How the Catalan economy benefited under Franco and what it means now

Spain’s central government has temporarily Catalan autonomy suspended using article 155. This unprecedented and controversial measure allows the Spanish government to take over the management of the region and to call regional elections to the Catalan parliament. The result of such elections can probably be a balance of power between separatist and anti-separatist forces very similar to the current one. This decision is therefore little more than a way to save time – it is by no means a way out of the Catalan impasse.

Any long-term solution requires a deep understanding of the issues at stake, but the situation becomes more confusing for observers around the country and around the world every day. Spaniards living abroad, like me, are often asked by friends and colleagues: what is happening in Catalonia? Is the imposition of section 155 a dictatorial gesture? Has independence been declared? Why is there no dialogue? Who started it? And, the most dreaded of all these questions: what do you think is going to happen?

The easiest way for me to start answering these questions is to tell a personal story. I tell my friends that as the son raised in Seville of a proud Catalan who has supported the equality of all Spanish citizens through his work on public health, I refuse to imagine a day when I will have need a passport to go to Barcelona. Catalonia, I continue to these friends, is among the wealthiest regions in Spain, has participated for centuries in the political and economic life of the rest of the country, and has a diverse population largely made up of Castilian surnames. and immigrants from all over – Andalusia, Extremadura, Murcia, to name a few. This is one of the reasons why around 50% some Catalans are not for independence.

Past abuse?

Familiar with the story of victimization that the separatist intelligentsia has forged, my interlocutor may ask: “Yes, but as a historian of Spain, and of Francoism in particular, you surely admit that Spain abused his power against the Catalan people many times in the past?

This is where things get interesting because Catalan nationalists argue that their economic progress is and has been hampered by the rest of Spain for at least 300 years, and in particular from Francoism. But the point is, Spanish politics have actually benefited the Catalan economy in the past.

There are two oft-cited examples of this from the pre-Franco era. First, from the late 18th century to the late 19th century, Catalan plantation owners in Cuba could use black slaves even after slavery was officially banned. This allowed the accumulation of capital, then reinvested in industries across the country. Second, for most of the 19th century and until the 20th century, the Spanish state protectionist laws imposed against cheaper textile imports from England, thus taxing all Spanish consumers to favor the booming industries located in the Barcelona area.

Then we come to Franco. General Franco came to power after the civil war (1936-39) that his army started against the republican state (created in 1931). It was not a war of “Spain against Catalonia”, like the separatist propaganda rebuilt it. The new dictatorial regime violently suppressed political enemies and suppressed political autonomy everywhere, not just in Catalonia. It is true that the regime prohibited the use of Catalan in official documents and in education. But from the point of view of the economy, Francoism has benefited the development of Catalonia compared to other Spanish regions.

Cement and dams

About ten years ago, when I started my research on the role of science and technology in the construction of the Franco regime, something caught my eye.

I found that for most of the 1940s – a time of scarcity – each year Barcelona consistently received a lot more cement than the next city on the list, and sometimes twice as much as Madrid or Valencia. As one of Spain’s industrial strongholds, it was essential for the regime to keep the factories running and the The loyal Catalan economic elite.

Franco’s support for the industrialization of Catalonia was also manifested in the plans for hydroelectric production. The Pyrenees, the mountains separating Spain from France, have for several decades attracted private investors interested in the potential of its rivers to produce electricity. After the civil war, the National Institute of Industry developed 12 dams in 15 years designed to maximize energy production as water flowed downstream from the Noguera Ribagorzana river. The objective was to supply the national electricity grid as well as to supply the heavy industries of the Barcelona region.

Catalonia is getting richer faster. It was by no means the product of Franco’s policy alone. But the regime provided opportunities, resources and cheap labor that it took from other regions. As thousands of blue-collar workers arrived from Spain’s most depressed areas attracted by the rise of industrialization, the Catalan bourgeoisie masked the class struggle with nationalism.

Political economy today

The Catalans for independence argue that they, as a region, pay more taxes than the poorest regions of the country. This argument misses the point that in a redistributive tax system, it is the citizens, and not the regions, who pay the taxes.

Catalan wealth has developed through a common history of economic interactions, territorial transformations, movements and exchanges of population. The comparison with California is inevitable: while according to some estimates, its economy is around the fifth in the world, so it’s only in the USA. California’s riches are the product of a shared national political economy. While Angelinos can be too in love with themselves at times, they usually admit it.

The same is true for Catalonia, which is why in the last two weeks around 1,300 companies moved their headquarters outside Catalonia to other parts of Spain. The list includes the most important banks, international companies and companies indexed on the Spanish stock market.

The economic consequences of this impasse for Spain’s fragile economy, but especially for Catalonia, are hard to overstate. In a country that is just beginning to emerge from economic recession, it is puzzling how both right and left are forgetting political economy in favor of regional identity politics – this is not only true for Catalonia. , but for other regions also governed by conservative and progressive parties.

Spanish politicians and administrators are obsessed with local politics and rarely discuss common plans for inequality, growth, industry or unemployment. Devoting all of your energies to fighting for an imaginary new frontier between the Spaniards reduces urgent discussions on how to find new solutions to old problems in the current era of economic globalization and climate challenges. In the meantime, we can only ask Cui bono?: who benefits?

Lino Camprubi, visiting postdoctoral researcher, Max Planck Institute for the History of Science

This article was originally published on The conversation. Read it original article.