The Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006 () provides Catalonia's basic institutional regulations under the Spanish Constitution of 1978. It defines the rights and obligations of the citizens of Catalonia, the political institutions of the Catalan community, their competences and relations with the rest of Spain, and the financing of the Government of Catalonia.
This Law was approved by referendum on 18 June 2006 and supplanted the first Statute of Sau, which dated from 1979. The approval was given by the 36% of Catalan people with the right to vote. Abstention in the referendum was high: more than 50%. On 28 June 2010, the Constitutional Court of Spain assessed the constitutionality of several articles of the Law, rewriting 14 of them and dictating the interpretation for 27 more. That led to a massive demonstration in Barcelona of more than a million people under the slogan in Catalan Som una nació. Nosaltres decidim ().
History
In 1919, a first project of Statute was started by the Commonwealth of Catalonia although it was rejected by Spanish Cortes Generales.
In 1928, a project of Constitution was written in Havana by exiled Catalan nationalists.
Catalonia first obtained a Statute of Autonomy in 1932, during the Second Spanish Republic. This law was abolished by General Francisco Franco after the Spanish Civil War, largely because Catalonia had been a region generally opposed to Franco's Nacionales forces. During periods of his rule, public usage of the Catalan language and culture, and more specifically, Catalan self-government were harshly suppressed..
In 1979, during the Spanish transition to democracy, the second Statute was approved by referendum.
On 18 June 2006, a referendum amending the Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 1979 to further expand the authority of the Generalitat de Catalunya, Catalonia's government, was approved, and became effective on 9 August 2006.
This referendum was noted for its voter turnout being below 50%. It was also noted for its uneasy coalition forging. Tensions within the coalition government which originally promoted the Statute led to an early regional election in 2006.
2005 Draft
The "Draft of New Statute of Autonomy for Catalonia of 2005" was a reform proposal regarding Catalan self-government.
On 30 September 2005, the Catalan Parliament approved (with the support of 120 deputies to 15) a proposal for reform of the current Statute of Autonomy. The approved proposal was sent for review and discussion to the Cortes Generales (Spain's parliament) on 2 November 2005.
After receiving the proposal drafted by the Catalan regional parliament, on 2 November 2005 the Spanish Congress of Deputies approved the admission to formality of the Proposal for reform of the new Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia with the support of all the groups except the People's Party (PP). The latter filed an objection of unconstitutionality before the Constitutional Court of Spain, which ruled unconstitutional 14 articles of the original text. Its constitutionality has also been contested by some intellectuals and journalists related to liberal or conservative media such as the COPE (Catholic radio network) and the Madrid-based newspapers El Mundo and La Razón.
On 21 January 2006, Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero and Catalan Leader of the Opposition Artur Mas arrived at a pre-agreement about nation definition and financing in the current project of statute.
On 10 May 2006, the amended text passed through its final reading through both Houses of the Parliament, with the support of all parties except both the Spanish main opposition party, the conservative People's Party, and the Catalan separatist party Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya. The latter voted against the project in the Spanish Congress of Deputies but abstained in the Senate (to avoid a blocking vote). ERC voted against it, despite its senior members having had a hand in drafting its content, as a result of the internal tensions within the party which this issue had brought to the surface. Later on both parties, for opposite reasons, supported a no vote in the referendum held afterwards regarding the passing of the new Statute.
The president of Catalonia, Pasqual Maragall, decided that Sunday 18 June would be the date on which the text would be put to the Catalan people in the form of a referendum. The referendum approved the Statute, the "yes" side receiving 74% of votes cast. The voter turnout was 49.41% of the total electorate, an unprecedentedly low figure for this type of vote. The new Statute has been in force since 9 August 2006.