Catalanist Union and Bases de Manresa Legacy

Catalanist Union and Bases de Manresa

In 1891, the Union Catalanist was founded. It aimed to be a federation of all Catalanist groups, centers, and publications, with the goal of spreading regionalist ideas and implementing a common program for all Catalan nationalist groups. Its social base was representative of the Catalan bourgeoisie and conservatives, and it had massive support from rural Catalonia. The Union was able to awaken Catalan consciousness of its particularism in broad sectors of Catalan society and represented the final triumph of Catalanist theses over regionalist ones.

One of the first acts of the Union was held in Manresa (1892). This meeting established the bases for the Catalan Regional Constitution, known as the Bases de Manresa. The document has two parts: the first base concerns the central power, which was conceived as federal, and its powers relative to Catalonia. The other part concerns Catalan regional power. It defended full sovereignty within the government of Catalonia and the possession of absolute legislative powers regarding education, justice, etc. It proclaimed the official status of the Catalan language and stipulated that public office could only be exercised in Catalonia by Catalans. It proposed the restoration of old Catalan institutions such as the Audiencia and the Parliament, which should be elected by popular vote. It proposed corporate ties between Catalonia and Spain based on an agreement between the Crown and these institutions. These bases had a traditionalist, medievalizing, and corporate regionalist character.

Catalan Political Maturation

In the late nineteenth century, a new generation of activists and intellectuals emerged who defended a Catalan political future. They established a new doctrine and a nationalist strategy to achieve autonomy, breaking with the culturalist pattern of the Catalanist Union. This led to the formation of groups like the National Center Catalan and later the Regionalist League.

In 1899, following the failure of the regionalist project, they chose to form a political regionalist group. Its program included explicit references and called for regionalist political and administrative autonomy for Catalonia. The group that published the newspaper La Veu de Catalunya (including Prat de la Riba, Cambó, Bertomeu Robert, and Duran i Ventosa) abandoned the Catalanist Union and founded the National Center Catalan (1900).

In April 1901, an agreement was reached to submit a single candidacy for the election. This candidacy became known as the 'nomination of the four presidents' (Rusiñol, Robert, Domènech i Montaner, and Torres). The Catalan nomination was successful, and all four regionalist candidates were elected.