Assembly of Catalonia
The Assembly of Catalonia (in Catalan Assemblea de Catalunya) was a unitary body of the anti-Franco opposition in Catalonia created in November 1971. Its fundamental demands were the demand of democratic liberties, the general amnesty for political prisoners and the achievement of the statute of autonomy, which were synthesized in the famous slogan of Llibertat, Amnistia, Estatut d'Autonomia. In addition to the political parties —all of them clandestine—, forces of various kinds formed part of it, such as trade union organizations, professional groups, representatives of the university movement, the neighborhood movement, Christian confessional groups, regional assemblies, etc., hence the enormous social echo that it had. The objectives of the Assembly were achieved during the democratic transition, especially when the Parliament approved the Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia in 1979.
Background
Having managed to survive the harsh repression of the first two decades of the dictatorship, the anti-Franco opposition reemerged from 1960. The founding act, in terms of political Catalanism, is usually located in the events at the Palau de la Música in Barcelona in May 1960, during which the public attending an act held at the Palau de la Música Catalana presided over by various Francoist ministers sang the Cant de la senyera, which it functioned as an alternative hymn to the forbidden Els Segadors. Jordi Pujol, who was also accused of being the author of the pamphlet Us presentem al general Franco, was arrested, tried and sentenced by a military court to seven years in prison as the person allegedly responsible for the protest.
In those years the opposition party with the greatest establishment was the PSUC and the first important political event was La Capuchinada in 1966, named after the Capuchin convent of Sarrià that the police surrounded to proceed to arrest the promoters of the illegal and clandestine Democratic Union of Students of the University of Barcelona who were gathered there together with a group of intellectuals, who among other things claimed the duty of universities to "welcome national languages and cultures and take responsibility for its development and consolidation".
Birth
As a consequence of the actions taken to obtain the release of those detained in the Capuchinada, the Taula Rodona was founded, an organization that brought together all the anti-Franco opposition and of which the PSUC also formed part, for the first time since the end of the Civil War, precedent of the Coordinadora de Forces Polítiques de Catalunya, founded in 1969 and made up of the Front Nacional de Catalunya, the Moviment Socialista de Catalunya, Unió Democrática de Catalonia and the PSUC. In its founding manifesto, the Coordinadora called for amnesty and political and trade union freedoms, as well as the restoration of the 1932 Statute of Autonomy and the convening of Constituent Cortes, as a step prior to the recognition of the right of self-determination that extended to all the peoples of the Spanish state. With the founding of this unitary body of all the opposition and the presentation of a joint program "Catalan anti-Francoism [was] at the head of the Spanish opposition".
As a means of protest against the Burgos process, in December 1970 the Coordinator organized an Assemblea d'Intel•lectuals held at the Montserrat Monastery, the success of which led to the formation in November the year after the Assembly of Catalonia, "the most original and culminating creation of Catalan anti-Francoism." In addition to the Coordinadora's parties, it included the PSAN —a split from the Front Nacional de Catalunya—, the PSOE, the CC OO and UGT unions, as well as various professional and social groups, as well as legal entities and independent individuals.
Objectives and actions
The Assembly's program was synthesized in the slogan Libertat, Amnesty, statute of autonomy which achieved great popularity —its first campaign Per què l'Estatut de 1932? started in May 1972, it was remarkably successful—, extending its influence throughout the Catalan territory with more than 40 delegations, despite the fact that its permanent commission was arrested by the police in 1973 (113 people) and on September 8, 1974 (67 people). "His greatest success was to take the democratic and nationalist demands of the ghetto of the parties to the streets, verifying their social implantation. The Assemblea reversed the situation: until then the clandestine groups had to evade the repression, with it the problem was the Government that had to fight on the street an illegal and provocative platform, which attracted a growing number of citizens». And on the other hand, he "condemned to immediate failure, lack of all kinds of social support, attempts to set up armed struggle groups in the image of ETA such as the Front d'Alliberament de Catalunya (FAC), founded in 1969, which carried out various terrorist attacks until 1971, the Organització de Lluita Armada (OLLA) that emerged in 1972 or the Exèrcit Popular Català (EPOCA), baptized with this name by police notes».
A critical moment in the history of the Assembly was the Caiguda dels 113' ('Fall of the 113'). On October 28, 1973, Franco's police arrested 113 people in the Parish of Santa María Mitjancera in the city of Barcelona, representatives of political parties and clandestine unions, but also of professional associations and neighborhood associations. great citizen mobilization in support of the detainees and a solidarity campaign was launched that had international resonance.
After the death of General Franco in November 1975, the Assembly of Catalonia increased its campaign in favor of Llibertat, Amnistia and Estatut d'Autonomía which resulted in the two demonstrations held in Barcelona on February 1 and 8, 1976 and which were harshly repressed by the police. Taking advantage of the greater margin of freedom granted by the new government of Adolfo Suárez formed in July, the Marxa de la Llibertat was organized throughout the summer of that year, promoted by the priest Lluís Maria Xirinacs —which would result elected senator in the first democratic elections in June 1977—which toured not only Catalonia but also Valencia and the Balearic Islands with the motto Poble català, posa't a caminar and which was sometimes repressed by the police. However, the leading role in the fight for freedoms passed to the political parties that in December 1975 had formed the Consell de Forces Polítiques de Catalunya, successor to the Coordinadora. It was this body that negotiated with the Suárez government the commemoration of the first September 11 in freedom since the end of the civil war. Permission was granted at the last moment and even so, more than 100,000 people gathered in San Baudilio de Llobregat, the birthplace of the conseller en cap of 1714 Rafael Casanova, while demonstrations called in other towns they were brutally repressed by the police.
Programmatic Points
The four programmatic points of the Assembly of Catalonia were the following:
- Reclaiming social and political freedoms,
- An amnesty for the political prisoners of the dictatorship,
- The re-establishment in Catalonia of the Statute of Autonomy of 1932 with all the implicit institutions, as a previous step for self-determination
- Seek to coordinate these actions with the democratic organizations of the rest of the Spanish state.
Dissolution
The Assembly of Catalonia was dissolved after the general elections were held in June 1977, which in Catalonia produced a different result than the rest of Spain, since the left won: the Partit Socialista de Catalunya-Congrés, in coalition with the PSOE, was the force with the most votes, and obtained 15 deputies; the PSUC, 8; and the Esquerra de Catalunya coalition, headed by Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya, which was unable to run with its own acronym in the elections, 1. The government party Unión de Centro Democrático (UCD), which won all of Spain, came in third place with nine seats, being surpassed not only by the PSC-C (PSOE) but also by the Pacte Democràtic per Catalunya headed by Convergència Democràtica de Catalunya, a party founded by Jordi Pujol in 1974 that brought together progressive Catalanism with Catholic roots. The result in the Senate was even more forceful as the left-wing coalition Entesa dels Catalans won the twelve seats it was seeking, and three other independent senators joined the group, making a total of 15 out of the 16 that corresponded to Catalonia..
Ten days after the elections were held, the Assemblea de Parlamentaris was constituted, bringing together all the Catalan deputies and senators, which demanded the restoration of the 1932 Statute of Autonomy.