(not applicable)

Outcome 1

1. What factors do people in Barcelona consider when deciding if they are Catalan or Spanish?

2. ‘... Parliaments don’t just exist to give people a sense of belonging and identity. Politicians are meant to do the best they can for people in health, in education and in jobs. What can the Catalan Parliament do here in Barcelona that central government in Madrid can’t?’

Write a short report entitled ‘The Catalan Parliament’.

3. ‘Our priority is to open up all the empty flats in Barcelona for young people. Right now there are between 45000 and 50000 still to be opened.’ Rosa Pujol, Ministry of Youth of the Catalan Government

Outline the arguments for and against the Scottish Parliament adopting this policy for Scottish towns and cities.

4. ‘Independence is not a very clear concept. What does Independence mean ... within Europe ... within the European union?’

What is meant by Independence?

5. ‘We are still negotiating with the central government the transfer of new powers for the next years. The aim is to substitute the central government in its present functions and to reach a point in which the Catalan Government and the Catalan Parliament will be the sole national, public administration in the country.’ Artur Mas, Chancellor, Catalan Government

‘For us, as the party in power at Spanish central government level, it is important to defend the constitution and the original devolution settlement ... Let’s not forget that, in 1979, a devolution settlement with specific transferred powers was agreed. This might have gathered momentum between 1979 and now but the Catalans already have all of the power that they asked for in 1979.’Julia Valdecasas, Spanish Government representative in Madrid

Describe some of the issues involved if the Scottish Parliament continued to negotiate the transfer of new powers from central government.

Outcome 2

1. Examine each of the following views:

‘He (General Franco) tried to force the Catalans to give up their language (Catalan) and speak only Spanish.’

‘At the moment we have our own Government and education. One of the most important things was to make sure that everyone learns Catalan and that 80%, 70%, 90% – depends on the city – can speak Catalan normally. You have to make sure that people in the school, young people, feel comfortable in Catalan.’ Carlos Capdevilla, writer

‘Now 95% speak, or at least understand, Catalan. By law, radio and television must broadcast many of their programmes in Catalan.’

‘The thing I don’t like ... they are forcing us to speak [the Catalan language] all the time. At school, for example, we don’t have classes in Spanish ... A lot of students don’t speak Catalan, who are maybe from Spain or Brazil. They have to learn Catalan.’ Lucas Arrault, lead singer, Flirt

2. Artur Mas, the Chancellor of the Catalan Government, stated that the Catalan Government can vary income tax as much as 20% up or down. He also indicated that property transfer tax had been increased by 1% to build new schools.

In an earlier programme, Donald Dewar of the Scottish Labour Party stated: ‘There is a well-known theory that in a democracy no one can promise to raise taxes and expect to win.’

Compare and contrast the views of Artur Mas and Donald Dewar.

3. ‘There are five or six countries in the western world which are nations without a state, and Catalonia is the biggest one. .... 11 million people, we have our own language, culture and institutions.... My main criticism .... we cannot control our economy. We cannot control our taxes. A government which cannot control the economic resources of its citizens cannot control the politics of the country.’ David D’Enterria, pro independence activist

Examine the view of David D’Enterria that ‘a government which cannot control the economic resources of its citizens cannot control the politics of the country’.

1. ‘People clearly feel happy and comfortable about having a whole variety of identities, just like Scotland. So you could be Catalan, you could be Spanish, you could be European just as you could be Scottish and you could be British.’

Discuss.

2. Visit the website of the Scottish Parliament: www.scottish.parliament.uk

From there use a link to go to visit the website of one other Parliament outside the United Kingdom. Give a short report on your findings to the class.