Anti-Catalan

Anti-Catalanism (Catalan: anticatalanisme, IPA: [ˌantikətəɫəˈnizmə]) is the collective name given to various historical trends in Spain that have been hostile to Catalan culture and traditions. In more recent times it is a term used to criticize political stances contrary to Catalan nationalism or Catalan independentism, both within and without Catalonia.

In a historical and political context, anti-Catalanism expresses itself as a xenophobic attitude towards the Catalan language, people, traditions or anything identified with Catalonia and the political implications of this attitude. In its most extreme circumstances, this may also be referred as Catalanophobia. Several political movements, known for organising boycotts of products from Catalonia, are also actively identified with anti-Catalanism. It is a controversial term in Spain since Catalan political parties which support political independence are often accused of conflating criticism of their stances and actions with an attack on all Catalans.

Anti-Catalanism in its most virulent form is mostly associated with far-right Spanish political parties. Fringe groups such as España 2000 (none of which obtained more than 0.5% of the votes in the last general elections) object strongly to the autonomy enjoyed by Catalonia, claiming that the granting of autonomy to Catalonia and other regions will lead to the breakup of Spain.

Criticism of Catalan nationalism, is to be found throughout the Spanish political spectrum. However, such criticism does not usually imply hostility towards Catalonia itself, nor does it necessarily imply being against regional autonomy in Spain, or even the use of regional languages in the public domain. In fact, Ciutadans – which is possibly the most vocal of the Spanish political parties against the perceived excesses of nationalisms such as the Catalan – was created in Catalonia and has its national headquarters in Barcelona; this Catalan party – currently the main opposition party in the Catalan regional parliament – is equally referred to by Catalan nationalists as "anti-Catalan". illustrating a certain tendence among pro-independence Catalan parties to interpret attacks on their political stance as xenophobic, populist or selfish attacks on all Catalans, nationalist or not. In this regard, black lists of so-called "bad Catalans" (Catalan public figures who oppose Catalan separatism) have been published.

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Wikipedia