Broken once again. And not only by those who advocate for the independence of Catalonia.
Nationalism is usually like that, for better or worse. And Catalan nationalism is based, like almost all nationalisms, on a mythical narrative that does not withstand the contrast with historical facts.
And like many nationalisms, Catalan nationalism has served to protect the interests of the Catalan ruling classes since their first clashes with the "centralized" monarchy of the Habsburgs, whose powers -- according to Elliot, "Spain and its World 1500-1700" -- were limited "by autonomies and local jurisdictions, by privileges and exemptions, and by all kinds of legal or covert pressures, which powerful local interests could exert on the agents of the Crown".
When, in 1885, the founders of contemporary Catalan nationalism presented Alfonso XII with the Memorial de Agravios, the Catalan demand did not harbor the slightest romanticism: to turn all of Spain into a protected market for Catalan industry, against French and English manufactures, much more competitive, to which the "modus vivendi" agreed with England and a Treaty with France granted great facilities for their import and commercialization in our country (Santos Juliá: Awakening to the sleeping Nation).
That current Catalan nationalism undertook the fracture of the constitutional order was within the realm of possibility. That it took advantage of the economic crisis -- and citizen discontent with the cuts applied with enthusiasm by the Catalan right itself -- already had the precedent of Pau Claris and Francesc de Tamarit, who led the rebellion of 1640 taking advantage of the unfavorable international situation and the financial collapse of the Monarchy. A revolt that, by the way, "soon also escaped the hands of the Catalan leaders" giving rise to "a social revolution that they could not control" (John Lynch, The Habsburgs 1516-1700).
That some heirs of Pujol undertook this headlong flight, after looting the Generalitat, is not the first time it has happened in Catalan history either.
But, in my opinion, what has made this situation possible is a State of Autonomies that has a time bomb in its engine room. The constitutional norms of any State must serve to consolidate it as a political organization and to strengthen a way of coexistence of civil society. In the case of the Constitution of 1978, the territorial coexistence has been based on the principles of unity, autonomy and solidarity.
However, the rules for the election of the Congress of Deputies -- hegemonic Chamber in our parliamentary system and on whose confidence the Government of Spain depends -- reward parties with limited territorial scope and concentrated electorate and penalize parties with state scope and dispersed electorate (V. Blanco Valdés "The faces of federalism").
Therefore, every time there is a minority government (it has happened to the PSOE and the PP) it does not find a party of state scope with which to agree on a political program for all Spanish citizens. Instead, it has to rely on nationalist parties. And the trade-offs are always: more powers and more investments for their Autonomous Community.
The constant tendency of contemporary federalism is to strengthen the federal government, to allow it to achieve a balanced development between the territories and the equality of citizens in rights, especially social rights. Meanwhile in Spain, once again against the tide, we have experienced a gradual dismantling of state powers until pretending to set in advance the investment budget for the state government, which is an essential tool for unity and solidarity among Spaniards.
This is what happened with the Reform of the Statute of Catalonia and with other statutory reforms in imitation (Castilla-León, Andalusia, Valencia...). The PP appealed with great fanfare the reform of the Estatut, but not the others.
The very serious crisis of the State of Autonomies, as a formula for coexistence between the peoples of Spain, implies the collapse of the Regime of 78. But it is not the only collapse. The express Reform of 2011, to enshrine the golden rule of conservative neoliberalism, was a shot at the waterline of the Social State. A fraud to the Constitution, carried out with procedures that foreshadowed those used by the independentistas to "legalize" the procés. And knowing that, due to the hegemony of bipartisanship, no one was going to be able to question it legally. The authority of the Constitution was lost and, ultimately, the legitimacy of our democracy.
Because the facts speak for themselves: the Spanish economy is recovering, but public services are deteriorating, social inequalities are growing and labor exploitation -- which is also violence and a rupture of the constitutional pact -- is rampant. And, as a result of all this, freedom deteriorates.
To the citizens who claim our right to define our loyalties and feelings and do not accept being subjected to any identity crossroads by nationalisms of any nature and condition.
To those of us who believe that Spain is a country with historical, cultural and sentimental roots enough to continue constituting a State.
To those of us who defend the constitutional pact of 1978 as one of the wisest decisions in Spanish history.
To those of us who think that what may remain of popular sovereignty is better preserved in large States than in small ones, "incapable of defending their theoretical independence in the international jungle" since "the most convenient world for multinational giants is a world populated by dwarf States or without any State (Eric Hobsbawn, "History of the 20th Century).
To all these, it is very difficult for us to side with those who have undermined the constitutional pact, degrading the Social State and the rights of workers. Or with those who intend to blow up the formula of coexistence between the people of Spain, which were endorsed very overwhelmingly, especially in Catalonia, in 1978.
Recomposing all this is not easy. It is the task of politics. And I am completely certain of what is not the way: to continue violating the constitutional order.
By Santiago Pérez
