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Chapter 13 Spain-the Basque Country and Catalonia Modern Spain consists of several distinct ethnic groups, each with its own language and cultural traditions. While Castillian has been recognized as the national language and is what foreigners refer to as "Spanish ," most of Spain's wealth lies in regions where Castillian is but a second language. For example, Catalan is the first language of the majority of people in northeastern Spain. The Basques in northwestern Spain also have a well-developed and separate language and culture, as do the Galicians in the region north of Portugal. The unity of Spain as a single sovereign state dates from the fifteenth century, when Ferdinand of Aragon married Elizabeth of Castile, thus uniting several independent kingdoms. In the seventeenth century, armed opposition to the centralizing projects of King Philip IV's Prime Minister broke out in Catalonia, Andalusia, Aragon, Naples, and Sicily, but the central authorities prevailed. In the early eighteenth century, Philip d'Anjou (subsequently Philip V) defeated forces supportive of the rival claims of Archduke Charles of Austria; the latter forces included Catalonia and Aragon (in addition to England, Portugal, and Holland), and as a result of their defeat Philip abolished many of the still existing local institutions. The decline of local authority continued throughout the first half of the nineteenth century, and the defeat in 1876of the Carlist forces (which included the Basques and Catalans) in the third Carlist war reduced regional powers even more.774Nevertheless, regional demands contin774 See generally P. Plans Sanz d e Bremond and J . Andres-Gallego, Historia de Espuilu (Madrid: Editorial Magisterior Espanol, 3d ed. 1984) at 276-86.·Chapter 13 Spain-the Basque Country and Catalonia Modern Spain consists of several distinct ethnic groups, each with its own language and cultural traditions. While Castillian has been recognized as the national language and is what foreigners refer to as "Spanish ," most of Spain's wealth lies in regions where Castillian is but a second language. For example, Catalan is the first language of the majority of people in northeastern Spain. The Basques in northwestern Spain also have a well-developed and separate language and culture, as do the Galicians in the region north of Portugal. The unity of Spain as a single sovereign state dates from the fifteenth century, when Ferdinand of Aragon married Elizabeth ,of Castile, thus uniting several independent kingdoms. In the seventeenth century, armed opposition to the centralizing projects of King Philip IV's Prime Minister broke out in Catalonia, Andalusia, Aragon, Naples, and Sicily, but the central authorities prevailed. In the early eighteenth century, Philip d'Anjou (subsequently Philip V) defeated forces supportive of the rival claims of Archduke Charles of Austria; the latter forces included Catalonia and Aragon (in addition to England, Portugal, and Holland), and as a result of their defeat Philip abolished many of the still existing local institutions. The decline of local authority continued throughout the first half of the nineteenth century, and the defeat in 1876 of the Carlistforces (which included the Basques and Catalans) in the third Carlist war reduced regional powers even more.774 Nevertheless, regional demands contin774 See generally P. Plans Sanz de Bremond and J. Andres-Gallego, Historia de Espana (Madrid: Editorial Magisterior Espafiol, 3d ed. 1984) at 276-86. 264 Searching for Solutions ued, and in 1914 the Madrid government agreed to adopt a plan that did delegate very limited powers to the provinces. REGIONAL AUTONOMY UNDER THE SECOND REPUBLIC Basques, Catalans, Galicians, Andalusians, and other regional communities in Spain have long claimed and historically enjoyed the right to autonomy or self-government. The reestablishment of the Spanish Republic in 1931 offered the opportunity to respond to the desire for regional and cultural autonomy felt by large segments of the Spanish population, and the new constitution proclaimed by the Spanish parliament (the Cortes) in 1931 provided for the organization of autonomous regions within the Spanish state out of provinces "with common history, culture and economy."775Any proposed autonomy statute had to be approved by the Cortes, following approval by a plebiscite within the proposed autonomous region. Catalonia was the only region to take advantage of the possibility for autonomy offered under the short-lived Second Republic; the Basque provinces and Galicia proposed autonomy statutes in 1936, but the Spanish Civil War intervened before any action could be taken on the proposals. The Catalan autonomy statute was approved by the Cortes in September 1932,77h but the rightist government in power from...

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