Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006

That led to a massive demonstration in Barcelona of more than a million people[4][5] under the slogan in Catalan Som una nació.

On 30 September 2005, the Catalan Parliament approved (with the support of 120 deputies to 15) a proposal for reform of the current Statute of Autonomy.

Its constitutionality has also been contested by some intellectuals and journalists related to liberal or conservative media such as the COPE (Catholic radio network) and the Madrid-based newspapers El Mundo and La Razón.

On 21 January 2006, Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero and Catalan Leader of the Opposition Artur Mas arrived at a pre-agreement about nation definition and financing in the current project of statute.

ERC voted against it, despite its senior members having had a hand in drafting its content, as a result of the internal tensions within the party which this issue had brought to the surface.

The president of Catalonia, Pasqual Maragall, decided that Sunday 18 June would be the date on which the text would be put to the Catalan people in the form of a referendum.

[11] The Generalitat holds jurisdiction in various matters of culture, education, health, justice, environment, communications, transportation, commerce, public safety, and local governments.

Catalonia has its own police force, the Mossos d'Esquadra, although the Spanish government keep agents in the region for matters relating to border control, terrorism and immigration.

The legal system is uniform throughout Spain, with the exception of so-called "civil law", which is administered separately within Catalonia.

[12] The main goal of the new Statute of Autonomy was the consolidation and the further devolution of powers to Catalonia, most notably:[13] Spanish nationalist political parties, such as Cs and PP have pointed out what they describe as an "identity obsession"[14] amongst Catalan nationalist politicians and the Catalan media establishment.

They quote the unprecedentedly high abstention in the referendum regarding the Statute as a symptom of those cited sectors being out of sync with the populace at large.

The objections are based on various topics such as disputed cultural heritage but, especially, on the Statute's alleged breaches of the "solidarity between regions" principle in fiscal and educational matters enshrined by the Spanish Constitution of 1978.

It also abolished all the mechanisms that had been put in place to minimize the distortionary effects of the existing Spanish tax and transfer system.

Following the decision of the Constitutional Court, Catalan public opinion grew increasingly favorable to hold a referendum to decide whether Catalonia should become an independent state from Spain.