Monday, September 21, 2015

CCSS3: SPECIAL TOPICS: ELECTIONS IN CATALONIA



        BBC Catalonia profile


BBC.COM consulted 17 September 2015

Proud of its own identity and language, Catalonia is one of Spain's richest and most highly industrialised regions, and also one of the most independent-minded.
With a distinct history stretching back to the early middle ages, many Catalans think of themselves as a separate nation from the rest of Spain.
This feeling is fed by memories of the Franco dictatorship, which attempted to suppress Catalan identity, and is nowhere more clearly expressed than in the fierce rivalry between FC Barcelona and Real Madrid, Spain's top football clubs.
A roughly triangular region in Spain's far north-east corner, Catalonia is separated by the Pyrenean mountains from southern France, with which it has close historical ties.
Most of the region's population lives in Barcelona, its vibrant political and economic hub and a popular European travel destination.
Holiday-makers also flock to the Mediterranean beaches of the Costa Brava and Costa Daurada/Dorada, and the Pyrenees are popular with hikers, making tourism an important part of Catalonia's economy.


At a glance
Politics: Catalonia's leader is pushing for a referendum on self-determination after elections in 2012 backed pro-independence parties
Culture: Catalonia's laws require teachers, doctors and public sector workers to use Catalan, an official language along with Spanish
Economy: Catalonia is one of Spain's wealthiest but most indebted regions. Harsh austerity measures have boosted separatist sentiment
History
The area first emerged as a distinct entity with the rise of the County of Barcelona to pre-eminence in the 11th century. In the 12th century, the county was brought under the same royal rule as the neighbouring kingdom of Aragon, going on to become a major medieval sea power.
Catalonia has been part of Spain since its genesis in the 15th century, when King Ferdinand of Aragon and Queen Isabella of Castile married and united their realms.
Initially retaining its own institutions, the region was ever more tightly integrated into the Spanish state, until the 19th century ushered in a renewed sense of Catalan identity, which flowed into a campaign for political autonomy and even separatism. The period also saw an effort to revive Catalan, long in decline by then, as a language of literature.
beaches attract tourists from across Europe
When Spain became a republic in 1931, Catalonia was soon given broad autonomy. During the Spanish Civil War, Catalonia was a key Republican stronghold, and the fall of Barcelona to Gen Francisco Franco's right-wing forces in 1939 marked the beginning of the end of Spanish resistance to him.
Under Franco's ultra-conservative rule, autonomy was revoked, Catalan nationalism repressed and use of the Catalan language restricted.
Politics and language
The pendulum swung back with the emergence of a democratic Spain after Franco's death. Catalonia now has is its own parliament and executive - together known as the "Generalitat" in Catalan - with extensive autonomy.
Until recently, few Catalans wanted full independence, but Spain's painful economic crisis has seen a surge in support for separation. Many Catalans believe the affluent region pays more to Madrid than it gets back, and blame much of Spain's debt crisis on the central government.
A regional government backed by the two main separatist parties - in power since snap elections in November 2012 - held an informal, non-binding vote on independence in 2014, with 80% of those taking part voting "yes". The Spanish government says Catalonia has no constitutional right to break away.
The use of Catalan - a language as close to regional languages of southern France like Occitan as it is to Castilian Spanish - has equal status with Castilian and is now actively encouraged in education, official use and the media. However, Castilian predominates in Barcelona, and is still the first language of a narrow majority of Catalans, who are nearly all bilingual.
Variants are also spoken in the region of Valencia to the south, and on the Balearic islands, leading many Catalan nationalists to regard all three regions- as well as the traditionally Catalan-speaking Roussillon region of France - as forming the "Catalan Countries".

Catalonia Calls Election in New Bid for Secession From Spain

BARCELONA, Spain — A year ago, secessionist movements were all the rage in Europe — until they were not.
After a nerve-rattling campaign, Scots narrowly voted in September to remain part of Britain. Two months later, Catalonia’s drive for an independence referendum fizzled into a nonbinding vote after being thwarted by Spanish courts.
But if Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy of Spain breathed a sigh of relief that the issue was behind him, he has reason again to worry.
Catalan politicians have managed to revive the independence issue. Setting aside personal and political rivalries, they have formed a broad alliance of candidates whose aim is to turn a regional parliamentary election scheduled for September into a plebiscite on breaking away from Spain.
Should their alliance secure a majority in the Sept. 27 vote, the secessionist leaders say they will proclaim independence within 18 months.

The election, which was formally called on Monday by the Catalan leader Artur Mas, puts the thorny issue of Catalan independence back at the top of the national political agenda, just ahead of general elections expected before the end of the year. If nothing else, the quick return of the issue has demonstrated that while an independence referendum may have been previously blocked by Madrid, the grievances that animate Catalonia’s secessionist drive have yet to be addressed.
Those grievances have long included a mix of Catalonia’s distinctive language and identity as well as complaints that the region, one of the richest in the country, has been economically squeezed to subsidize poorer parts of Spain.
The pro-independence coalition in Catalonia, which calls itself Together for Yes, while not unanimous, is broad enough to present a credible threat.
While Mr. Mas is expected to remain Catalonia’s regional president should the joint ticket win next month, Together’s list of candidates is officially led by a consensus candidate, Raül Romeva, who recently returned to Catalan politics from Brussels, after spending a decade as a Green member of the European Parliament.
 “We have reached a point of no return,” Mr. Romeva said in an interview. “These are not normal but exceptional elections, whose goal is to find out whether there is a majority in favor of independence or not.”
Mr. Rajoy, however, says his government and Spain’s courts will once again strike down any Catalan decision that violates the Spanish Constitution. At the same time, statements from him and his government have grown more threatening.
“Nobody is going to steal from Catalans their triple status as Catalans, Spaniards and Europeans,” Mr. Rajoy told reporters on Tuesday. “Nobody will break up Spain in any way.”
Spain’s justice minister, Rafael Catalá, warned last month that, if Catalonia’s leadership violates the Constitution, Madrid was empowered to effectively seize control of Catalonia’s administration and suspend its regional autonomy.
Mr. Rajoy and Mr. Mas have been at loggerheads for three years. What started as a financial dispute over the tax contributions Catalonia should make to the rest of recession-hit Spain has turned into a full-fledged secession battle.
The Catalan leader has also been emboldened by street protests in favor of independence — the next of which is scheduled for Sept. 11, Catalonia’s National Day.
Mr. Rajoy and Mr. Mas have in some ways benefited from feuding about Catalonia’s future, at a time when both men have been undermined by corruption investigations relating to the financing of their respective parties.
For Mr. Rajoy, it has allowed his governing Popular Party to present itself as Spain’s flag-bearer while highlighting the ambivalence of other national parties toward Catalonia, notably Podemos, an insurgent far-left party that is competing in its first general election.
But Mr. Mas has struggled to define his plans for Catalonia, beyond his vision of independence.
“Mas has spent more time defending the right to independence than explaining what kind of independence and country he wants,” said Salvador Garcia Ruiz, chief executive of Ara, a Catalan newspaper that has backed independence.
While Mr. Mas talked on Monday about leading “an ancient nation that has the right to decide its own future,” divisions remain even within the pro-independence camp.
Teresa Forcades, a nun who recently took a leave of absence from her convent in order to campaign for independence, said in an interview that she opposed the joint list of candidates under the Together banner because it would allow Mr. Mas to forge ahead with the kind of public spending cuts that have been part of his conservative economic agenda.
“You cannot hide the wallet behind the flag and use this election as if it was an independence referendum,” she said. “Nobody should forget Mr. Mas is a neo-Liberal politician just like Mr. Rajoy, with the only difference that he’s Catalan.”
Mr. Romeva, the coalition leader, acknowledged that asking Catalonia’s 7.5 million citizens to elect lawmakers based solely on their stance on independence was problematic, especially at a time of high unemployment and concerns over political corruption.
“All our attempts to do things in the correct and most democratic way have been denied and on top of this with a belligerent attitude of bringing things to court,” Mr. Romeva said. “Would we have wanted to do it like in Scotland? For sure, but we have now at least on Sept. 27 the right to vote legally.”
Mr. Romeva said Catalonia first needed to gain control of its economy before considering how best to improve it.
As part of their secessionist plans, Catalan officials have recently talked about setting up an autonomous Catalan tax agency, based on the fiscal model of countries like Sweden and Australia.
“These elections aren’t about presenting an economic program — they go beyond that,” Mr. Romeva said. “A lot of the things that we want to do and change in terms of social economy and policies first require gaining resources that we don’t have today.”
But by calling a Catalan election a year ahead of schedule, Mr. Mas is forcing Catalans to confront their future without first finding out whether Mr. Rajoy can win another general election.
In elections in May, Mr. Rajoy’s Popular Party lost control of Madrid’s city hall, as well as Valencia and other regions that it had long dominated.
Some here clearly preferred that the Catalan leader had waited.
“It’s not that Catalonia has reached a point of no return, but rather that we’ve reached a complete breakdown in communications, which Rajoy has done nothing to improve, making it also easier for our own politicians to sell the nonsense message that we’re somehow smarter than the rest of Spain,” said Carlos Rivadulla, the deputy president of Businessmen of Catalonia, an association of entrepreneurs who oppose Catalan independence.
“If the Popular Party doesn’t win the next election,” he added, “I’m sure there will be room for a new dialogue and to change radically the situation.”
PLEASE ANSWER IN YOUR COPYBOOKS
Comprehension Questions:
1. Briefly describe the Catalan economy.
2. What situation has caused the recent surge in support for independence?
3. What is the aim of the broad alliance of nationalist parties called “Together for Yes/ Junts pel Si”
4. Who is the official leader of Junts Pel Si? Who will be the President of Catalonia if they win?
5. Complete the sentence: “..by calling a Catalan election a year ahead of schedule, Mr. Mas is forcing Catalans to confront their future without first finding out…”

USE THE INTERNET AND/OR YOUR PARENTS TO FIND THE VOCABULARY:
snap elections, non-binding vote, plebiscite, subsidize, general elections

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