The Catalan parliament declared Independence on 27th of October 2017. But few hours later Spanish Prime Minister dissolved the Catalan parliament and imposed direct rule. The elections to appoint a new government will be held on 21st of December this year. Catalan Parliament declared independence concerning the results of Referendum happened in 1st  of October following the Catalan independence movement. At this point we should find out about the Historical and political backdrop as well as the current situation of Catalan independence movement.           Catalonia is located in Northeast of Spain bordering France and Andorra.

It is one of semi-autonomy regins in Spain out of 17. The history of Catalonia goes to middle ages it was a separate state  from the begin. In the 12th century take came under the rule of neighboring kingdom of Aragon. In 15th century king Ferdinand of Aragon and queen Isabella of Castile  got married they united the regions and Catalonia became under a unified Spain.

The next most significant incident is in history is the ‘Spanish War of Succession’ happened between 1702-1714. During this war Filipe the 5th Abeled to conquer Catalonia. He officially abolished Catalonia and state lost their culture and identity. However in 1931 we Catalonia became a republic it was given broad autonomy. But it did not last long then became the era of General Franco. After the Civil war in Spain Franco`s Ultra-Conservative rule curtailed Catalonias autonomy and restricted the use of Catalan language.

In 1975 after the death of General Franco Spain had a democratic transition Catalonia became one of its 17 semi-autonomous communities After that Catalonia established its Parliament, Police and other institutions required for a semi-autonomous region.       The economic capability of Catalonia is a norther fact for this issue. There are 7.5 Million people living in Catalonia that’s 1/6 of Spain’s population. The capital of Catalonia is the Barcelona and it is a highly industrialized region as well  as a world renown tourist destination. The production of Catalonia is about 255Billion $ that is 20% of Spain’s GDP.

It is the wealthiest state out of 17 semi-autonomous regions in Spain. 255 Billion dollars is a massive amount for a regional state considering the fact that Sri Lankan GDP is still hanging around 85 billion. Losing