Visca Catalunya
- Consul Spiekermann
- vor 1 Tag
- 4 Min. Lesezeit
There is a republic in Europe whose existence might be unknown to most people. It's the Catalan Republic. On November 9, 2015, the Parliament of Catalonia passed the Declaration of the Initiation of the Process of Independence of Catalonia by an absolute majority of 72 votes to 63. On January 12, 2016, Carles Puigdemont, a particularly determined advocate of Catalan independence, was elected President of the Government of Catalonia by the Parliament of Catalonia.
On September 6, 2017, the Parliament of Catalonia passed the Law on the Referendum on Self-Determination of Catalonia. On October 1, 2017, the independence referendum was held in Catalonia. The question on the ballot was: Do you want Catalonia to become an independent state in the form of a republic?
The referendum was able to take place despite Spain's quasi-military intervention (Operation Anubis). The referendum result showed 92.01% in favor of independence. On October 27, 2017, the Parliament of Catalonia adopted the Declaration of Independence of Catalonia. The Spanish government, led by the post-Francoist People's Party, immediately took a hard line against Catalonia. Catalonia's government and parliament were dissolved, its autonomy was suspended, and new regional elections were ordered. Many pro-independence Catalan politicians were arrested or fled into exile.
The Catalan regional election of December 21, 2017, resulted in a clear victory for the parties that had formed Carles Puigdemont's government. The Parliament of Catalonia sought to re-elect Carles Puigdemont as President of the Government of Catalonia; however, the Spanish government blocked this move, forcing him to remain in exile. On March 25, 2018, Carles Puigdemont was arrested in the German state of Schleswig-Holstein and imprisoned in Neumünster, though he was released after ten days.
On June 2, 2018, the Socialist Pedro Sánchez was elected Prime Minister of Spain, leading a left-wing coalition government. This new left-wing administration was significantly less hostile toward the Catalan cause than the preceding post-Francoist government. On October 30, 2018, the Council of the Catalan Republic was established as a government-in-exile, formed from the remnants of the Puigdemont administration. Since the 2023 Spanish general election, Pedro Sánchez's government has relied on the parliamentary support of regionalist and separatist parties, leading to the pardoning of Catalan independence advocates who had faced prosecution since 2017. As of 2024, Catalonia, as an autonomous community of Spain, is governed by a Socialist minority government that also receives support in the Catalan Parliament from the pro-independence Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC).
There is now a broad political consensus in Catalonia that Catalonia is a separate nation and that Catalonia should have more freedom. However, there is disagreement among proponents of Catalanism as to whether Catalonia should truly be an independent republic or whether Spain should instead be transformed into a federation of equal states. The events of 2017, however, were neither a theater play or a show. They were real. The Catalan Republic was not proclaimed by a few cranks, but by the democratically elected Parliament of Catalonia and the democratically legitimized government of Catalonia. The Catalan Republic is a reality - regardless of whether it exists as an autonomous republic or a fully independent republic. Our Catalan sister party, Pirates de Catalunya, has always supported the Republic.
The Pirates of Catalonia ran on the Popular Unity Candidacy list in the 2017 Catalan regional election, the November 2019 Spanish general election, and the 2021 Catalan regional election. As a result, the Pirates of Catalonia even provided parliamentary support to the Catalan government from 2021 to 2024. And in the April 2019 Spanish general election, the Pirates of Catalonia had formed an alliance with two other Catalan parties under the unambiguous name ‘‘Front Republicà‘‘. The Minority List of Austria – Danube Federation stands loyally by its sister parties in the European Pirate Party. We therefore support the freedom of the Catalan Republic. All the more so because we are also a regionalist minority party and we are mindful of the special historical connection between Catalonia and Austria.
For what was the fundamental historical cause of the disharmony between Catalonia and Spain? The War of the Spanish Succession (1701–1714). The French Bourbon Philip and the Austrian Habsburg Charles contended for the inheritance of the last Spanish Habsburg, King Charles II of Spain. A majority in Catalonia supported the Austrian Habsburg's claim to the throne. However, France won the war. As punishment, Catalonia was stripped of its autonomy within the now-Bourbon Spain, and many Catalans were persecuted by the Spanish Inquisition on false charges. Catalonia's loyalty to the Austrian Habsburgs marked the beginning of the political and cultural oppression by Spain.
The Parliamentary Monarchy of Duckionary unilaterally granted recognition to the Catalan Republic and communicated this to the Council of the Catalan Republic via email. On August 7, 2026, we received a very friendly and appreciative response from the Council of the Catalan Republic. We are very happy and proud about that.
We support the vision of a decentralized ‘‘Europe of the Regions‘‘, respectively a ‘‘Europe of All Peoples‘‘. The political party Minority List of Austria - Danube Federation advocates for closer cooperation of the European Pirate Party with our regionalist friends of the European Free Alliance, including the Republican Left of Catalonia, in the joint Greens/EFA parliamentary group of the European Parliament; furthermore, both the political party Minority List of Austria - Danube Federation and the micronation Duckionary, stand in solidarity with the rights of the Catalan people, whether as an independent state within a united Europe or as an autonomous republic within a federal Spain. In any case, the freedom and self-determination of the Catalan people must be guaranteed. The Catalans should decide for themselves how they wish to shape their state. Furthermore, the Catalans in the Roussillon region (part of France), Andorra, Valencia and the Balearic Islands should also not be forgotten. The "Dreier-Landtag", the joint parliamentary assembly of the regional parliaments of the Austrian state of Tyrol and the Italian regions of South Tyrol and Trentino, could serve as a source of positive inspiration for similar interregional cooperation among the Catalan Countries.
