Catalonia - Атлас этнических региональных автономий - Сеть по исследованию идентичности

Description of the autonomy

One of the 17 autonomous communities of Spain, located in the north-east of the Iberian Peninsula. It was created in 1978 in the process of adoption of a new Constitution that marked the end of the dictatorship of General F. Franco and the beginning of the democratization process in the country. Since Catalonia was a region that implemented the initiative to obtain self-government even during the Second Republic (1931-1939), autonomy in 1978 was obtained through a simplified scheme in a referendum (the so-called "fast track").

Economically, the region is the richest autonomous community in Spain, providing about 19% of its GDP. Since the state legislatively stipulates the functioning of the principle of "interterritorial solidarity", Catalonia is a donor region. At the same time, it does not have tax autonomy and is in fiscal dependence on the official Madrid. This causes the conflicts in the relations with the central government.

The titular ethnic group is Catalans, who make up just over 30% of the region's population, and the Spaniards - 55%. Language is the key distinguishing marker for a titular ethnic group. Catalan and Spanish (Castilian) languages belong to different subgroups (the first to the Oxitano-Romance, the second to the Ibero-Romance languages) of the Romance languages. The ethnolinguistic situation in the region is associated with the dominance of the Catalan language. This is most clearly manifested in the education system: all education in regional schools is conducted in Catalan, while the national language is studied simply as a subject.

The current situation in the autonomous community is characterized by a high degree of tension. The period from the mid-2000s till now is marked by a surge in the Catalan independence movement, caused by the refusal of the central government to approve amendments to the Charter of the region that ensured a higher degree of autonomy. October 1, 2017, a referendum was held in the autonomous community in which 90.18% of the participants voted for the withdrawal of Catalonia from Spain and the creation of a sovereign state. Madrid, however, categorically refused to recognize the results of the referendum. The unilateral nature of the Catalan initiative now complicates the process of the proclamation of independence.

Autonomy's characteristics

Year of the creation of the autonomy:

Geographic

Where is the autonomy situated:
Autonomy area: km²
Share of the autonomy in the area of the country: %
Autonomy population:the latest census thousands of people
Share of the autonomy in the population of the country: %

Country's characteristics

Level of economic development of the country:GDP per capita in 2015 in current price in $ in $
Political regime in the country:It is based on the Freedom House Index, 2015. All countries of the world are located on a scale from 1 (most free) to 7 (least free). Countries whose ratings fall between 1.0 and 2.5 are “Free”, between 3.0 and 5.0 are "Partly Free," and those between 5.5 and 7.0 are "Not Free."

Economic

Share of the autonomy in the economy of the country:GRP of the autonomy divided to GDP of the country (%) %
Level of economic development of the autonomy:relative to the country (%): GRP per capita of the autonomy divided to GDP per capita of the country %

Ethnic

Share of the dominant in the country ethnic group in the population of the autonomy:in %: population size of the dominant in the country ethnic group divided to overal population size of the autonomy (the latest census; expert estimations) %
Share of the titular ethnic group in the population of the autonomy:in %: population size of the titular ethnic group of the autonomy divided to overal population size of the autonomy (the latest census; expert estimations) %
Ethnic peculiarity:It indicates a key characteristic of autonomy's ethnic identity - language or religion or both
Diversity of ethnic composition:The presence of other (in addition to the titular group in the autonomy and the dominant group in the country) significant ethnic groups in the population of the autonomy

Political

Degree of self-rule of the autonomy:It is based on the Regional Authority Index project that aims at measuring the powers of all the regions in 81 countries. Here the index "tier_selfrule" (2010) is used. It summarizes five dimensions of self-rule: institutional depth; policy scope; fiscal autonomy; borrowing autonomy; and the extent to which a region has an independent legislature and executive. The index takes value from 0 to 18
Degree of shared-rule of the autonomy:It is based on the Regional Authority Index project that aims at measuring the powers of all the regions in 81 countries. Here the index "tier_sharedrule" (2010) is used. It summarizes five dimensions of shared-rule: participation of a region in national law-making; intergovernmental meetings; the distribution of national tax revenues; borrowing; and constitutional change. The index takes value from 0 to 12
The presence of the "kin-state":"Kin-state" is a state whose main population shares the ethnic characteristics of the titular ethnic group of the autonomy
Linguistic preferences:It indicates how the language of the titular ethnic group of the autonomy is learned in secondary schools in the autonomy
Ethnic conflicts:It indicates whether the serious conflicts between the autonomy and the central government as well as between ethnic groups within the authority take place in 2001-2015. The level of conflict is determined on the basis of the annual reports of Conflict Barometer