Catalan Countries, capital Care
In January 1976, 50 years ago, unitary bodies from Catalonia, the Valencian Community and the Balearic Islands demanded from the Mallorcan sanctuary a 'democratic break', amnesty and self-determination
PalmCatalan Countries, capital... Barcelona? This would perhaps be the most obvious answer. However, 50 years ago, in January 1976, the epicenter of Catalan-speaking politics was a corner of Mallorca with Lullian resonances: the sanctuary of Cura, on Mount Randa, where parties and unity groups from Catalonia, the Valencian Country, and the Balearic Islands met, by consensus, as they put it, for a 'democratic break' with the dictatorship, amnesty for political prisoners, and the right to self-determination.
A very clear antecedent to this meeting was another clandestine gathering of Catalans, Valencians, and islanders in 1968. This one also took place in Mallorca, at Arracón: it seems that being on the periphery has its advantages when you need to find a discreet location. At the 'Contuberni de l'Arracó', as it became known, some twenty prominent figures from the Catalan-speaking intellectual world, all staunchly opposed to Franco's regime, gathered. Among them was Joan Fuster, who coined the term 'Països Catalans' to refer to the three territories as a whole. However, the Valencian writer found the conversation too long and preferred to step outside for a while and have a drink of whisky.
The list of attendees at the 'Contuberni' was impressive: the Mallorcan writers Antonina Canyelles, Josep Maria Llompart, and Antoni-Lluc Ferrer; the scholar of Mallorcan identity and later senator Gori Mir; Climent Garau, who would soon become president of the Balearic Cultural Association; the publisher Francesc Moll Marquès; and the Menorcan historian Andreu Murillo. From Catalonia, the playwright Josep Maria Benet i Jornet and the historic leader of Unió Democràtica de Catalunya, Miquel Coll i Alentorn, participated. They discussed possible collaborative cultural, educational, and social policies. One of the presentations was titled The unity between the lands and people of the Catalan CountriesWhen "unity among the men and lands of Spain" was an emblematic expression of the dictatorship: perhaps it was Fuster's doing, one of whose characteristic traits was irony.
The meeting took place in the old convent, provided by Father Gaspar Aguiló, and another of the presentations foresaw a future second meeting, also in Mallorca. The Civil Guard had learned of this clandestine meeting, but without much success: they were searching for the participants in the Randa area.
Dirty rice for a hundred
It seems as if the Civil Guard had given them the idea, because when another meeting of representatives from the three territories was proposed, Randa was chosen as the venue, on Saturday, January 31, 1976. Seven years had passed, and circumstances had changed considerably. Franco had just died: the regime was showing signs of a tentative opening, while the opposition as a whole demanded a break with the dictatorship and the establishment of a democracy. In the Catalan-speaking area, they also demanded the restoration of self-government—with nuances among the different parties: disagreements on this point severely affected the communists, who were then the dominant force. Around the same time, the Congress of Catalan Culture was taking place, a series of activities through which the common language regained its public presence.
That both meetings took place in church spaces was no coincidence. In light of the recent Second Vatican Council, the Catholic Church, the regime's former unconditional ally, had adopted a much more critical stance. It was no coincidence that Canon Pere Joan Llabrés was among the participants of the 'Contuberni'. Moreover, church buildings still inspired a certain respect for the authorities: the old adage of seeking sanctuary.
During those final years of the Franco regime—and, of course, clandestinely—unitary bodies had been established in different territories to coordinate efforts against the dictatorship: the Assembly of Catalonia and the Council of Political Forces of Catalonia; the Democratic Council of the Valencian Country and the Democratic Board of the Valencian Country; the Democratic Board of the Balearic Islands; and the organizing committee of the Democratic Assembly of Menorca. All of these entities were present at the meeting in Cura.
As for Mallorcan political forces, those present included the PSOE (Spanish Socialist Workers' Party), the Social Democratic Party – the following year the Union of the Democratic Centre (UCD) would join for the first elections – Socialist Convergence, the Marxist-Leninist Training Group, and the collective that was being formed at that time. Independent figures were also in attendance.
That meeting was much larger than the one at Arracón. Almost a hundred people gathered at the Cura inn and, "between plates of dirty rice and steak with potatoes," as Antoni Serra recounts, they discussed political cooperation between the three territories. The list of participants was also impressive: from Catalonia, Josep Benet – who would become the most voted-for senator in the entire country in 1977 – the philologist Jordi Carbonell, and the communists Rafel Ribó and Antoni Gutiérrez. The Guti and Miquel Sellarès, from Democratic Convergence; from the Valencian Country, the writer Vicent Andrés Estellés, the mathematician and philologist Josep Guia, and the jurist Manuel Broseta—who would be assassinated by ETA in 1992; from Mallorca, practically the entire clandestine opposition: Félix Pons, Francesca Bosch, José María Llompart, Manuel Mora, Antonio Tarabini, Antonio Serra, Francisco Obrador, Clemente Garau, Celestino Alomar, Sebastià Serra, and Ignasi Ribas; and from Menorca, Miquel Vanrell, Juli Mascaró, and Adrià Carreras. Yes, an overwhelming majority of men; that's how it was back then, even among democrats.
The insurmountable disagreements
Perhaps due to the large crowd, it was not possible to mislead the authorities this time. The civil governor, Ramiro Pérez-Maura, who had just replaced the far-right Carlos de Meer, was aware of Cura's meeting. According to Antoni Serra, he sought advice on how to proceed—to prohibit or not to prohibit: that was the dilemma—from Antonio Alemany, then director of Daily of Mallorcawith a markedly open-minded approach. "Turn a blind eye," Alemán advised him. "They're not dangerous." And he knew this firsthand, because he shared the Tramuntana group, another opposition forum, with practically all of them. Only a small police presence was set up outside—just in case.
Unlike the meeting in Arracón eight years earlier, this time the term 'Països Catalans' seemed to generate not consensus, but rather the opposite: a heated and insurmountable disagreement. Some of those present understood them as a shared nation, while the rest only recognized them as a community of language and culture—the same old debate. In short, the proposal for a unified body for the three territories failed to gain traction. Another point of divergence was between those who linked freedoms with self-determination as an indispensable—or even prerequisite—condition, and those who established democracy as the priority. Despite all the differences, it was like the Second Republic during the war: should the war be won first, or should the revolution be carried out simultaneously? Despite all these disagreements, a joint statement was eventually drafted. In this document, the participants expressed their satisfaction at having held the meeting—without being arrested by the police, they should have added—and reiterated their commitment to the 'democratic break,' which should entail "general amnesty, political and trade union freedoms," and "the right to self-determination for all peoples." That the PSOE and some who would later join the UCD supported this right can only be explained by the extraordinary circumstances of the time. The signatories also expressed their support for the Catalan Culture Congress and the official recognition of their "own language"—the fact that it wasn't called 'Catalan' was probably a symptom of how difficult it was to reach a consensus on this name: another point of disagreement. Furthermore, they announced the continuation of these three-way meetings. But it didn't turn out that way; it was a one-off. From then on, each would go their separate ways. Circumstances would soon change: part of the opposition would remain steadfast in its stance of a complete break, while the more pragmatic would accept the reforms implemented from within the regime itself, as articulated by Adolfo Suárez. But that is another story.
Cuidado served as the setting for another significant episode of the Transition in the Balearic Islands. On March 13, 1977, a draft Statute of Autonomy—one of several being written at the time—was presented on the esplanade of the sanctuary. It was signed by the Popular Assembly of Mallorca, which brought together the nationalist left and the national left, situated to the left of the Communist Party. The magazine Lluc reported on the massive turnout—nearly a thousand people—and the support of figures such as Francesc de Borja Moll, Josep Maria Llompart, Llorenç Capellà, and the future senator Lluís Xirinacs.
Cura's preliminary draft was based on the "right to self-determination of peoples," recognized there a year earlier. It proposed the possibility of a federation of the Balearic Islands with Catalonia and the Valencian Community—a proposal vetoed by the Constitution the following year—as well as the possibility for each of the islands to secede from the others. In both cases, this would be determined by a plebiscite.
Interestingly, the 'Statute of Priests' used the name Generalitat for the future Balearic autonomous institution – just as in Catalonia and the Valencian Community – although, historically, a Generalitat only existed briefly in the former Kingdom of Majorca, as it lacked a parliament. Furthermore, the President of the Islands would be elected by universal suffrage. The Balearic Islands would have powers over policing and internal order, as well as tax collection, ceding a portion to the State, following the Basque model. The official language would be Catalan – with compulsory instruction in Spanish – and the flag, the four-barred Catalan flag.
Information compiled from texts by Miguel Payeras, David Ginard, Juan López Casasnovas, José Pons Fraga, Bartolomé Caimari Calafat, Antonio Janer Torrens, Pedro Antonio Pons, Gabriel Ensenyat Pujol, Lina Moner Mora, Pau Cateura and José Guía y Marín, and the memoirs of Miguel Rosselló Lucas and the collective volume Living memory.