Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006

The Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006 (Catalan: Estatut d'Autonomia de Catalunya) 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 powers and relations with the rest of Spain and the European Union, and the financing of the Government of Catalonia.

This Law was passed by Spanish Parliament on 19 July 2006 and approved by referendum of the citizens of Catalonia on 18 June 2006 and replaced the 1979 Statute of Sau. The new statute sought to achieve clarification of powers and their protection from encroachment by the State, increased executive, legislative and fiscal powers and the recognition of Catalan nationhood. Although turnout at the referendum was low at 49.4%, approval was given by 73.9% and came into effect 9 August 2006.

The conservative opposition party in Spanish Parliament, the People's Party (PP), appealed immediately to the Constitutional Court of Spain on grounds of unconstitutionality of more than half of the Law. Four years after the Statute had been promulgated, on 28 June 2010, the Court made its judgement, annulling 14 articles and dictating the interpretation for 27 more. That led to a massive demonstration in Barcelona of more than a million people and, ultimately a consultation on self-determination in 2014 and the constitutional crisis of 2017–2018.

History

In 1919, a first Statute was drafted by the Commonwealth of Catalonia although it was rejected by Spanish Cortes Generales. In 1928, a draft Constitution was written in Havana by exiled Catalan nationalists.