And the Catalan took to the streets again

PalmFranco was still alive, but the Franco regime was not at its best: economic crisis, the assassination of the regime's strongman – Carrero Blanco –, street protests – by workers, students, and residents – and, in short, timid signs of opening up from that last dictatorship in Western Europe. It was then, fifty years ago, that Catalan experienced a true explosion in all areas, thanks to the Congress of Catalan Culture (1975-1977), to which Can Alcover, a space of the Balearic Cultural Association (OCB) in Palma, is currently dedicating an exhibition.

It was at a meeting in the Barcelona Bar Association in January 1975 that the secretary of its board, Josep Maria Pi-Sunyer, launched the idea for that general mobilization, which would last for more than two years, until the autumn of 1977. The figures for this multi-faceted public revival of the Catalan language: nearly 12,500 delegates, 500 organizations, 15,000 members, and activities carried out in all Catalan-speaking territories.

In December 1964, a first attempt at a congress had already taken place in Barcelona, ​​still clandestine, organized by one of those strange alliances fostered by common opposition to the dictatorship: the Unified Socialist Party of Catalonia (PSUC) – the Catalan communists. In fact, the two presidents of the meeting were the legendary Abbot of Montserrat, Aureli Escarré, and the intellectual Jordi Rubió, who—under those circumstances!—delivered an enthusiastic speech about the future he envisioned for the Catalan language and culture.

Now it had to become a reality. A secretariat was formed with representatives from 85 entities in the Catalan-speaking territories, and an honorary committee was appointed: Jordi Rubió himself was its president, while the vice-presidents were Joan Miró – for Catalonia –, Joan Fuster – Valencian Country –, Francisco de Borja Moll – Balearic Islands –, and Pere Ponsich – Calle Ponsich – Calle. Yes, all men: there was still a long way to go to achieve parity. It must be said that the island quota was not insignificant: a Catalan – Miró – and a Menorcan – Moll –, both residents of Mallorca. Miró designed a poster for the Congress. He had always proudly displayed his Catalan identity, and being able to use the name of a world-renowned artist as a promotional banner was an asset that had to be capitalized on.

The Congress in Menorca and the Pitiusas Islands

The Congress's scope was highly ambitious. Twenty-three areas were defined, encompassing virtually everything that could be discussed, analyzed, and debated in Catalan: from language—of course—to religion, including education, research, land-use planning, tourism, artistic production, and the media, among others. Sessions and documents were dedicated to each area, with the participation of representatives from the various territories. Looking at the participants, it was clear that the "who's who" of the diverse disciplines of what the congress attendees were beginning to call, without reservation, the Catalan Countries (Països Catalans) was represented.

Initially, the OCB, a young organization founded in 1962, believed it was their responsibility to manage the Congress's activities in the Balearic Islands. The writer Joana Serra de Gayeta, then on the organization's board, was approached by the president at the time, Climent Garau, to take on the role. Biel Mesquida, a resident of Barcelona, ​​acted as the liaison with the Islands. "There was a real desire to get things done," Serra recalls, "and a lot of participation in the meetings." However, at a meeting in Barcelona, ​​it was decided that the writer and bookseller Antoni Serra would coordinate the Congress in the Islands. And there was some disagreement between Garau and Serra. The president of the OCB believed it was the organization that should determine which activities would be carried out, while the coordinator felt that this popular movement should be a shared endeavor. Indeed, some 45,000 people participated in Mallorca, across activities in Palma and the surrounding rural areas.

And 'everyone' also meant the political parties, which in those two years navigated between the illegality of the final years of Franco's regime and the first elections of the restored democracy. According to Serra, socialists and communists "had a distant, if not indifferent, position" toward the Congress. Although, at times, tempers flared: in one of the meetings, the communist Josep Valero commented that "if heads have to roll in the Congress, they will," and Serra understood that he was referring to himself.

In the rest of the archipelago, the usual suspicions arose toward the largest island. From Menorca, from the very beginning, Joan Pons Moll and Josep Maria Quintana, two essential figures of this event on the island, demanded autonomous representation in the Congress. Although Quintana was present at the Congress's opening ceremony in Palma's Plaza Mayor on June 27, 1976, attended by 6,000 people, the people of Menorca felt that this event, as Nel Martí notes, "was neither representative nor sufficient for them." Just as in Mallorca the College of Architects provided its facilities as the Congress venue, in Menorca this role was fulfilled by the Ateneo de Maó, an institution with a long and distinguished scientific and cultural history. The Balearic Cultural Association of Menorca, Musical Youth, the Ateneu and Ciutadella film clubs, the Summer Camps, the School of Theology, and the Delfí Serra theater company were the organizations that promoted the Congress's activities on the island. The Menorcan Song Festival, the Independent Theater Weeks of the Catalan Countries, and an initiative to reclaim the toponym 'Maó' were some of the most noteworthy events.

In the Pitiusas Islands, the Institute of Ibizan Studies—represented on the central committee by Esperança Bonet—accepted the challenge posed by the Congress. The Institute was, in fact, in a precarious position, with extremely poor relations with the regime's institutions. In Menorca, the situation was the opposite: the mayor of Ciutadella—still a Francoist appointee—referred to "the friendship that unites the peoples of the Catalan Countries."

Co-official status or official status?

Two of the most talked-about activities of the Congress, in Ibiza and Menorca respectively, were the tributes paid to two prominent figures in Catalan culture: Marià Villangómez and Francesc de Borja Moll. It was a remarkable achievement to do such things while they were still alive. Moll was the subject of an exhibition dedicated to... Catalan-Valencian-Balearic dictionary and a dinner in February 1976, with messages of support received from all over Menorca. An event was dedicated to the Ibizan poet the following December, featuring a performance of one of his works. The women's assembly, by Aristophanes.

The Congress wanted each of its sections to have its closing ceremony in a different location. In July 1977, Menorca hosted the closing of the music section in Ciutadella, with a concert by the Capella Davídica. The following September, Ibiza hosted the closing of the visual arts section at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Vila. A large mural had also been planned in Alameda, in which Miró and Tàpies were to participate, each contributing a brushstroke. But this never materialized, and the panels ended up being removed "just as they had been installed," as Felip Cirer notes.

It was inconceivable that an issue like language wouldn't raise some objections. And indeed, when the Institute of Ibizan Studies announced its participation in the Congress, a letter to the editor of the Ibiza Daily A months-long controversy raged over the Catalan identity—or lack thereof—of the culture of the Pitiusas Islands. In Mallorca, the architect Gabriel Alomar expressed his reservations about the term 'Països Catalans' (Catalan Countries) and about 'Pan-Catalanism'. The curious thing—or perhaps not so curious—is that the disagreements arose among the congress members themselves. One faction, represented by Aina Moll, was more loyal to Pompeu Fabra's regulations, while another, represented by Antoni Artigues and Jaume Corbera, favored accommodating the dialects. The resolution regarding language was a Solomon-like compromise: both proposals were included. This was the only point on which unanimity was not achieved.

The debate over the degree of recognition Catalan should achieve in the near future became even more heated. The Balearic Cultural Association and the College of Graduates had launched a campaign in favor of "co-official status for the Catalan language"—along with Spanish, of course. This seemed insufficient to the more enthusiastic nationalists, who began another campaign, this one for "official status": bilingualism was not enough.

As Aina Moll pointed out in an interview in The World/Balearic Day In 2002, there were "a few tense months" in which it seemed that the convergence achieved was threatened by two letters. But words also worked their magic: the campaign would be for "the official use of Catalan." Everyone was happy, and the Congress successfully concluded in the final weeks of 1977, having accomplished its mission.

Information prepared from texts by Margalida Mateu, Miquel Payeras, Nel Martí, Felip Cirer Costa, Aina Moll, Antonio I. Alomar, Mauricio Cuesta, Miquel Vidal and José María Gago González, the memoirs of Antoni Serra and Miquel Rosselló and the collective volume 2 El mallorquinismo.