Catalan Nationalism's Genesis: Bullangues and Federalist Ideals

Early Protests: The Bullangues Movement

The origins of Catalan nationalism as a political movement had antecedents in a series of popular protest movements against the new liberal state. This state was based on a centralized political, economic, administrative, legal, and military system designed to strengthen the state and foster economic development. The first signs of popular opposition movements were known as the "bullangues." These movements were directed against those considered responsible for this malaise (clergy, political authorities, etc.). The uprising in Barcelona in 1842 led to the formation of local and provincial government boards, which proposed political and social reform programs with a democratizing spirit while defending state decentralization.

The bullangues have been considered a first manifestation of Catalan and anti-centralist particularist sentiment, a clear sign of rejection of a central government that placed all its expectations for conflict resolution in centralization and the militarization of public order.

The Rise of Federalism in Catalonia

Federalism was a political doctrine with significant roots in Catalonia, emerging from the Democratic Federal Republican Party. This republicanism advocated for self-governance, the expansion of democratic and social rights, and a new structure for the Spanish State. It implied the division of powers among state, regional, and municipal authorities.

Francisco Pi i Maragall was the main inspiration for this federal republicanism, conceiving state power as the result of successive agreements between the basic units of society: the individual, the municipality, and the region.

Key Figures and the Tortosa Pact

Catalan federal Republicans such as Valenti Almirall, Josep Anselm Clavé, Ildefons Cerdà, and Baldomer Lostau promoted the Tortosa Pact in 1869. This agreement among Republicans in Catalonia saw different committees reach a consensus to build a federal state based on the historical reality of the ancient Catalan Confederation.

Valenti Almirall and "El Estado Catalán"

Valenti Almirall also played a leading role in founding the newspaper El Estado Catalán. He believed that Spain's modernization could only be achieved through the establishment of a federal republic that would break with the centralist and unitary tradition impeding progress in more developed peripheral areas.

Towards a Catalan State: Vallès i Ribot's Proposal

During the Restoration, Josep Maria Vallès i Ribot launched a Draft Constitution of the Catalan State within the Spanish Federation in 1883.