Institute of Catalan Studies

The Institute of Catalan Studies (in Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans or IEC) is a Spanish cultural institution founded on the initiative of Enric Prat de la Riba according to the agreements of the Barcelona Provincial Council of June 18, 1907 and February 14, 1911, of which Enric Prat de la Riba was president. It is constituted by an academic, scientific and cultural corporation whose purpose is to investigate all the elements of Catalan culture.

Functions

Its functions are recognized by Royal Decree 3118/1976, of November 26, and the Resolution of the Generalitat of Catalonia of May 17, 2001, by which its statutes are published, which include the letter and the spirit of the founding agreements. In 1922 he was admitted to the International Academic Union.

The corporation is headquartered in the city of Barcelona and has established offices throughout its geographical area of action (article 6 of the statutes). This scope of action covers all places of Catalan language and culture (article 1 of Royal Decree 3118/1976).

The philological section of the IEC fulfills the function of an academy of the Catalan language. It is currently in charge of reviewing the Catalan Valencian Balearic Dictionary and its normative powers are recognized in Catalonia, the Balearic Islands and Andorra. In Roussillon, despite the non-official nature of the language, the General Council of the Pyrenees-Orientales department also recognizes its regulatory authority. In the Aragon Strip, its de facto regulations are used as Catalan is not official. In the Valencian Community they are governed by the rules of the Valencian Academy of Language, which are in fact the same as those of the IEC (see Castellón Rules). In this Community, the IEC does not have its own headquarters, but develops its activities in the October Center for Contemporary Culture, current headquarters of Acció Cultural del País Valencià and other pan-Catalan organizations.

The IEC, in addition to making statements of a linguistic nature, has ruled on aspects of a political nature, criticizing the application of article 155 of the Spanish Constitution and the dismissal of the Government of the Generalitat, and qualifying it as "political prisoners" to the politicians imprisoned as a result of the independence process of Catalonia. Likewise, it defends the right of self-determination of this Spanish autonomous community and the idea of the Catalan Countries.

These positions, as well as the courses, publications and events carried out by the IEC, have been described by the historian and writer José Luis Corral as "monolithic and exclusive pan-Catalan nationalism".