Catalonia
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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| Anthem: Els Segadors | |||||
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| Capital | Barcelona | ||||
| Official languages | Catalan, Spanish and Occitan. |
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| Area – Total – % of Spain |
Ranked 6th 32,114 km² 6.3% |
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| Population – Total (2006) – % of Spain – Density |
Ranked 2nd 7,134,697 16% 222.16/km² |
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| Demonym – English – Spanish – Catalan |
Catalan, Catalonian catalán (m); catalana (f) català (m); catalana (f) |
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Statute of Autonomy
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September 9, 1932, December 31, 1979 |
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– Congress seats – Senate seats |
16 |
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| President | José Montilla Aguilera (PSC) | ||||
| ISO 3166-2 | CT | ||||
| Generalitat de Catalunya | |||||
Catalonia (Catalan: Catalunya; Spanish: Cataluña; Aranese Occitan: Catalonha), is an Autonomous Community of the Kingdom of Spain. The Autonomous Community of Catalonia covers an area of 32,114 km² with an official population of 7,210,508[1] from which immigrants represent an estimated 12.3% of the total population. It borders France and Andorra to the north, Aragon to the west, the Valencian Community to the south, and the Mediterranean Sea to the east (580 km coastline). Official languages are Catalan, Spanish and Aranese.
The capital city is Barcelona. Catalonia is divided into four provinces: Barcelona, Girona, Lleida, and Tarragona. Its territory corresponds to most of the historical territory of the former Principality of Catalonia.
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[edit] Legal status within Spain
The Spanish Constitution of 1978 declares that Spain is an indissoluble nation that recognizes and guarantees the right to self-government of the "nationalities" and regions that constitute it.[2] Catalonia, alongside Basque Country, Galicia and Andalusia self-ascribed as "nationalities" in the elaborations of their Statutes of Autonomy – the first three acceding to autonomy automatically – and more recently in their new Statutes or recent amendments Aragon, the Valencian Community, the Balearic Islands and the Canary Islands also did.
The 1979 as well as the current Statute of Autonomy, approved in 2006, state that "Catalonia, as a nationality, exercises its self-government constituted as an autonomous community in accordance with the Constitution and with the Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia, which is its basic institutional law."[3].
The Preamble of the 2006 Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia states the Parliament of Catalonia defined Catalonia as a nation, but that the "Spanish Constitution recognizes Catalonia's national reality as a nationality". While this Statute was approved by and sanctioned by both the Catalan and the Spanish parliaments, and later by referendum in Catalonia, it has been legally contested by the surrounding Autonomous Communities of Aragon, Balearic Islands and the Valencian Community,[4] as well as by the Partido Popular. The objections are based on various topics such as disputed cultural heritage but, especially, on the Statute's alleged breaches of the "solidarity between regions" principle enshrined by the Constitution in fiscal and educational matters. As of December 2007, the Constitutional Court of Spain is assessing the constitutionality of the challenged articles; its binding conclusion is expected for 2008.
[edit] Etymology
The name of Catalunya, (Catalonia) began to be used in the 12th century in reference to the group of counties that comprised the Marca Hispanica, which gradually became independent from the French. The origin of the term is subject to diverse interpretations. The most accepted theory suggests that Catalunya derives from the term "Land of Castles"[5] , having evolved from the term castlà, the ruler of a castle (see castellan).[6] This theory, therefore, suggests that the term castellà, "Castilian" would have been synonymous.
Another theory suggests that Catalunya derives from Gotholàndia, "Land of the Goths" since the Franks usually designated the entire Iberian Peninsula as "Gothia".[citation needed] A similar version is suggested in Encyclopædia Iranica - according to it, the name "is but a slight deformation of Goth-Alania, province of the Goths and Alans".[7]
Other theories suggest that the name derives from a mythical German prince, Otger Cataló, or from the Laketani, a Pre-Roman tribe that lived in the area, whose name, due to the Roman influence, evolved to Katelans and then Catalans.[8]
[edit] History
Like some other parts in the rest of the Mediterranean coast of the Iberian Peninsula, Catalonia was colonized by Ancient Greeks, who settled around the Roses area. Both Greeks and Carthaginians (who, in the course of the Second Punic War, briefly ruled the territory) interacted with the main Iberian substratum. After the Carthaginian defeat, it became, along with the rest of Hispania, a part of the Roman Empire, Tarraco being one of the main Roman posts in the Iberian Peninsula
It then came under Visigothic rule for four centuries after Rome's collapse. In the eighth century, it became under Moorish al-Andalus control. Still, after the defeat of Emir Abdul Rahman Al Ghafiqi's troops at Tours in 732, the Franks conquered former Visigoth states which had been captured by the Muslims or had become allied with them in what today is the northernmost part of Catalonia. Charlemagne created in 795 which came to be known as the Marca Hispanica, a buffer zone beyond the province of Septimania made up of locally administered separate petty kingdoms which served as a defensive barrier between the Umayyad Moors of Al-Andalus and the Frankish Kingdom.
The Catalan culture started to develop in the Middle Ages stemming from a number of these petty kingdoms organized as small counties throughout the northernmost part of Catalonia. The counts of Barcelona were Frankish vassals nominated by the emperor then the king of France, to whom they were feudatories (801-987).
In 987 the count of Barcelona did not recognize the French king Hugh Capet and his new dynasty which put it effectively out of the Frankish rule. Two years later, in 989, Catalonia declared its independence. Then, in 1137, Ramon Berenguer IV, Count of Barcelona married Petronila of Aragon establishing the dynastic union of the County of Barcelona with the Kingdom of Aragon which was to create the Crown of Aragon.
It was not until 1258, by means of the Treaty of Corbeil, that the king of France formally relinquished his feudal lordship over the counties of the Principality of Catalonia to the king of Aragon James I, descendant of Ramon Berenguer IV. This Treaty turned the de facto independence into a full de jure direct transition from French to Aragonese rule. It also solved a historic incongruence. As part of the Crown of Aragon, Catalonia became a great maritime power, helping to expand the Crown by trade and conquest into the Kingdom of Valencia, the Balearic Islands, and even Sardinia or Sicily.
In 1410, King Martin I died without surviving descendants. As a result, by the Pact of Caspe, Ferdinand of Antequera from the Castilian dynasty of Trastamara, received the Crown of Aragon as Ferdinand I of Aragon.
His grandson, King Ferdinand II of Aragon married Queen Isabella of Castile in 1469; retrospectively, this is seen as the dawn of the Kingdom of Spain. At that point both Castile and Aragon remained distinct territories, each keeping its own traditional institutions, Parliaments and laws. Political power began to shift away from Aragon toward Castile and, subsequently, from Castile to the Spanish Empire.
For an extended period, Catalonia, as part of the Crown of Aragon, continued to retain its own usages and laws, but these gradually eroded in the course of the transition from feudalism to a modern state, fueled by the kings' struggle to have more centralized territories. Over the next few centuries, Catalonia was generally on the losing side of a series of wars that led steadily to more centralization of power in Spain, like the Reapers' War (1640–1652).
The most significant conflict was the War of the Spanish Succession, which began when Charles II of Spain (the last Spanish Habsburg) died without a successor in 1700. Catalonia, as the other kingdoms which used to form the Crown of Aragon, mostly rose up in support of the Habsburg pretender Charles of Austria, while the rest of Spain mostly adhered to the French Bourbon claimant, Philip V. Following the fall of Barcelona on 11 September 1714, the Crown of Aragon and its institutions were abolished by the Nueva Planta decrees, under which all its lands were incorporated, as provinces, into a united Spanish administration, as Spain moved towards a centralized government under the new Bourbon dynasty.
In the latter half of the 19th century, Catalonia became an industrial center; to this day it remains one of the most industrialised parts of Spain. In the first third of the 20th century, Catalonia gained and lost varying degrees of autonomy several times, receiving its first statute of autonomy during the Second Spanish Republic (1931). This period was marked by politic unrest and the preeminence of the Anarchists during the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939). After the defeat of the Republic in the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939) which brought General Francisco Franco to power, his regime suppressed any kind of public activities associated with Catalan nationalism, Anarchism, Socialism, Democracy or Communism, such as publishing books on the matter or simply discussing them in open meetings. As part of this suppression the use of Catalan in government-run institutions and in public events was banned. During later stages of the Francoist regime, certain folkoric or religious celebrations in Catalan were resumed and tolerated. Use of Catalan in the mass media was forbidden, but was permitted from the early 1950s[9] in the theatre. Publishing in Catalan continued throughout the dictatorship.[10]
After Franco's death (1975) and with the adoption of a democratic Spanish constitution (1978), Catalonia recovered political and cultural autonomy. Today, Catalonia is one of the most economically dynamic regions of Spain. The Catalan capital and largest city, Barcelona, is a major international cultural centre and a major tourism destination.
Catalonia's second statute of autonomy, adopted by the Catalan government on 22 December 1979, officially recognized Catalonia as a nationality. Then, the amended version approved on 9 August 2006 has defined Catalonia as a nation in the preamble. The precise meaning of the term nation is ambiguous as to not conflict with the Spanish Constitution. The Statute of Autonomy also establishes that "Catalonia wishes to develop its political personality within the framework of a State which recognizes and respects the diversity of identities of the peoples of Spain". After the charter was first passed in the regional parliament, it was then edited in conjunction with the Cortes Generales (Spanish bicameral parliament). Except the Partido Popular, all the other political parties represented in the Catalan autonomous Parliament endorsed the final redaction of the statute, which was then approved by means of a referendum held in June 2006 in which 73.9% voted for the autonomy plan and 20.8% against it. The turnout was unprecedentedly low, at around 49% of the total census, which resulted in the highest abstention ever registered in Catalonia in a referendum.[11]
[edit] Language
Originating in the historic territory of Catalonia, Catalan is one of the three official languages and has enjoyed special status since the approval of the Statute of Autonomy of 1979 which declares it to be the language "proper to Catalonia".[12] The other languages with official status are Spanish, which is the official language throughout Spain, and Aranese (a dialect of Occitan spoken in the Val d'Aran valley).
Under the Franco dictatorship Catalan was, until the 1970s, excluded from the state education system and all other official use. Immigration, and migration from other parts of Spain, had also reduced the social use of the language, especially in urban areas. In an attempt to reverse this decline the newly reestablished regional institutions of Catalonia embarked on a project of linguistic normalization of the Catalan language[13] and has, since 1983, enforced laws which attempt to protect, and extend, the use of Catalan.
Today, Catalan is the language of the Catalan autonomous government and the other public institutions that fall under its jurisdiction. Basic public education is given in Catalan other than two hours per week of Spanish medium instruction. Businesses are required to display all information (e.g. menus, posters) in Catalan under penalty of legal fines; there is no obligation to display this information in either Aranese or Spanish. The use of fines was introduced in a 1997 linguistic law[14] that aims to increase the use of Catalan.
According to the most recent linguistic census elaborated by the Government of Catalonia, 53.4% of citizens declared Spanish as their native language, although a plurality claims Catalan as "their own language" (48.8% Catalan compared to 44.3% Spanish), and in most everyday uses, people who use exclusively Catalan or both languages equally are in the majority.[15] The law, therefore, ensures that both Catalan and Spanish – being official languages – can be used by the citizens without prejudice in all public and private activities[16] even though the Generalitat usually uses Catalan in its communications and notifications addressed to the general population. The citizens can also receive information from the Generalitat in Spanish if they so desire.[17]
Finally, since the Statute of Autonomy of 1979, Occitan, in its Aranese variety (a dialect of Gascon), has been official and subject to special protection in the Val d'Aran (Aran Valley). This small area of 7,000 inhabitants was the only place where Occitan (spoken mainly in France and some Italian valleys) received full official status. However, on 9 August 2006, when the new Statute came into force, Occitan became official throughout Catalonia.
| Language in which the Catalans identify themselves (2003)[15] | |||
| Maternal language | Own language | Usual language | |
| Catalan | 40.4 % | 48.8 % | 50.1 % |
| Spanish | 53.5 % | 44.3 % | 44.1 % |
| Both | 2.8 % | 5.2 % | 4.7 % |
| Aranese | 0.1 % | 0.0 % | 0.0 % |
| Other languages | 3.2 % | 1.7 % | 1.1 % |
[edit] Catalan
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Catalan, a Romance language, is regarded by many linguists as belonging to the Iberian Romance[18] sub-family (which also includes Spanish, Portuguese, Galician, and Aragonese), while others classify it within the Gallo-Romance[19] sub-family (which includes French, Occitan and Gallo-Italian) languages. It shares attributes with both linguistic groups.
[edit] Literacy
According to the 2001 Linguistic Census,[20] about 5,900,000 people in Catalonia (nearly 95% of the population) understand the Catalan language. The percentage of people aged two and older who can speak, read and write Catalan is as follows:
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As a result of the ongoing linguistic policies favouring Catalan, implemented in various degrees by the autonomous government during the last 20 years, knowledge of Catalan has advanced significantly in all these areas, with the ability to write it having experienced the most pronounced increase, from 31.6% of the population in 1986 to 49.8% in 2001.
By age groups, those between 10 and 29 have the highest level of Catalan-language literacy (e.g., 98.2% aged 10–14 understand it, and 85.2% can write it); this is attributed to these individuals having received their education in Catalan.
Geographically, Catalan is understood in northwest Catalonia (High Pyrenees, Val d'Aran), at 97.4%, followed by south and western Catalonia, whereas Barcelona's metropolitan area sees the lowest knowledge, at 93.8%. The situation is analogous for written-language skills, with central Catalonia scoring the highest percentages (61.4%), and Barcelona the lowest (46.4%).
Barcelona is one of the main centres of the Spanish publishing industry for both Spanish-language and Catalan-language publishing.
[edit] Social use
According to a study carried out in 2003 by the Generalitat de Catalunya,[21] Catalan is used by 50.1% of the population in everyday situations.
Over 55% of respondents use Spanish to address their parents (versus 42% who choose Catalan). This is attributed to extensive migration from other areas in Spain during the second half of the 20th century, as a consequence of which many Catalans have one or both parents born outside Catalonia. However, a majority (52.6%) use Catalan with their children (compared to 42.3% for Spanish). This can be attributed to some Spanish-speaking citizens shifting from their mother tongue to Catalan at home.
Outside the family, 48.6% of the population indicate that they address strangers exclusively or preferentially in Catalan, while the proportion of those who use Spanish is 41.7%, and 8.6% claim to use both equally.
[edit] Spanish
The Spanish language developed from Vulgar Latin, with influences from Basque, Arabic and (to a lesser extent) Celtiberian, in the north of the Iberian Peninsula, between Biscay and Cantabria. Most closely related to Leonese speech, it contains a higher degree of Basque influence than the latter.
[edit] Aranese
According to the 2001 Aranese Linguistic Census,[22] knowledge of Aranese in the Occitan-speaking territory of Aran is as follows:
| Knowledge of Aranese | ||
|---|---|---|
| Ability | Individuals | Percentage |
| Understand | 6,712 | 88.88% |
| Speak | 4,700 | 62.24% |
| Read | 4,413 | 58.44% |
| Write | 2,016 | 26.69% |
Compared to previous data from 1996, the number of those able to understand Aranese has declined slightly (90.5% in 1996), while at the same time there has been a marginal increase in the number of those able to write it (24.97% in 1996).
By age groups, the largest percentage of those with knowledge of Aranese is in the 15-19 and 65-69 groups (both above 96%), while those aged 30-34 score lowest (just over 80%). Literacy is higher in the 10-19 group with over 88% declaring themselves able to read, and 76% able to write Aranese. Those over 80 are the least literate, with only about 1.5% of them being able to write the language.
It is significant to note that in the Val d'Aran, those born outside Spain outnumber Spaniards born outside Aran and Catalonia in the active use of Aranese (17% of non-Spaniards can write Aranese, while the percentage for Spaniards excluding Catalans is 10%).
[edit] Demographics
The autonomous community of Catalonia covers an area of 32,114 km² with an official population of 7,134,697 (2006) from which immigrants represent an estimated 12.3%.[23][24]
The Urban Region of Barcelona includes 5,327,872 people and covers an area of 4.268 km² and about 2.5 million persons live in a radius of 25 km from Barcelona. The first metropolitan crown of the Urban Region includes cities like l'Hospitalet de Llobregat, Badalona, Santa Coloma de Gramenet and Cornellà. The main populations of the second crown are Terrassa, Sabadell, Montcada i Reixac, Granollers, Martorell, Molins de Rei, Rubí, Sant Feliu de Llobregat, Gavà and Castelldefels.
In 1900 the population of Catalonia was 1,984,115 people and in 1970 it was 5,107,606.[25] That increase was produced due to the demographic boom produced in Spain during the 60s and early 70s and also due to the large-scale internal migration produced from the rural interior of Spain to its industrial cities. In Catalonia that wave of internal migration arrived from several regions of Spain, especially Andalusia, Murcia and Extremadura.
[edit] Politics
After Franco's death in 1975 and the adoption of a democratic constitution in Spain in 1978, Catalonia recovered, and extended, the powers granted in the statute of autonomy of 1932[26] it had lost with the fall of the Second Spanish Republic[27] at the end of the Spanish Civil War in 1939 .
The historical region has gradually achieved a greater degree of autonomy since 1979. The Generalitat holds exclusive jurisdiction in various matters including culture, environment, communications, transportation, commerce, public safety and local governments while it shares jurisdiction with the Spanish government in education, health and justice.[28]
There is significant Catalan nationalist sentiment present in a part of the population of Catalonia[citation needed], which ranges from the desire for independence from Spain expressed by Catalan independentist, to a more generic demand of further autonomy expressed by others.[who?]
[edit] Law and government of Catalonia
The Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia is the fundamental organic law, second only to the Spanish Constitution from which the Statute originates. The Catalan Statute of Autonomy establishes that Catalonia is organized politically through the Generalitat de Catalunya, conformed by the Parliament, the Presidency of the Generalitat, the Government or Executive Council and the other institutions created by the Parliament.
The seat of the Executive Council is the city of Barcelona. Since the restoration of the Generalitat through the return of democracy in Spain, the presidents of Catalonia have been Jordi Pujol (1980-2003), Pasqual Maragall (2003-2006) and incumbent José Montilla Aguilera.
Catalonia is divided into four provinces: Barcelona, Girona, Lleida, and Tarragona. Local governments include comarques (roughly equivalent to counties), as well as smaller forms of municipal administration.
Catalonia has its own police force, the Mossos d'Esquadra, whose origins trace back to the eighteenth century. Since 1980 they are under the commandment of the Generalitat, and since 1994 it is expanding in order to replace the Spain-wide Guardia Civil and Policía Nacional, which report directly to the Homeland Department of Spain. These corps are to retain a limited number of agents within Catalonia to exercise specific functions such as overseeing ports, airports, coasts, international borders, custom offices, identification documents, control of armament amongst others.
Most of the justice system is administered by national judicial institutions. The legal system is uniform throughout Spain, with the exception of so-called "civil law", which is administered separately within Catalonia.[29]
After Navarre and the Basque Country, Catalonia is the Spanish region with the highest degree of Autonomy.
[edit] Parties
- CiU — Convergència i Unió (Convergence and Unity) - federation
- PSC-PSOE — Partit dels Socialistes de Catalunya-Partido Socialista Obrero Español (Socialist Party of Catalonia-Spanish Socialist Workers' Party)
- ERC — Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya (Republican Left of Catalonia)
- ICV-EUiA — Iniciativa per Catalunya-Verds – Esquerra Unida i Alternativa (Initiative for Catalonia-Greens – United and Alternative Left)
- PP — Partit Popular (People's Party)
- Ciutadans — Partido de la Ciudadanía (Citizens - Citizenship Party)
[edit] Symbols of Catalonia
Catalonia has its own representative and distinctive symbols: the Catalan flag, the song Els Segadors and the National Day of Catalonia.[30]
- The flag of Catalonia commonly called as Senyera ( meaning flag in the Catalan language ) is a vexillological symbol based on the coat of arms of the Crown of Aragon, which consists of four red stripes on a golden background. It is an official symbol since the Statute of Catalonia of 1932.
- The National Day of Catalonia[31] is on September 11 and it is commonly called as La Diada. It commemorates the 1714 Siege of Barcelona defeat during the War of the Spanish Succession.
- The national anthem of Catalonia is Els Segadors and was written in its present form by Emili Guanyavents in 1899. The song is official by law from the February 25 of 1993.[32][33] It is based on the events of 1639 and 1640 when Catalans fought for independence against Philip IV in the so called Catalan Revolt.
- La Diada de Sant Jordi is widely celebrated in all the towns of Catalonia on April 23rd. It is a day where in addition to the exchange of books and roses, Catalans will proudly display their Catalan flags or Senyera as a show of national pride.
[edit] Economics
The GDP of Catalonia in 2005 was € 170,450 million[34] and Per capita GDP was $24,858, ranking 4th among autonomous communities in Spain.
The Catalan economy is distinguished by its industrial profile.[35] The distribution of sectors is the following one:
- Primary sector: 2.8%
- Secondary sector: 37.2%
- Tertiary sector: 60%
The GDP growth is 3,3%,[36] the land dedicated to agricultural use is 33%.
Catalonia is the first tourist destination of Spain. The main tourist destinations of Catalonia are the city of Barcelona, the beaches of the Costa Brava at Girona and the Costa Daurada at Tarragona. In the Pyrenees there are 10 ski resorts: Baqueira Beret, the Molina, Espot Ski, the Masella, Port Ainé, Vall de Núria, Boí Taüll, Port of the Comte, Flat of Peguera, Tavascan and Vallter 2000.
From the financial point of view the saving banks have a great implantation in Catalonia. 10 of the 46 Spanish savings banks are Catalan and "La Caixa" is the first savings bank of Europe.[37] The first private bank originated in Catalonia is "Banc Sabadell" ranking fourth of the Spanish private banks.[38]
The Stock market of Barcelona, that in 2004 negotiated almost 205,000 million euros, is the second most important of Spain after the Stock market of Madrid and Fira de Barcelona organizes samples and congresses of international character on varied sectors of the economy.
The main economic cost for the Catalan families is the purchase of a house. According to data of the Society of Appraisal on the 31 of December of 2005 Catalonia is, after Madrid, the second community of Spain where the price of the house is more expensive: 3,397 euros for a square meter are paid by average. By cities, nevertheless, Barcelona is the most expensive city of Spain, with an average price of 3,700 euros for a square meter.
The most commonly cultivated crops in Catalonia are maize, potatoes, forage, vines, olives and cereals. Also commonly practiced are horticulture and animal husbandry; most important to the latter are porcine livestock, bovine livestock and ovine livestock.
[edit] Transport
[edit] Airports
[edit] Commercial and passenger ports
[edit] Roads
There are 12,000 km of roads throughout Catalonia.
The principal highway is AP-7 know also as Autopista del Mediterrani. It follows the coast from the French Border to Valencia, located south of Tarragona. The main roads generally radiate from Barcelona. The A-2 and AP-2 connect inland and onward to Madrid.
Other major roads are:
[edit] Railways
Catalonia saw the first railway construction in Iberian Peninsula in 1848, linking Barcelona with Mataró. Given the topography most lines radiate from Barcelona. The city has both suburban and inter-city services. The main east coast line runs through the province connecting with French Railways at Portbou on the coast.
The railroad companies operating in Catalonia are FGC and RENFE.
High speed AVE (Alta Velocidad Española) services from Madrid currently reach Lleida, Tarragona and Barcelona. The official opening between Barcelona and Madrid was on 20 February 2008. The journey between Barcelona and Madrid lasts about 2 and a half hours. Construction has commenced to extend the high speed line northwards to connect with the French high speed network. This new line passes through Girona and a rail tunnel through the Pyrenees.
[edit] Climate
The climate of Catalonia is mediterranean in general, but with a lot of different microclimates. On the coast summers are hot with common sea breezes (max. 30ºC). Rain is scarce in this season but there can be late summer storms. Winter is cool and rain is possible. The most rainy months are September, October and November, and April and May in Spring. The interior of Catalunya is hotter in the summer but with rainstorms, more possible near mountainous regions, temperatures can reach 35ºC or more, even 40ºC is not rare, but not common. Nights are cool, (14º-16ºC). Autumn is rainy but with many sunny days and cooler temperatures, and Winter can be very cold, temperatures below 0ºC very common,temperatures can go down to -10ºC. Fog is very common in valleys and plains in Winter, Autumn and Spring. Spring is a nice season, with warm temperatures but cold nights, frost is common until April. Rainy days are possible at this time, but lots of sunshine too. The mountains regions like the Pyrenees and others are rainier and cooler in summer but colder in Winter with snow.
[edit] Environmental policy
Awareness of environmental problems tends to be much lower in Catalonia (and in Spain as a whole) than in northern Europe. Carbon dioxide emissions in Catalonia have increased by 40% since 1992,[citation needed] and 60% of the region's electricity comes from aging nuclear power stations[citation needed] (a figure only exceeded in Europe by France and Lithuania). Despite Catalonia's change of government in 2004 from the long time ruling conservative/nationalist CiU to a "catalanist/social/green" tripartite coalition of PSC, ERC, and ICV parties, there is little evidence of greater concern for the environment. ICV was put in charge of the Department of Environment, but has largely continued the outgoing administration's policies. The Department's decision to build the controversial Bracons tunnel through an area of outstanding natural beauty, and a plan to situate an incinerator burning 90,000 metric tonnes of industrial waste[39] in a heavily-populated valley are two of the mentioned issues.
[edit] UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Catalonia
There are several UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Catalonia:
- Archaeological Ensemble of Tarraco, Tarragona
- Catalan Romanesque Churches at Vall de Boí
- Poblet Monastery, Poblet, Tarragona province
- Palau de la Música Catalana and Hospital de Sant Pau, Barcelona
- Works of Antoni Gaudi:
- Sagrada Família, Barcelona
- Parc Güell, Barcelona
- Palau Güell, Barcelona
- Casa Milà (La Pedrera), Barcelona
[edit] Popular culture
Castellers are one of the main manifestations of the Catalan popular culture . The activity consists on the construction of human towers by colles castelleres (teams) that compete among them. This practice was originated in the southern part of Catalonia during the XVIII century.
The sardana is the most characteristic Catalan popular dance, other groups also practice Ball de bastons, moixiganga or jota in the southern part. Musically the Havaneres are also characteristic in the marine localities of the Costa Brava specially during the summer months when this songs are sung outdoors always accompanied by a tasting of burned rum. As opposed to other more traditional parts of Spain, flamenco is not popularly performed, but rather the rumba is a more prevalent dance style.
In the greater celebrations other elements of the Catalan popular culture are usually present: the parades of giants and correfocs of devils and firecrackers. Another traditional celebration of Catalonia is La Patum de Berga declared oral and immaterial patrimony of the Humanity by UNESCO in the 25 of November of 2005.[40]
In addition to the own manifestations of the Catalan traditional culture and fruit of the great immigration from other Spanish regions people can enjoy other cultural manifestations.
[edit] Gallery of images
 Girona's Cathedral |
 Archaeological Ensemble of Tárraco, Tarragona |
.jpg/120px-Lleida_-_La_Seu_Vella_(des_de_Cappont).jpg) La Seu Vella, Lleida |
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 Church of Sitges |
 Dali Museum, Figueres |
[edit] See also
- Catalonia travel guide from Wikitravel
- Caga Tió
- .cat
- Països Catalans
- Cuisine of Catalonia
- Famous Catalan People
- History of Catalonia
- National Day of Catalonia
- Catalan nationalism
- Northern Catalonia
- Principality of Catalonia
- List of rivers of Catalonia
- Barcelona
- Tarragona
- Lleida
- Girona
- Catalan wine
- Agrupació Astronòmica de Sabadell
- Sport in Catalonia
[edit] References
- ^ [1] (catalan)
- ^ Constitución Española, Título Preliminar
- ^ First article of the Statute of Autonomy of Catalunya
- ^ Admitidos los recursos de Aragón, Valencia y Baleares contra el Estatuto catalán. hoy.es
- ^ La formació de Catalunya
- ^ Curiositats sobre Catalunya i el català
- ^ Alans, Encyclopædia Iranica
- ^ El Misteri de la Paraula Cathalunya
- ^ Marc Howard Ross, "Cultural Contestation in Ethnic Conflict", page 139. Cambridge University Press, 2007
- ^ The Resurgence of Catalan Earl W. Thomas Hispania, Vol. 45, No. 1 (Mar., 1962), pp. 43-48 doi:10.2307/337523
- ^ "Catalonia endorses autonomy plan", BBC News. 19 June 2006
- ^ Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia (Article 6)
- ^ Multilingualism in Spain: Sociolinguistic and Psycholinguistic Aspects of Linguistic Minority Groups
- ^ Catalonia's linguistic law
- ^ a b IDESCAT 2003
- ^ Second article of Catalonia's linguistic law
- ^ Ninth article of Catalonia's Linguistic Law
- ^ Lengua Catalana
- ^ Catalan Language
- ^ http://www6.gencat.net/llengcat/socio/docs/censling2001.pdf
- ^ Estadística d'usos lingüístics a Catalunya, 2003
- ^ Cens linguistic der aranés de 2001
- ^ "Catalunya arriba a set milions d'habitants", Diari El Punt.
- ^ "Catalans grapple with migrant influx", BBC News. 3 January 2007
- ^ http://www15.gencat.net/pres_catalunya_dades/AppPHP/cat/poblacio.htm (Catalan)
- ^ Beginnings of the autonomous regime, 1918-1932
- ^ The republican Government of Catalonia, 1931-1939
- ^ Title IV. Powers (articles 110-173)of the 2006 Statute
- ^ Legislació civil catalana
- ^ [http://www.gencat.net/generalitat/eng/estatut/titol_preliminar.htm#a8 Statute of Catalonia (Article 8)
- ^ Law 1/1980 where the Parlamient of Catalonia declares that 11th of September is the National Day of Catalonia
- ^ Law 1/1993 National Anthem of Catalonia
- ^ Law 1/1993 in the BOE
- ^ [2] CIDEM
- ^ European Structural Funds in Spain (2000-2006)
- ^ [3] CIDEM
- ^ Ranking of Savings Banks
- ^ [4] Profile of "Banc Sabadell" in Euroinvestor]
- ^ The Vall del Ges incinerator
- ^ de Berga
This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
[edit] External links
- The Generalitat de Catalunya (Government of Catalonia)
- Statistical information from Idescat (Catalan Institute of Statistics)
- Institut d'Estudis Catalans (Institute of Catalan Studies)
- Lletra. Catalan Literature Online
- Lletra. espai virtual de literatura catalana
- Catalan Hyperencyclopaedia: Encyclopedia with information about Catalonia in English
- A guide to the natural history of Catalonia
- The Spirit of Catalonia. Digital edition of the 1946 book by Oxford Professor Dr. Josep Trueta, in English.
- Fundació d'Estudis Històrics de Catalunya
- Catalonian rumba - Rumba catalana - Music from Catalonia
| edit | Comarques of Catalonia |  |
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