Catalan nationalism (Catalan: Nacionalisme català;, ) or Catalanism (Catalan: Catalanisme), is a political movement advocating for either further political autonomy or full independence of Catalonia.
Intellectually, Catalanism departs from the unsuccessful attempts to establish a federal state in Spain in the context of the First Republic. Valentí Almirall i Llozer and other intellectuals that participated in this process set up a new political ideology in the 19th century, to restore self-government, as well as to obtain recognition for the Catalan language. These demands were summarized in the so-called Bases de Manresa in 1892.
It met very little support at first. But after the Spanish-American war in which the United States invaded and annexed the last of the Spanish colonies, these early stages of Catalanism grew in support, mostly because of the weakened Spanish international position after the war and the loss of the two main destinations for Catalan exports (Cuba and Puerto Rico).
Read more about Catalan Nationalism: Several Forms of Contemporary Catalanism, The Origins of Catalan National Identity, The Development of Modern Catalanism
Famous quotes containing the words catalan and/or nationalism:
“God forgives the sin of gluttony.”
—Catalan proverb, quoted in Colman Andrews, Catalan Cuisine.
“The difference between patriotism and nationalism is that the patriot is proud of his country for what it does, and the nationalist is proud of his country no matter what it does; the first attitude creates a feeling of responsibility, but the second a feeling of blind arrogance that leads to war.”
—Sydney J. Harris (1917–1986)