The 1978 Constitution
In Catalonia, as in the rest of Spain, it was the 1978 constitution that set the rules for the political field. Since then, Spain has become a constitutional monarchy with Felipe VI as head of state, succeeding his father Juan Carlos I, after his abdication in 2014. The same constitution transferred a significant amount of decision-making power to the regions, and on January 17, 1980, Catalonia became one of Spain's 17 autonomous communities. On the executive side, the local government is represented by the Generalitat, headed by a president, and on the legislative side, the parliament (135 deputies elected for 4 years) is the master of the matter.
Fluctuating alliances
In January 2020, Quim Torra, President of the Generalitat, announced his intention to dissolve the Catalan parliament, a decision presented as a consequence of the split between the pro-independence parties (ERC and Junts). This will lead to the calling of early regional elections on February 14, 2021. These will give victory to the pro-independence majority, not only in terms of votes cast (50.8%) but also in terms of the number of deputies. On paper, a left-wing coalition was possible, given the results of Salvador Illa (33 deputies, tied with ERC) if there was an alliance with the deputies of ERC, whose abstention had enabled Pedro Sánchez to be nominated in January 2020, and the comuns (8), but the hypothesis was swept aside by the preliminary agreement signed by the pro-independence parties, ruling out any agreement with the socialist party. This election also highlighted other elements that shed light on the evolution of the Catalan and Spanish political landscape: the debacle experienced by Ciudadanos (6 deputies compared to 30 previously) and the spectacular entry of Vox, a far-right party that won 11 deputies. Far from the initial hypothesis, it was the two pro-independence groups that held power in the Generalitat: ERC in coalition with Junts until 2022, then ERC until 2024. The situation was reversed in the regional elections of May 12, 2024, when the independentistas lost their majority (59 for the 3 formations, when the majority was 68 deputies), the first time this had happened in a decade. In the end, Salvador Illa, PSC, was elected President of the Generalitat following an alliance with the far-left Comuns and the center-left ERC. The election was also marked by an increase in the number of seats held by the conservative PP party (15 vs. 3), while Vox maintained the same number of deputies.
The weight of the industry
Traditionally based on industry since the 19th century, Catalonia now lives from its tertiary sector, which accounts for 60%. Industry is still an important part of the economy, but it is now based on construction, services and tourism. For a long time, Catalonia was neck and neck with Madrid for the title of richest region in Spain, but in recent years it has been overtaken by Madrid. Thus, in 2019, the Madrid community generated a higher GDP than Catalonia for the third consecutive year. According to figures published by the INE (National Institute of Statistics) in March 2020, the Madrid community generated in 2019 a GDP amounting to 240.129 million euros against 236.814 million euros generated in Catalonia. The Madrid community also maintains its leadership in terms of GDP per capita: €35,913, compared to €31,119 in Catalonia. This figure is even more eloquent if we compare it to its performance forty years ago. In 1980, it already contributed 19.1% to the Spanish GDP, almost the same as in 2019 (19%), when the Madrid community went from a contribution of 14.8% to 19.1% at the same time. Most economists explain this trend by three main reasons. First, the greater weight of industry in the Catalan economy (17.4 per cent compared with only 6.4 per cent in the Madrid community - less than half) has meant that it has been hit hard by the economic difficulties experienced by all European industry. Moreover, the growth in services resulting from the "tertiarization" of Spanish activity would have benefited Madrid in particular, benefiting from a "capital effect" (+4.1 per cent of GDP from market services in Madrid, compared with 2.4 per cent in Catalonia). The negative impact on the economy of political tensions is much more difficult to measure, although it is often mentioned. 4,000 headquarters have been transferred out of Catalonia since the October 2017 referendum without any systematic study of the impact of these transfers.
Tourism, one of the pillars of the Catalan economy
In 2024, Catalonia welcomed over 19.9 million visitors, an increase of 9.7% on the previous year, and they spent over 23,740 million euros (+2,540 million on the previous year). It is estimated that in 2024, this sector contributed 14% to Catalan GDP, making it one of the "pillars" of the Catalan economy. A sector that needs to be preserved and enhanced, contrary to what some of the anti-tourist campaigns that were repeated throughout the summer of 2019, and sometimes since, might have suggested. As far as visitors are concerned, the French remain by far the most frequent visitors to the Costa Brava. Like the rest of Spain, Catalonia has benefited in recent years from the collapse of certain Mediterranean tourist destinations such as Egypt and Tunisia, and the end of the crisis has led it to essentially maintain a tourism model based on heavy urbanization of the coasts. Only time will tell whether this model will be able to evolve.
