Commonwealth of Catalonia

Promoters of the Commonwealth of Catalonia project in 1911

The lower house of the Spanish Parliament approved the creation of a Commonwealth but with limited powers compared to those originally envisioned for it by its promoters. The Spanish Senate never approved the creation of the authority. On 18 December 1913 the king signed the law granting all Spanish provinces the right to group themselves into associations or commonwealths. Catalonia was to prove to be the only commonwealth so formed.

The first President of the Commonwealth of Catalonia was Enric Prat de la Riba and the second was the architect Josep Puig i Cadafalch, both of the Lliga Regionalista, who led a programme to create an efficient infrastructure of roads and ports, hydraulic works, railways, telephones, charities and healthcare. The Commonwealth also undertook initiatives to increase agricultural and forest yields, introducing technological improvements, the improvement of services and education, and promoting education in technologies necessary for Catalan industry.

The Commonwealth was dissolved and outlawed under Miguel Primo de Rivera's dictatorship on 20 March 1925.[3]

The Assembly of the Commonwealth was initially made up of 36 for councillors from Province of Barcelona and 20 from each of the Provinces of Tarragona, Girona and Lleida) and elected Enric Prat de la Riba, leader of the Regionalist League, as president of the Commonwealth on 6 April 1914. In addition to the assembly and the president, the Commonwealth included an Executive council made up of 2 councillors from each province.[2][3]

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History of Catalonia
Ancient Prehistory   Iberians c. 6th BC – c. 1st BC Greek colonies c. 6th BC – c. 1st BC Roman conquest of Hispania 218 BC – 19 BC Tarraconensis 27 BC – 476 AD
Medieval Visigoths 5th century – c.720 Al-Andalus 713–1154 Catalan counties / Gothia c.760 – 12th century County of Barcelona 801–1162 Crown of Aragon 1162–1715 Principality of Catalonia 12th century – c.1714 Compromise of Caspe 1412 War of the Remences 1462–1486 Catalan Civil War 1462–1472
Early modern Catholic Monarchs 1469–1516 Habsburg Spain 1516–1700 Reapers' War / Catalan Republic 1640–1659 Treaty of the Pyrenees 1659 Revolt of the Barretines 1687–1689 War of the Spanish Succession 1700–1715 War of the Catalans 1713–1714 Nueva Planta decrees 1716
Modern Peninsular War 1808–1814 Liberals and Carlists 1833–1876 Renaixença 1833–1892 Catalanism 1870s– Tragic Week 1909 Commonwealth 1914–1925 La Canadenca strike 1919 Catalan Republic 1931 Statute of Autonomy 1932–1939 Events of 6 October 1934 Spanish Civil War / Revolution 1936–1939
Contemporary Francoism 1939–1975 Transition to democracy 1975–1982 Statute of Autonomy 1979–2006 Barcelona '92 1992 Statute of Autonomy 2006–present Independence movement 2010–present
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The Commonwealth created and consolidated a set of cultural and scientific institutions (most of which still exist today) to give greater prestige to Catalan language and culture, such as the Institut d'Estudis Catalans (Institute of Catalan Studies), the Biblioteca de Catalunya (Library of Catalonia), the Escola Industrial (Industrial School), the Escola Superior de Belles Arts (College of Fine Arts), the College of Higher Commercial Studies or the Escola del Treball (College of Industry). Prat de la Riba also created, the Escola de l'Administració Local (School of Local Administration), and required Catalan civil servants to have attended this institution.

Another important effort of the Commonwealth was the promotion of the work of Pompeu Fabra, who was chiefly responsible for the current Catalan writing system and linguistic standard.

On 25 January 1919, the Commonwealth approved a draft Statute of Autonomy. This Statute envisaged an autonomous government made up of a parliament, an executive and a governor-general, defined an autonomous financial framework and delineated the powers of the state and a government of Catalonia. The draft was rejected by the Spanish government, but it remained a point of reference for the drafting of the 1932 Statute of Autonomy.[4][5]

• "Mancomunitat de Catalunya Exhibition". 2014. Retrieved 15 June 2019.

• Generalitat de Catalunya
• Catalan Republic (1931)
• Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 1932
• List of presidents of the Government of Catalonia