Why Have Catalans and Spaniards Conflicted for Years?

From Turkey’s perspective, we see all the countries in Europe as nation-states that share a single common past, just like Turkey. Let’s face it, this understanding is almost completely wrong. Most states were formed by the coming together of similar tribes or clans. We say most because there are states of different ethnic origins in Germany, France, England. We see that today’s great states remain in it. The most famous of these great country-segregated region pairs is Spain-Catalonia.

history of Catalonia and Spain, a long and complex history full of disagreements and agreements. This conflict has been going on since the early Middle Ages and remains an important issue in politics today. Let’s explain this issue that has turned into two stubborn children tugging on a toy.

First of all, let’s start with the very short history of Spain and Catalonia.

in the Middle Ages Cataloniawas separate from the Kingdom of Aragon and in the 15th century with its own parliament There was the Generalitat of Catalonia. Despite this, in the 16th century the Spanish monarchy began to show its power over the region. This situation, from the Spanish Crown It led to a series of wars and rebellions by Catalans fighting for autonomy. For several centuries, sometimes the monarchy, sometimes the Catalan people, increased their influence in the region, but a relatively peaceful process continued.

Franco’s fascism targeted the Catalans.

late 19th and early 20th centuries Catalonia it was still under Spanish rule, and Franco was trying to suppress the language and culture of the region. The Spanish Civil War of 1936-1939 was quite bloody. During the Second World War, he was exposed to the Nazi occupation in Paris. to Picasso a Nazi officer Guernica showing his painting “did you do this?” said Picasso, “No, you did!“The Nazi he was talking about here was Franco, not the Germans. Guernica was a Catalan settlement that Franco had bombed.

Holding the power for a while after the Second World War Francoput the country in great danger. With the rise of a strong separatist movement that finally gave the region autonomy in 1979, Spain once again entered a complex period. However, this autonomywas canceled in 2017 after a controversial referendum. In the years since then, tensions between Catalonia and Spain have remained high, with both sides struggling to find a peaceful solution.

So why are these peoples living on a peninsula having problems, even though there is not much difference between them?

For one thing, the two communities are very different, especially their language.

The language issue is one of the first prominent points here. For Catalan and SpanishAlthough they have similarities, they are two very different languages. For one thing, one of these languages ​​(Catalan) is a Roman language, while Spanish is among the Castilian languages. There are 6 verb conjugations in Spanish and 16 in Catalan. This situation, mutual communication makes it difficult.

After all, Catalonia in 1714 it had a long history and a culture of its own before it was fully under Spanish control. The Catalan people, who have felt oppressed since then; they clung even more tightly to their language, customs and traditions.

There are serious differences between the cultures of the two peoples.

A Catalan and a Spaniard speechthe houses they live in architecturethe general demeanor he chooses to put into food, even even the spices is quite different. Considering that a similar situation is valid for Spain and both sides are proud of their own cultures and identities, it is unlikely that either side will adopt the other’s culture.

This pride and tension between the two sides, for the last 300 years It causes one of the parties to try to leave at every opportunity and the other to try to prevent this separation. It was a bit like the description of toxic relationships in most of the Turkish TV series, but of course, it is a process where there are many rebellions, large and small, and a lot of blood has been shed.

Of course, there is also the economic part.

In fact, if it were not for the economic part, no one would be able to fight this struggle, especially World Wars it wouldn’t have taken that long. Although Catalonia covers only 6.3% of Spain, 16% of the country’s population also lives in this region. When we look at the economy side, the annual output of Spain more than 20%as well as the export more than 25% Catalonia does. The region preferred by one out of every four tourists is also Catalonia. Almost 30% of new investments go to this region.

In the future, the Catalonia-Spain conflict will be a subject worth watching.

Some experts believe that the two communities would become separate states. claims. Events such as the recent decision of the Catalan parliament to vote for independence, but Spain’s refusal to recognize this decision, also support this situation.

on the other hand Real Madrid vs Barcelona There are many who think that La Liga cannot be enjoyed without one of their teams, and that both sides will suffer a great loss in the separation of Catalonia-Spain and therefore they will not leave.