Basque and Catalan Separatism

SEPARATISM REFERS to a political movement that obtains sovereignty and so splits a territory or group of people from another. Motives for establishing separatist movements include religious commitment, nationalism, and inadequate economic or political sway (for example, the northern Italian separatists who saw the progress of the industrial north being hindered by the lack of development in the more traditional south of the country).

Separatist movements, significantly, can be both peaceful and violent. Spain, for example, arguably has one of the most well known and violent of all contemporary separatist movements. Spain is a country of strong regional differences. Historically, regions have developed with their own customs, flags, cultures, and in some instances, languages. For example, in Catalonia civilians speak not only Spanish but also Catalan. In the Basque region in the north of Spain, Spanish is widely spoken but so is Euskara (Basque). The separatists in this region of Spain have their modern origins dating from the start of the 20th century when the Spanish government revoked certain autonomous freedoms Basques had enjoyed.

However, their wider popularity was essentially established under the dictatorship of Francisco Franco (1939–75) when regional cultures, languages, and identities were sometimes forcefully suppressed. The Basque separatist movement is probably best known due to the activities of a Marxist group called ETA (Euskadi Ta Askatasuna, which means “Basque Country and Liberty”), founded in 1959. This group, part of the wider Basque National Liberation movement, seeks to form an independent Basque state, and in order to achieve this goal, frequently uses terrorist means. With its political movement, Batasuna (formed 1978), the separatist movement manages to attract about 10 percent of Basques who vote in elections, despite the attempts of the national government in Spain to suppress the movement's finances and operations. Despite ETA's illegal status, the terrorist group frequently targets politicians, military figures, and members of the police services to achieve their principal goal: an independent Basque nation. Assassinations by the group (more than 800 in total from 1969 to 2004) occur across Spain. However, it is foolhardy to judge all Basque separatist movements as being similar to ETA, although some other Basque groups have equally barbed views. For example, the Basque Nationalist Party (Eusko Alderdi Jeltzalea/Partido Nacionalista Vasco) was formed in 1895 as a racist (anti-Spanish) Catholic movement. Now it is a nationalist organization of moderate views and describes itself as democratic.

Separatism in Catalonia, located in the northeast of Spain, has in the 19th and 20th centuries largely been political, advocating political autonomy and not terrorist means to achieve an independent state. Separatism in Catalonia is evident in both the left and right of political fields, and has shown itself within the Generalitat de Catalunya (the official name of the autonomous system of government in Catalonia).

Despite being abolished in 1939 by Franco, the Generalitat's reintroduction in 1980, under the presidency [Page 546]of Jordi Puyol (1980–2003), has allowed Catalans of all political persuasions to air their opinions on matters ranging from taxation to the environment and, in some instances, has allowed greater political autonomy in Catalonia.

The Basque separatist region is in the north (Vitoria, Bilbao, above) of Spain, while the Catalonian separatist movement is located in the northeast (Barcelona, above) of the country. Both political agendas use nationalism in seeking separatism from the Spanish government.

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