The Franco Regime Of Spain

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Catalonia has had a history of its own culture distinct from the rest of Spain and have claimed their separate regional liberties since the 19th century. Cultural nationalism is not a product of political nationalism. Popular culture is what has influenced Catalans to embrace their identities and push towards secession. Catalan Nationalists’ persistent desire to secede from Spain stems more from the need to separate and own their cultural identity rather than for the economic and political incentives.
Catalonia is the northeast region of Spain, comprised of different provinces, like Barcelona, Girona, Lleida, and Tarragona. This region makes up around 16 percent of Spain’s total population with over seven million people. The modern Catalan …show more content…
The Franco Regime of the mid-twentieth century sought to suppress Catalan culture including dances, festivals, and language. In Catalonia: History and Culture, John Payne explains that the Franco Regime “kept a lid on [Catalan] cultural nationalism as a way of preventing the re-emergence of political nationalism” (Payne 186). The Franco Regime had reason to be skeptical of Catalan culture promoting a political agenda as many of their traditions tied to Catalan oppression. For example, in a sardana where couples exchange a red rose along with a courtship book, a spectator may only see this as a choreographic quality while it is actually symbolising the oppression of Franco’s rule (Payne 188). The active oppression of Catalan culture for it to not spur a united political culture prove that the root cause of the push to be separate from Spain does not stem from a major desire of economic …show more content…
In 2005, a clear metaphor for the politics of Catalan secession were shown through FC Barcelona (also known as Barça) soccer games, which has become a part of Catalan cultural identity, where banners displaying the slogan “Catalonia is not Spain” began to pop up. Looking at the example of the United Kingdom recognizing Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, and England soccer teams as international ones, Catalan nationalists used their campaign as a push to bring the Spanish government to recognize FC Barcelona as an international soccer team and not solely one from Spain. Barça’s international prestige has arguably made it one of the most popular sports teams in the world. By recognizing it as a Catalan soccer team, nationalists would be able to gain a more ground sense of identity and also establish to the world their disconnect from Spain. Catalonia would not receive financial benefits from this recognition which further shows that the economic aspect of Catalan secession is not as significant as the cultural one and the power to demonstrate to other people that the pride from their accomplishments lies in being Catalan and not
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