKADlTlONS LED 
TO THE ESTABLISHMENT OF REPRESENTATIVE ASSEMBLIES 
FROM THE END OF THE TWELFTH CENTURY ONWARDS. 
ISMAEL E .  P l T A R C H  C H I E F  O F F I C E R  O F  T H E  C A T A L A N  P A R L I A M E N T  
he Catalans' great love of free- 
dom and their passionate defence 
of their countryls traditions led to 
the establishment of representative 
assemblies from the end of the twelfth 
century onwards. lnstitutions of self- 
govemment, with the Golden Age of the 
Coris at the end of the fourteenth century, 
existed in Catalonia up to 171 4, when al1 
national political representation was 
suppressed. But these earlier bodies are 
simply distant forerunners of the present 
Parlament de Catalunya. 
In the mid-nineteenth century, with the 
Renaixenca, a growing nationalist 
movement got under way, which led 
various political groups to put forward 
suggestions for the recuperation of the in- 
stitutions of self-government. Though an 
early form of self-organization was 
achieved in 191 4, the Mancomunitat de 
Catalunya, which was limited to adminis- 
, trative adivities, there was no real 
independent political power until the arri- 
val of the republic. 
On 14 April 1931, Francesc Macia pro- 
claimed the Catalan republic in Barcelo- 
na, hours before the Spanish republic was 
proclaimed in Madrid. This new Catalan 
government later took the name of Gene- 
ralitat de Catalunya in memory of the 
ancient institution that had represented 
independent power, and it was agreed 
that a statute would establish the legality 
of Catalan political autonomy, presuma- 
bly within the framework of a federation. 
However, the second Spanish republic's 
constitution established a different formu- 
la, the "integral state", with a possible 
statute of autonomy for ceriain regions. 
The Estatut d'Autonomia received its pre- 
bliscite. in Catalonia on 2 August 1931 
and was announced officially by the 
president of the republic on 15 Septem- 
ber 1932. In it kere laid down the 
guidelines of Catalan self-government 
and the structure of the political institutions 
of the new Generalitat: the parliament, 
the president and his govemment and the 
couri of appeal. 
I N S T I T U T I O N S  
The Catalan parliament, eiecrea on 20 
November 1932, held its constituent 
sitting on 6 December. 
In that first parliament, made up of eighty- 
five deputies, there were three political 
groups: Esquerra Republicana de Catalu- 
nya, the dominant force, with 61 deputies; 
Lliga Catalana, with 15; Unió Socialista 
de Catalunya, with 5, and others of dif- 
fering ideologies. Therehas only one leg- 
islative period of the Parlament de Catalu- 
nya, during which there were 259 sittings, 
122 laws were passed, and iwo presi- 
dents of the Generalitat and three presi- 
dents of the Parlament were chosen. 
There were five different governments, 
although Esquerra Republicana had the 
majority in al1 of them. However, the 
complex political life of the Spanish re- 
public led to a period when the Estatut 
and the Parlament were suspended (from 
6 Odober 1934 to 29 February 1936) 
and it was impossible to renew them in 
1937 because of the war. During this pe- 
riod it only held 5 sittings, the last being on 
1 October 1938. 
General Franco, rebelling against the 
government and the constitutional regime, 
abolished the Estatutand the institutions of 
self-government in October 1938, even 
before his army had invaded Catalonia 
and won the war. 
The political regime he imposed perse- 
cuted working-class and democratic 
movements everywhere and in Catalonia 
and the Basque Country the nationalist 
ones as well. The nationalist dernands 
gradually increased during the years of 
the Franco regime and the slogan of the 
Assemblea de Catalunya, Llibertat, 
Amnistia i Estatut &Autonomia (Freedom, 
Amnesty and Statute of Autonomy) was a 
unanimous demand after the restoration 
of the monarchy. The first democratic 
eledions meant the provisional restora- 
tion of the Generalitat, personified by its 
president, Josep Tarradellas, who had iust 
returned from exile. 
The Spanish constitution of 27 December 
1978, in its second article, recognizes the 
right of the Spanish "nationalities" to 
autonomy. The drawing up of the Estatut 
de Catalunya had been started in June 
1977 and went on alongside that of the 
constitution; it was approved by the peo- 
ple of Catalonia in a referendum on 25 
October 1979 and ratified by King Juan 
Carlos I on 18 December of the same 
year. 
On 20 March 1980, the first elections to 
the Catalan parliament were held and the 
opening session took place on 10 April, 
when a presiding committee was elected, 
headed by the Right Honourable Senyor 
Herribert Barrera. On 24 April the Right 
Honourable Senyor Jordi Pujol was 
elected president of the Generalitat and 
the government he proposed took power. 
During the first legislative session, the par- 
liamentary groups present where: Con- 
vergencia i Unió, with 43 deputies; So- 
cialists, with 33; Communists with 23 (later 
reduced to 20); the Centre pariy, with 18 
(later reduced to 8); Esquerra Republica- 
na, with 14 (later reduced to 13); the 
Andalusians, with 2 (later dissolved) and 
the Mixed Group (independents and mi- 
nor parties), with a minimum of 4 and a 
maximum of 16 deputies. 
During this first period, the parliament 
held 76 sittings and passed 78 laws, 150 
resolutions and 82 proposals. 
On 5 March 1984, elections were called 
to form a new parliament. Polling took 
place on 29 April 1984. 
On 17 May the opening session of the 
second parliament was held and the Right 
Honourable Senyor Miquel Coll i Alen- 
torn was elected president of the par- 
liament. On 30 May, the Right Honoura- 
ble Senyor Jordi Pujol was once again 
invested as president of the Generalitat. 
During this second parliament, the constit- 
uent parties were: Convergencia i Unió, 
with 72 deputies; Socialists, with 41; Con- 
servatives, with 11 (later reduced to 8); 
Communists, with 6; Esquerra Republica- 
na, with 5, and the Mixed Group, with 3. 
In the first three years of this legislative pe- 
riod, the parliament held 70 sittings and 
passed 56 laws, 121 resolutions and 25 
proposals. 
The Parlament de Catalunya fulfills the 
functions of a representative body along 
the lines of western parliamentary demo- 
cracies. Its organization and working is 
similar to that of the Landtags in Germany 
or the Consiglio of the ltalian regions. Its 
powers, defined in the Estatut &Auto- 
nomia de Catalunya, fall between those 
that correspond to the state parliaments 
in a federation and those exercised 
by the parliaments of the autonomous 
regions. • 


The Catalan Parliament (I). A historical report

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