Catalan Political Movements and the Second Spanish Republic

Catalan Political Ideologies

The most significant ideological work of the era is La nacionalitat catalana (1906) by Enric Prat de la Riba, which establishes the distinction between nation and state.

Three Primary Political Ideologies

• Catalan Conservatism: The Regionalist League (1901) emerged from the Catalan National Center (1899) and the Regionalist Union. It held party hegemony until 1923. In 1906, it created the Catalan Solidarity, and in 1914, it established the Commonwealth of Catalonia (Mancomunitat).
• Left-Wing Catalanism: Includes the Catalan Republican Party (founded in 1917 by Layret and Companys), the Catalan State (1922, by Francesc Macià, known for the Prats de Molló plot), and the Socialist Union of Catalonia (1923, by Manuel Serra i Moret and Gabriel Alomar).
• Anti-Catalanism: Represented by the Radical Republican Party (1908) led by Alejandro Lerroux, which found roots among the working classes, particularly non-integrated immigrants.

The Mancomunitat de Catalunya

• A federation of the four provincial councils.
• The project was initiated in 1911 by Enric Prat de la Riba and approved in 1913.
• Established in 1914 with Prat de la Riba as president.
• While it lacked formal political power, it performed extraordinary work, including the creation of schools and institutes, leading to the modernization of Catalonia.
• The Commonwealth was suppressed in 1924 by order of Primo de Rivera.

The Second Spanish Republic

General Berenguer resigned in February 1931, and Admiral Aznar temporarily occupied his place. Aznar called for elections on April 12, 1931, to elect a new government and serve as a referendum on the monarchy. The results were clear: Socialists and Republicans won decisively. Consequently, the king went into exile, and on April 14, 1931, the Republic was declared in several territories, including Catalonia. Niceto Alcalá-Zamora proclaimed the Second Spanish Republic across the entire territory and established a provisional government.

The 1931 Constitution

In 1931, following elections—the first held without caciquismo—Manuel Azaña was proclaimed head of government, with Alcalá-Zamora as President. The government drafted a new charter, the Constitution of 1931, based on the following principles:

• The State was defined as united while recognizing the autonomy of all peoples and regions.
• Legislative power resided solely in Congress, with members elected by universal suffrage every four years (including female suffrage for those over 23).
• The Constitution guaranteed freedoms of press, education, assembly, and religion, as well as equal social and political rights for men and women.