WMHSMUN XXXIV JCC Catalan Secession Movement 2017: Catalonia vs. Spain Background Guide “Unprecedented committees. Unparalleled debate. Unmatched fun.” Letters From the Directors Dear Delegates, Hello! My name is Morgan Birkenstock, and I will be serving as your in-room director at WMHSMUN XXXIV. I’m thrilled to be directing the Catalan side of the Catalan Secession Movement JCC and I cannot wait to get to know you all, albeit via Zoom. I am a freshman here at William & Mary, originally from Arlington, Virginia, and I’m majoring in Chemistry with a minor in Classical Studies. Though I am not currently studying it, international relations is a topic that has always intrigued me. This interest led me to Model United Nations in seventh grade, founding my school’s first MUN team with just three other people! Since then, my love for Model United Nations has only grown and I am beyond excited to serve at WMHSMUN this year. Outside of MUN, I love to read, travel, and listen to literally any and every music genre there is. Enough about myself, let’s get on to the committee! You will be serving as a member of the Generalitat de Catalunya. Our government held the National Catalan Independence Referendum on October 1st, 2017 with immense backlash from Spain’s governing bodies. Spain threatened the Catalonian people with fines for poll workers; they seized ballots and cell phones and the Guardia Civil even raided our polling stations. Their actions were criticized by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Amnesty International, and Human Rights Watch, yet Spain still has not let up. Despite all this, Catalonia persevered, and the results showed that over 90% of voters were in favor of independence. But the Spanish government refuses to recognize our sovereignty. Thus, we need to work together to establish a powerful new nation while in the face of adversity. We must create relationships with the European Union and the world, we must solidify our new government, and we must secure our independence from Spain. The fate of Catalonia is in your hands. If you have any questions about our committee, WMHSMUN, William & Mary, or anything else, please do not hesitate to contact me. I am looking forward to working with you all, and good luck! Morgan Birkenstock [email protected] Background Guide – Catalonian Secession Movement Dear Delegates, Hello, my name is Andrew Herrup and I will be your (zoom) committee director for the Spanish side of our Catalan Secession movement Joint Crisis this year at WMHSMUN XXXIV. Like Morgan, I am also a freshman on campus this year, who is also majoring Chemistry, with a possible minor in French. I am originally from Alexandria, Virginia, where I did Model UN at my High School all four years, one as President of the Club, where my main goal was to increase awareness about international and humanitarian crises. I am looking forward to hearing each delegate’s opinions and unique take on our difficult topic. Outside of Model UN, I write for our school newspaper, listen to music, watch TV shows (Arrested Development) and spend too much time on Tik Tok. On to the Topic at hand, if you are on the Spanish side you will be assigned a member of the “Cortes Generales” or Spanish Parliament. On October 1st, 2017, the devolved Catalonian Parliament, or Generalitat de Catalunya, held a controversial referendum on possible independence from Spain. This referendum was vehemently opposed by those in power in Madrid, and those voting in Catalonia were met by Federal soldiers and Police, which did their best to disrupt voting, including fining poll workers and others involved in the independence movement. Despite this, over 90% of voters elected to leave Spain, but less than 45% of the voting population participated. In Spain’s eyes, this made the referendum invalid, as a majority of citizens did not even vote, and many opposed to the referendum boycotted it entirely. Some Spanish actions were condemned by international Human Rights Organizations. It is up to you to decide how Spain should move forward, and how to best protect the present and future Republic. If you have any question about our committee, WMHSMUN, or anything at all, please do not hesitate to email me. I am looking forward to meeting everyone and working to solve this crisis. Andrew Herrup [email protected] 2 Background Guide – Catalonian Secession Movement Dear Delegates, Welcome to WMHSMUN online! We are super excited to be working with you this weekend to have some amazing and engaging debate and discussions about a really important issue facing Spain and Europe today: the future of Catalonia. This fight for freedom on one hand is seen on the other as a fight for division. You have the opportunity to craft a better way forward for Spain and Catalonia and I cannot wait to see what you all come up with! Some more information about me: My name is Steven Vacnin and I will be serving as your crisis director for both sides of the JCC. I am a senior at the College of William and Mary majoring in international relations and minoring in history with a focus on public health and Hispanic studies. I am William and Mary’s current model UN head delegate and have previously served as a director of the travel team for two years as well as the Undersecretary General for Committees at &MUN, William and Mary’s College MUN Conference. Outside of all things MUN, I am super involved in improv on campus with my group, Dad Jeans Improv, and I am a member of the Phi Sigma Pi national honor society. Before this year, I spent about 5 months living in Spain where I studied Spanish Politics and Hispanic Studies, with a particular focus on the history of Catalonia and the other Autonomous Provinces of Spain. With this in mind, this committee is of a special interest to me and I cannot wait to see if you all as delegates are able to tackle this issue better than the policy makers who messed it up so badly the first time! I am very much looking forward to seeing all of your creative crisis plans take shape real soon! If you have any questions or want to just chat, please feel free to reach out to me at my email address below! Steven Vacnin [email protected] 3 Background Guide – Catalonian Secession Movement Overview of Catalonia Catalonia is a region of Spain in the northeast corner bordering France, Andorra, and the Mediterranean. It is comprised of four provinces: Girona, Barcelona, Tarragona, and Lleida. Geographically, Catalonia is very diverse, ranging from the low-lying Mediterranean shorelines and the Catalanide coastal plains to the mountains and valleys of the Pyrenees with the Ebro, Llobregat, and Ter rivers and their basins. The majority of the Catalan population resides near the coastline where, historically, the climate is more favorable to grow crops. Almonds, olives, grapes, and corn grow well in the Mediterranean environment, so early settlements were focused in those areas. Even still, Catalonia’s main agricultural exports are wine, almonds, olive oil, rice, potatoes, and corn. However, agriculture only accounts for a small percentage of Catalonia’s GDP; most of its economy is supported by the textile industry. As early as 1283, Catalan textile manufacturing was a prominent industry both for Spain and the rest of Europe. Textile production continued to support the region all the way until Catalonia’s industrial expansion period in the 1950s. Metalworking, food-processing, pharmaceuticals, papermaking, and chemical production took over and have now overtaken the textile industry in terms of importance to Catalonia. Currently, most textile production occurs in the cities of Barcelona, Sabadell, and Terrassa while the rest of the region has moved into other industries, including tourism. It is important to note that Catalonia is one of, if not the most important region of Spain in terms of Spain’s economy, gross domestic product, and imports/exports, accounting for 17% of Spain’s GDP with only 15% of the population and 6% of its land mass. History of Catalan/Spanish Relations Historically, the region of Catalonia has traded hands many times. First, it was occupied by the Romans until the 5th century, when it was overtaken by Gothic Germany. It then went to the Moors in 712 but was quickly invaded by Charlemagne who incorporated it into his dominion in the later 8th century. Catalonia quickly fell out of the hands of the Franks and it was reestablished as its own state until 1137, when Count Ramon Berenguer IV of Barcelona married Queen Petronila of Aragon. Thus, Catalonia and Aragon were united and controlled trade within their region of the Mediterranean through the 14th century. In 1410, the line of succession died, and Catalans found themselves at odds with the Aragonese, eventually escalating to a full-blown rebellion under the rule 4 Background Guide – Catalonian Secession Movement of John II. The revolt died down with the marriage of Ferdinand of Aragon and Navarre (the son of John II) and Isabella of Castile in 1469. Spain was once again unified and able to maintain its autonomy until things fell apart again in the 17th century. The Spanish monarchy was declining in importance as the Generalitat (the national assembly) took more of a role in governing the nation. This change in power led to the first of many Catalan separatist movements, starting in 1640. Catalonia repeatedly revolted against the Generalitat and placed themselves under France’s protection, but plans for real revolts were thwarted every time.