Catalan is a Western Romance language. It is the official language of Andorra, and an official language of three autonomous communities in eastern Spain: Catalonia, the Balearic Islands and the Valencian Community, where it is called Valencian. It has semi-official status in the Italian comune of Alghero, and it is spoken in the Pyrénées-Orientales department of France and in two further areas in eastern Spain: the eastern strip of Aragon and the Carche area in the Region of Murcia. The Catalan-speaking territories are often called the Països Catalans or "Catalan Countries".
Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a nationality by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory is situated on the northeast of the Iberian Peninsula, to the south of the Pyrenees mountain range. Catalonia is administratively divided into four provinces or eight vegueries (regions), which are in turn divided into 42 comarques. The capital and largest city, Barcelona, is the second-most populous municipality in Spain and the fifth-most populous urban area in the European Union.
The Generalitat de Catalunya, or the Government of Catalonia, is the institutional system by which Catalonia is self-governed as an autonomous community of Spain. It is made up of the Parliament of Catalonia, the President of the Government of Catalonia, and the Executive Council of Catalonia. Its current powers are set out in the Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006.
Catalan nationalism promotes the idea that the Catalan people form a distinct nation and national identity. A related term is Catalanism, which is more related to regionalism and tends to have a wider meaning, most people who define themselves as Catalanist do not necessarily identify as Catalan nationalists.
The Democratic Convergence of Catalonia, frequently shortened as Convergence was a Catalan nationalist, liberal political party in Catalonia (Spain), currently still existing without any political activity.
The Democratic Union of Catalonia, frequently shortened as Union, was a regionalist, Christian-democratic political party in the Catalonia region of Spain existing between 1931 and 2017. Together with Democratic Convergence of Catalonia (CDC), they formed the Convergence and Union (CiU) alliance and federation from 1978 until its dissolution in 2015, under which they would rule the government of Catalonia for almost three decades during the recent Spanish democratic period.
The Catalan independence movement is a social and political movement which seeks the independence of Catalonia from Spain.
Catalans are a Romance ethnic group native to Catalonia, who speak Catalan. The current official category of "Catalans" is that of the citizens of Catalonia, a nationality and autonomous community in Spain and the inhabitants of the Roussillon historical region in southern France, today the Pyrénées Orientales department, also called Northern Catalonia and Pays Catalan in French.
The Popular Unity Candidacy is a left-wing to far-left pro-Catalan independence political party active primarily in Catalonia, where it has political representation, but also in other autonomous communities in Spain it considers to be part of the Catalan Countries. The CUP traditionally has focused on municipal politics, and is made up of a series of autonomous candidatures that run in local elections. Its presence is strongest within the borders of Catalonia.
The 2015 Catalan regional election was held on Sunday, 27 September 2015, electing the 11th Parliament of the autonomous community of Catalonia. All 135 seats in the Parliament were up for election. This was the third regional Catalan election in only five years, after the 2010 and 2012 elections and the first one in over 37 years in which Democratic Convergence of Catalonia (CDC) and Democratic Union of Catalonia (UDC) ran separately, after the dissolution of Convergence and Union (CiU) in June 2015 over disagreements on the coalition's separatist turn.
Democrats of Catalonia is a Christian-democratic, pro-Catalan independence political party in Catalonia founded in July 2015 from a split in Democratic Union of Catalonia (UDC). Its members included the then-Speaker of the Catalan parliament Núria de Gispert and former UDC president Joan Rigol. The party has received accusations of xenophobia for its controversial statements against Spaniards, and for having ties with xenophobic organizations.
Left Movement of Catalonia is a social-democratic, pro-independence political party in Catalonia. The party was founded in November 2014 from the merger of New Catalan Left (NECat) and Catalonia Movement, which had both been formed by dissident members of the Socialists' Party of Catalonia (PSC) who were dissatisfied with what they saw as the party's lack of support for the independence movement. Its founders included Marina Geli and Ernest Maragall (NECat), but both have ever since left for other parties—Geli joined the Together for Catalonia alliance ahead of the 2017 Catalan regional election, whereas Maragall defected to Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC) in 2018.
Carles Puigdemont i Casamajó is a Catalan politician and journalist from Spain. He has been the President of Together for Catalonia (Junts) since 2024, having previously held the office from 2020 to 2022. He served as the 130th President of the Government of Catalonia from 2016 to 2017. His government held an independence referendum, which culminated in the unsuccessful Declaration of independence of Catalonia and his removal from office. He then served as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from 2019 to 2024.
Republican Left of Catalonia–Catalonia Yes was a Catalan pro-independence electoral alliance. The alliance was formed by Republican Left of Catalonia, Catalonia Yes and independents, and in the 2015 and 2016 Spanish general elections it was led by Gabriel Rufián.
The Catalan European Democratic Party, initially branded as the Catalan Democratic Party, was a liberal political party in Spain that supported Catalan independence. The party was founded in Barcelona on 10 July 2016 and dissolved on 28 October 2023. PDeCAT was regarded as the successor party to Democratic Convergence of Catalonia (CDC), which for most its history was a constituent party of the Convergence and Union (CiU) political formation.
The Catalan declaration of independence was a resolution that was passed by the Parliament of Catalonia on 27 October 2017. While the text proclaims the independence of Catalonia from Spain and the establishment of an independent Catalan Republic, the declaration itself did not receive recognition from the international community and it produced no legal effect.
Together for Catalonia was an electoral and parliamentary alliance in Catalonia, registered as a political party in the interior ministry in July 2018, originally envisaged as a platform comprising the Catalan European Democratic Party (PDeCAT), successor of the late Democratic Convergence of Catalonia (CDC), and independents and centered around the candidacy of former Catalan president Carles Puigdemont ahead of the 2017 Catalan regional election. Some of these independents went on to form the Action for the Republic (AxR) political party, which is also part of the alliance in the Parliament of Catalonia.
United to Advance is a Catalan centrist and Christian democratic political party founded in June 2017 by former members of the defunct Democratic Union of Catalonia (UDC) and non-independentist Catalan nationalists. The party defines itself as moderate Catalan nationalist and opposes Catalan independence.
Joaquim Torra i Pla, known as Quim Torra, is a Catalan lawyer and journalist from Spain. He served as President of the Government of Catalonia from 17 May 2018 to 28 September 2020, when the Supreme Court of Spain confirmed a court ruling by the High Court of Justice of Catalonia condemning him for disobeying the Central Electoral Board during the April 2019 general election, leading to his disqualification from office.
Together for Catalonia, frequently shortened to Junts, is a Catalan nationalist and pro-independence political party that sits on the centre-right of the political spectrum. It is the second-largest party in the Parliament of Catalonia, holding 35 of the 135 seats. The current party president since 2024 is Carles Puigdemont.
