History History

It is the second Punic war. The triumph of the Romans allows them to undertake the conquest of all Iberia. The landing of Cornelius Scipio Calvus (uncle of Scipio the African) in Emporio (the current Empurias) marks the beginning of the Roman colonization of the Iberian peninsula.

Once Roman colonization was complete, Catalonia became part of the Hispania Cittadora. A period marked by the adoption of Roman law, the generalization of an agricultural system based on cereals, vineyards and olive trees and the development of an urban and road network. It is crossed by the Via Augusta, which connects Gaul narbonnaise to Gades (the current Cadiz), passing through the port of Tarraco (current Tarragona), city founded by the Romans.

The Visigoths, Christians, took over the north of Iberia and founded a kingdom that gradually spread to the whole peninsula. The capital was established in Toledo. The Visigoths dominated this territory until the beginning of the 8th century.

The Moors, masters of North Africa, landed. In two years, they succeeded in conquering almost the entire peninsula. They enjoyed the support of the Jews and of all those who were dissatisfied with the Visigothic occupation. A regional governor was appointed to administer the province which became part of al-Andalus, under the Umayyad caliphate. And it also had to face the army of Charlemagne.

Battle of Covadonga, in Asturias. First victory of the Christians against the Moors, which marks the beginning of the Reconquest, which will last eight centuries (it ends with the reconquest of Granada in 1492).

At the end of the 9th century, Charles II the Bald, a Carolingian monarch, invested Guilfred le Velu as Count of Barcelona and Girona, which meant that from then on he would have a good part of the territories of the Hispanic march under his rule.

Guifré el Pilós (840-897) is considered the founder of Catalonia in the 9th century. As Count of Barcelona, Girona, Urgell and Cerdanya, he obtained from Charles the Bald, grandson of Charlemagne, the independence of his county and the right to transmit it to his descendants. His children continued the newly created dynasties, thus forging the Catalan identity and territory.

The marriage of Raimond Berenger IV, Count of Barcelona, to Petronilla, heir to the throne of Aragon, gave birth to the Crown of Aragon. Catalonia began its territorial expansion against the Muslims, with the reconquest of the regions of Tortosa and Lleida. Raymond Berenger IV promulgated the Usatges, a compilation of customs and usages that formed the basis of Catalan law.

During this period, Catalonia and Aragon formed a single kingdom, but kept their own institutions. This Catalan-Aragonese power extended into the Mediterranean, with the conquest of the Balearic Islands (1235) and the Valencian country (1238). Catalonia entered a period of prosperity through the development of its manufacturing, commercial and banking activities and also experienced a demographic boom and an increase in its agricultural production.

This year of the Black Death began the decline of Catalonia, as it affected its main cities, including Barcelona. A decline also favored by the death of King Martin I of Aragon, the last ruler of the house of Barcelona, who died without an heir in 1410. Bad harvests, famines and social unrest will punctuate a crisis that will reach its climax during the civil war between the Generalitat and John II of Aragon

Another stage begins. In 1469, Catalonia was incorporated into the new kingdom created by the marriage of Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile, which united the two most powerful kingdoms of Spain. But the discovery of the New World in 1492 shifted trade to the Atlantic.

Discovery of America by Christopher Columbus. Isabella and Ferdinand (the Catholic Kings) complete the Reconquest by occupying Granada. At the same time, the discovery of America opened up unlimited prospects for trade, which developed throughout the 15th century, a century that has been called the "Spanish Golden Age".

Heir of the Habsburgs by his father, Charles I became emperor of the Holy Empire (Germany and part of Austria) under the name of Charles V. He was the most powerful ruler in Europe. Charles V reigned for about 40 years before finally abdicating in 1555, weakened by age and illness. He himself decided to divide his possessions between his son Philip II and his brother Ferdinand I

Philip II wins the naval battle of Lepanto against the Turks. Spain then controls the Mediterranean.

War of Succession between the Bourbons and the Habsburgs. The peace of Utrecht of 1713 recognized Philip V, a Bourbon, as king of Spain, but forced him to cede Flanders and the Italian possessions.

From the middle of the 18th century, Catalonia experienced an economic revival marked by the creation of a textile industry, present in Barcelona and Girona.

Napoleon used the pretext of wanting to bring through Spain the troops that were to fight Portugal, allied to the English. In fact, he occupied Spain and forced Charles IV to abdicate. Napoleon gave the crown to his brother, Joseph Bonaparte. The War of Independence then began, which was won in 1814 by the Allies (Bourbon Spain, England and Portugal).

While continuing its industrial development in the 19th century, Catalonia also lived to the rhythm of workers' revolts, especially in Barcelona. This industrial development will also lead to a cultural revival and a return of linguistic claims (the Renaixença) and nationalist claims. The 19th century was also marked by the War of Independence, led by the Spanish people against Napoleon, and saw the restoration of the Bourbon dynasty. It was also the time of the Carlist Wars, which until 1849 opposed the supporters of Don Carlos, son of Ferdinand VII, to those of Isabel II, his niece. This will contribute to the weakening of the power of the state.

Proclaimed in 1873, the First Republic did not last either. This political instability was accompanied by the gradual loss of the colonial empire - symbolized by the loss of Cuba in 1898 - and also by the development of anarchist and nationalist movements, especially the Basque.

Catalonia became one of the poles of development of Art Nouveau. A movement called Catalan modernism and marked by the names of architects such as Antoni Gaudí, Luís Domènech i Montaner, Joseph Puig i Cadafalch and painters like Ramon Casas and Santiago Rusiñol. A cultural effervescence that culminated in the Universal Exhibitions in Barcelona in 1888 and 1929. Many examples of this modernist style can also be found in the towns and villages of the Costa Daurada and the Ebro region. The famous wine cathedrals (cooperative wineries) that dot this territory are proud representatives of the Catalan modernist style.

Torn by internal conflicts, politically unstable, socially and economically weakened, Spain played only a minor role in international politics at the beginning of the 20th century and remained neutral during the First World War.

In Spain, the Republicans won the municipal elections and proclaimed the Second Republic, which led to the exile without abdication of King Alfonso XIII. In Catalonia, a new party, the Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya (ERC), won the municipal elections. An autonomous regional government, the Generalitat, was formed. Its mission was to draw up a statute of autonomy, the first of which was adopted in 1932. This government was again suspended after the failure of the proclamation of a Catalan state by President Lluís Companys on April 6, 1934.

A fundamental figure of Catalanism, Lluís Companys was president of the Generalitat de Catalunya from 1934 until his death. On October 6, 1934, he proclaimed on the balcony of the Palace of the Generalitat "the Catalan State" within the Spanish Federal Republic. He was tried and sentenced to 30 years in prison for rebellion, but was released in 1936 after the victory of the Popular Front. From 1939, after the occupation of Catalonia by Franco's troops, Lluís Companys was forced to go into exile in France. Handed over to Franco's military dictatorship by the secret police of Nazi Germany, he was repatriated, tortured and then shot at Montjuïc Castle on 15 October 1940. At the moment of his execution, he refused to be blindfolded and died in front of the firing squad, shouting "Per Catalunya" (For Catalonia). Today, the Montjuïc Olympic Stadium bears his name.

The constitution of the Second Republic was a profoundly innovative text that recognized the singularity of the Basque and Catalan cases and granted them autonomous status, but it was far from unanimous among conservative forces. And in 1933, the centre-right coalition that had come to power in the national elections set out to destroy the reforms initiated by the previous government, including the suspension of the Basque and Catalan autonomous regimes. Gathered under the name of the Popular Front (Frente Popular), the left-wing forces won the February 1936 elections by a slim majority, and the new government restored autonomous status to Catalonia and the Basque Country. This was accepted neither by the conservative right nor by the army. On July 17, 1936, in Melilla (in Morocco), the first military garrison rose up, preparing the offensive of the national movement. The civil war between Republicans and Nationalists began.

Civil War, which opposed the supporters of the Spanish Republic to the nationalist rebels. It lasted until 1939, when the victorious General Franco took power. In total, it caused the death of approximately 1,200,000 Spaniards, including 750,000 civilians. One of the most tragic episodes of this war was the bombing of the civilian population of Guernica in April 1937. Another memorable battle of the war was the Battle of the Ebro, which took place between July 25 and November 16, 1938 in the Ebro valleys. Right after this battle, Franco's troops entered Barcelona in January 1939.

From the beginning of 1939 to November 1975, the dictatorship put in place by General Franco after the victory of the nationalists lasted thirty-six years. In Catalonia, this resulted in the suppression of the autonomous status and the prohibition of the use of Catalan in schools and administrations. The period also saw the exile of a large number of writers such as Mercè Rodoreda or Carles Riba.

Spain becomes a member of the UN.

Death of Franco, the power is entrusted to Prince Juan Carlos of Bourbon.

The death of General Franco (power was then entrusted to Prince Juan Carlos of Bourbon) marked the beginning of the democratic transition. Key date: the adoption by referendum of the Spanish constitution in 1978 (still in force). It grants Catalonia political autonomy. It became an autonomous community within Spain, and the Catalan parliament was re-established.

Jordi Pujol became president of the Generalitat de Catalunya, and therefore head of the region's autonomous government. Supported by the centre-right federation CIU (Convergència i Unió), he held power until 2003. He was replaced by the socialist Pasquall Maragall, who led a left-wing tripartite coalition.

Attempted coup d'état in the parliament. The intervention of King Juan Carlos made it fail.

Spain joins the European Economic Community (the forerunner of the European Union).

The 1996 elections gave a short victory to José María Aznar, who had to deal with the nationalists he had widely criticized during the campaign. But in the March 2000 elections, he won a second victory with an absolute majority. During these years, successive governments have given priority to fiscal and monetary efforts to meet the Maastricht criteria. This will allow Spain to join the euro zone since its launch in January 2002.

Four trains explode in Madrid and its suburbs. The death toll was 191. That same year, after an eight-year absence, the PSOE came back to power with José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero at its head.

After bitter discussions, a new Statute of Autonomy, the third, was approved by the Catalan Parliament on September 30, 2005. It was then substantially modified before being approved by the Spanish Parliament in the spring of 2006, and then adopted in Catalonia by the referendum of June 18, 2006.

The global economic crisis hit Spain hard, causing its real estate bubble to implode (a drop of more than 25 per cent in construction in one year) and officially putting it into recession. In addition to the repeated financial scandals, it will help fuel the Catalanist cause.

On November 9, 2014, Catalonia voted 80% for independence in a symbolic consultation (35% participation) on self-determination and declared unconstitutional by the Constitutional Court. A vote promised by Artur Mas, new president of Catalonia since 2010, after the holding of numerous demonstrations, including that of the Diada (Catalonia Day) of September 11, 2012, which brought together more than one million people, in Barcelona.

On September 27, 2015, the pro-independence parties won a majority of seats in the Catalan Parliament. And on November 9, they adopted a resolution on a process that should lead to an "independent Catalan state in the form of a republic" by 2017. This resolution will be annulled by the Constitutional Court. But it will come back to life on January 10, 2016, when Carles Puigdemont will become president of Catalonia, replacing Artur Mas, thanks to a new alliance with the far left CUP (Candidatura d'Unitat Popular).

It is on October¹, 2017 that the referendum on self-determination of Catalonia, deemed unconstitutional by the Constitutional Court, is held. Which will give more than 90% of votes in favor of independence. After some hesitation, the Parliament of Catalonia will vote the unilateral declaration of independence (DIU), on October 28, 2017. This will lead to the implementation of Article 155 of the Spanish Constitution, suspending the DIU and calling elections in Catalonia in December. These will give an absolute majority to the pro-independence lists. The trial of 12 Catalan leaders opens in February 2019 and results, in October 2019, in the sentencing of 9 leaders to sentences ranging from 9 to 13 years.

After 8 months of political paralysis, Pedro Sanchez can form a coalition government after being invested by a narrow margin on January 7, 2020. A vote of investiture obtained in particular thanks to the abstention of the ERC (Catalonia's republican left). In exchange for this abstention, the socialists promised to hold negotiations between the central government and the Catalan regional executive to resolve the political conflict over the future of Catalonia. The first dialogue meeting was held on February 26, 2020.

Following growing differences between Junts Per Catalunya (Carles Puigdemont's movement) and the ERC, led by Oriol Junqueras, early regional elections were held on February 14, 2021, to elect a new Catalan parliament. Despite a strong showing by the PSC, the result gave the pro-independence parties an absolute majority.