The
Mancomunitat de Catalunya (
CatalanCatalan is a Romance language, the national and official language of Andorra, and a co-official language in the Spanish autonomous communities of the Balearic Islands, Catalonia and Valencian Community, where it is known as Valencià , as well as in the city of Alghero on the Italian island of...
for "Commonwealth of
CataloniaCatalonia is an Autonomous Community in northeast Spain. The capital city is Barcelona.Catalonia covers an area of 32,114 km² and has an official population of 7,364,078. It borders France and Andorra to the north, Aragon to the west, the Valencian Community to the south, and the...
") was an institution which covered the four
CatalanCatalonia is an Autonomous Community in northeast Spain. The capital city is Barcelona.Catalonia covers an area of 32,114 km² and has an official population of 7,364,078. It borders France and Andorra to the north, Aragon to the west, the Valencian Community to the south, and the...
diputacions (provincial administrations). It was created on 6 April 1914, although the process of creating the authority started in 1911.
The Lower House of the Spanish
ParliamentA parliament is a legislature, especially in those countries whose system of government is based on the Westminster system modeled after that of the United Kingdom. The name is derived from the French parlement, the action of parler : a parlement is a discussion. The term came to mean a meeting at...
approved the creation of a Mancomunitat with very few powers compared to those originally envisioned for it, however the Senate never approved the creation of the authority.
In 18 December of 1913 the king signed the law granting provinces the right to group themselves into associations such as the Catalan Mancomunitat.
The Mancomunitat was formed by the federation of the four Catalan provincial councils, a long-standing demand on the part of the Catalans.
The
Mancomunitat de Catalunya (
CatalanCatalan is a Romance language, the national and official language of Andorra, and a co-official language in the Spanish autonomous communities of the Balearic Islands, Catalonia and Valencian Community, where it is known as Valencià , as well as in the city of Alghero on the Italian island of...
for "Commonwealth of
CataloniaCatalonia is an Autonomous Community in northeast Spain. The capital city is Barcelona.Catalonia covers an area of 32,114 km² and has an official population of 7,364,078. It borders France and Andorra to the north, Aragon to the west, the Valencian Community to the south, and the...
") was an institution which covered the four
CatalanCatalonia is an Autonomous Community in northeast Spain. The capital city is Barcelona.Catalonia covers an area of 32,114 km² and has an official population of 7,364,078. It borders France and Andorra to the north, Aragon to the west, the Valencian Community to the south, and the...
diputacions (provincial administrations). It was created on 6 April 1914, although the process of creating the authority started in 1911.
The Lower House of the Spanish
ParliamentA parliament is a legislature, especially in those countries whose system of government is based on the Westminster system modeled after that of the United Kingdom. The name is derived from the French parlement, the action of parler : a parlement is a discussion. The term came to mean a meeting at...
approved the creation of a Mancomunitat with very few powers compared to those originally envisioned for it, however the Senate never approved the creation of the authority.
In 18 December of 1913 the king signed the law granting provinces the right to group themselves into associations such as the Catalan Mancomunitat.
The Mancomunitat was formed by the federation of the four Catalan provincial councils, a long-standing demand on the part of the Catalans. Even though it was restricted to purely administrative functions, and its powers did not go beyond those of the provincial administrations, it acquired great political importance: it represented the first recognition by the Spanish state of the existence and of the unity of Catalonia since the year 1714.
Its first President was
Enric Prat de la RibaEnric Prat de la Riba i Sarrà was a Spanish Catalan politician. He became a member of the Centre Escolar Catalanista, where one of the earliest definitions of Catalan nationalism was formulated....
and afterwards the architect
Josep Puig i CadafalchJosep Puig i Cadafalch was a Spanish Catalan Modernista architect who designed many significant buildings in Barcelona...
, both of the
Lliga RegionalistaRegionalist League was a political party of Catalonia, Spain, that appeared thanks to the triumph of the candidacy of the "four presidents" in 1901...
, who carried out the important task of creating an efficient infrastructure of roads and ports,
hydraulic worksWaterWorks is a water park owned by Cedar Fair, located at the back of Kings Dominion in Doswell, Virginia. Admission to WaterWorks is included in the price of admission to the main Kings Dominion park....
, railways, telephones, charities and health provision. The Mancomunitat also undertook initiatives to increase agricultural and forest yields, introducing technological improvements, the improvement of services and education, and promoting education in technologies necessary for Catalan industry.
It created and consolidated a set of cultural and scientific institutions in order to give greater prestige to
Catalan languageCatalan is a Romance language, the national and official language of Andorra, and a co-official language in the Spanish autonomous communities of the Balearic Islands, Catalonia and Valencian Community, where it is known as Valencià , as well as in the city of Alghero on the Italian island of...
and culture, such as the
Institut d'Estudis CatalansThe Institut d'Estudis Catalans is an academic institution which seeks to undertake research and study into "all elements of Catalan culture." The IEC is known principally for its work in standardizing the Catalan language. The Institute's current president is Salvador Giner, elected to the...
(Institute of Catalan Studies), the
Biblioteca de CatalunyaThe Biblioteca de Catalunya in Barcelona is the national library of Catalonia. It currently occupies 8,820 m² and has about three million items.-History:...
(Library of Catalonia), the
Escola Industrial (Industrial School), the
Escola Superior de Belles Arts (College of Fine Arts), the College of Higher Commercial Studies or the
Escola del Treball (College of Industry). Prat de la Riba also created, the
Escola de l'Administració Local (School of Local Administration), and required Catalan civil servants to have attended this institution.
Another important milestone of the
Mancomunitat was the promotion of the work of
Pompeu FabraPompeu Fabra i Poch, was a Catalan grammarian, the main author of the normative reform of contemporary Catalan language....
, who was chiefly responsible for the current
CatalanCatalan is a Romance language, the national and official language of Andorra, and a co-official language in the Spanish autonomous communities of the Balearic Islands, Catalonia and Valencian Community, where it is known as Valencià , as well as in the city of Alghero on the Italian island of...
writing systemThe orthography of a language specifies the correct way of using a specific writing system to write the language. Where more than one writing system is used for a language, for example for Kurdish, there can be more than one orthography. Orthography is derived from Greek ὀρθός orthós and γράφειν...
and linguistic standard.
The Mancomunitat was disbanded and outlawed during
Miguel Primo de RiveraMiguel Primo de Rivera y Orbaneja, 2nd Marquess of Estella was a Spanish dictator, aristocrat, and a military official who was appointed Prime Minister by the King and who for seven years was a dictator, ending the turno system of alternating parties.- Early years :Miguel Primo de Rivera was born...
's dictatorship.
See also