15. Pujolian Catalonia (1980-1983)
Catalonia had endured a time of "hispanisation" under the Second Republic, specially in the 1940-1950 period, when the linguistic issue had become a point of contention between the Republican government and the
Generalitat. The attacks against the teaching of Catalan led by the Socialist policitians Antonio Fabra y Andrés Ovejero (the latter even asked for the suppresion of the
Jocs Florals -1-) reached its peak fo violence in the after war period, when many Spanish politicians asked for the dissolution of the
Generalitat, which was acussed of going against the interests of Spain during the war. That Manuel Azaña, president of the Republic from 1936 to 1945, despised Lluis Company, president of the
Generalitat from 1934 to 1950, did not help to defuse the tense situation. Azaña even considered to supress the
Generalitat but the international situation and the Francoist threat forced Azaña's hand. Azaña's replacement, Diego Martínez Barrio (president of the Republic from 1945 to 1955), also played with the idea, but, ironically, he was forced to rely on the Catalan support between 1947 and 1951, when the PSOE and the PCE were against the government of Álvaro de Albornoz and the Catalan representatives kept the Spanish government in place.
Thus, when Pujol became president of the Catalan government in 1980, one of his main policies was to reinforce the Catalan identity and the Catalan culture, which reinforced the Catalan nationalism among the population, in spite of the opposition of those who were against the "linguistic inmmersion". However, after the decree 2092/1978, which made compulsory the study of the Catalan language in the school, and the Law 7/1983 (2), Pujol and his ministers felt strong enough to state that, without the laws protecting and enhacing the teaching of Catalan in the school, the inlfux of immigrants to Catalonia would seriously jeopardise the Catalan language. This was to become an issue that would return to the Catalan politics in the following decades.
Another of Pujol's big efforts was to create the
Corporació Catalana de Mitjans Audiovisuals (Catalan Corporation of Audiovisual Media) in 1981 (3), that gave way to the Catalan public radio and television service; and the industrial reform, that in many aspects followed what was going on in Spain. Everything seem to be bright for Pujol and Catalonia.
However, something unexpected would change this trend in 1982. When
Banca Catalana, the main commercial bank of Catalonia, suffered an unexpected crisis, the scandal touched Pujol, as the bank had been created in 1959 by his father, Florenci Pujol Brugat, Francesc Cabana i Vancells and Jordi Pujol himself. In the turmoil that followed, Pujol was accused of embezzlement and prevarication. Even if he claimed that the whole issue was an "dirty war" operation by the Spanish secret service (4), he was forced, in 1983, to call for General Elections in Catalonia, as we shall see.
(1) Floral Games, a cultural event that followed the Roman
Ludi Floreales, that had its roots in the Medieval Floral Games that took place from late XIV century to the XV century and were reintroduced in Catalonia in 1859 by Antoni de Bofarull and Victor Balaguer.
(2) IOTL, this law was passed by the Catalan Parliament with only two votes against it.
(3) IOTL, 1983.
(4) IOTL, Pujol accused Felipe González and his cabinet of playing dirty and that, by attacking him, the Spanish government was attacking Catalonia. Pujol's ego was a constant source of news for the Catalan and Spanish media.