Recognition and political accommodation: from regionalism to secessionism. The Catalan case

Having lived through a bloody civil war in the 1930s followed by four decades of General Franco’s dictatorship, the Spanish state carried out a transition to a democratic system at the end of the 1970s. The 1978 Constitution was the legal outcome of this transition process. Among other things, it established a territorial model – the so-called “Estado de las Autonomías” (State of Autonomous Communities) – which was designed to satisfy the historical demands for recognition and self-government of, above all, the citizens and institutions of Catalonia and the Basque Country .In recent years support for independence has increased in Catalonia. Different indicators show that pro-independence demands are endorsed by a majority of its citizens, as well as by most of the political parties and organizations that represent its civil society. This is a new phenomenon. Those in favour of independence had been in the minority throughout the 20th century. Nowadays, however, demands of a pro-autonomy and pro-federalist nature, which until recently had been dominant, have gradually lost public support in favour of demands for self-determination and secession. This paper analyses the massive increase in support for secession in Catalonia during the early years of the 21st century. After describing the different theories of secession in plurinational liberal democracies (section 1), we analyse Catalonia’s political evolution over the past decade focusing on the shortcomings with regard to constitutional recognition and accommodation displayed by the Spanish political system. The latter have been exacerbated by the reform process of Catalonia’s Statute of Autonomy (2006) and the subsequent judgement of Spain’s Constitutional Court regarding the aforementioned Statute (2010) (section 2). Finally, we present our conclusions by linking the Catalan case with theories of secession applied to plurinational contexts

Fiscal policy, pricing frictions and monetary accommodation

We investigate the theoretical conditions for effectiveness of government consumptionexpenditure expansions using US, Euro area and UK data. Fiscal expansions taking placewhen monetary policy is accommodative lead to large output multipliers in normal times.The 2009-2010 packages need not produce significant output multipliers, may havemoderate debt effects, and only generate temporary inflation. Expenditure expansionsaccompanied by deficit/debt consolidations schemes may lead to short run output gains buttheir success depends on how monetary policy and expectations behave. Trade opennessand the cyclicality of the labor wedge explain cross-country differences in the magnitude ofthe multipliers.

Anàlisi dels fluxos d'aigua, energia i mobilitat a cinc nuclis turístics de Menorca

Menorca és una illa del Mediterrani occidental i una important destinació turística. El turisme estival és un pilar de l’economia de l’illa i té implicacions en tots els aspectes d’aquesta. Una bona part dels turistes es concentren en nuclis turístics costaners dedicats a una única activitat (l’allotjament de turistes). En aquest projecte s’estudien els consums i els potencials de captació d’aigua i energia de cinc nuclis turístics menorquins i alguns dels seus establiments turístics i se n’avalua el potencial d’autosuficiència. També es fa un estudi de mobilitat dels turistes, a partir del qual es quantifica el cost energètic de la mobilitat i les emissions de CO2 que se’n deriven. Les eines utilitzades han estat enquestes i Sistemes d’Informació Geogràfica. Els resultats mostren que el consum hídric per persona és molt variable (de 98 a 466 litres diaris). El consum elèctric per persona és més homogeni que el d’aigua (entre 5 i 10 kWh·persona-1·dia-1 a nivell de nucli turístic) i presenta valors superiors en allotjaments del tipus hotel que del tipus apartaments. Els trajectes d’anada i tornada a l’illa amb avió o vaixell representen més del 80% del cost energètic total de les vacances a Menorca (aprox. 1 MWh per estada) i de les emissions de CO2 associades. Els turistes espanyols recorren un 180% més de distància en desplaçaments a l’interior de l’illa que els d’altres nacionalitats. L’aprofitament d’aigües pluvials podria cobrir menys del 25% de les necessitats hídriques de la majoria d’allotjaments turístics i entre el 28 i el 36% de les necessitats hídriques totals dels nuclis turístics, mantenint-se els nivells actuals de consum. La captació d’energia solar fotovoltaica in situ podria arribar a suplir entre el 50 i el 90% del consum d’energia elèctrica en els nuclis turístics i fins al 100% del mateix en alguns allotjaments turístics.

Comparison of topography- and aperture-dependent motion compensation algorithms for airborne SAR

This letter presents a comparison between threeFourier-based motion compensation (MoCo) algorithms forairborne synthetic aperture radar (SAR) systems. These algorithmscircumvent the limitations of conventional MoCo, namelythe assumption of a reference height and the beam-center approximation.All these approaches rely on the inherent time–frequencyrelation in SAR systems but exploit it differently, with the consequentdifferences in accuracy and computational burden. Aftera brief overview of the three approaches, the performance ofeach algorithm is analyzed with respect to azimuthal topographyaccommodation, angle accommodation, and maximum frequencyof track deviations with which the algorithm can cope. Also, ananalysis on the computational complexity is presented. Quantitativeresults are shown using real data acquired by the ExperimentalSAR system of the German Aerospace Center (DLR).

An Interval Intelligent-based Approach for Fault Detection and Modelling

Not considered in the analytical model of the plant, uncertainties always dramatically decrease the performance of the fault detection task in the practice. To cope better with this prevalent problem, in this paper we develop a methodology using Modal Interval Analysis which takes into account those uncertainties in the plant model. A fault detection method is developed based on this model which is quite robust to uncertainty and results in no false alarm. As soon as a fault is detected, an ANFIS model is trained in online to capture the major behavior of the occurred fault which can be used for fault accommodation. The simulation results understandably demonstrate the capability of the proposed method for accomplishing both tasks appropriately

Revealing the dark side of traditional democracies in plurinational societies. The case of Catalonia and the Spanish “Estado de las Autonomías”

In this article, I firstly offer a synthesis of a brief set of analytical elements of the theory of democracy and federalism established in the recent debate which identify a number of flaws in the normative and institutional bases of plurinational democracies. It is necessary to overcome these flaws in order to achieve a true political and constitutional recognition and accommodation of the national pluralism of this kind of liberal democracies (section 1). Secondly, we will focus on the Spanish case of the “Estado de las Autonomías” taking into account the recent reform of the Catalan constitutional law (Estatut d’autonomia 2006) (section 2). A final section makes a number of concluding remarks relating the previously highlighted elements of the theory of democracy and federalism with the analysis of the Catalan case (section 3).

Federalism and democracy. The case of minority nations: a federalist deficit

In this chapter, after pointing out the different logics that lie behind the familiar ideas of democracy and federalism, I have dealt with the case of plurinational federal democracies. Having put forward a double criterion of an empirical nature with which to differentiate between the existence of minority nations within plurinational democracies (section 2), I suggest three theoretical criteria for the political accommodation of these democracies. In the following section, I show the agonistic nature of the normative discussion of the political accommodation of this kind of democracies, which bring monist and pluralist versions of the demos of the polity into conflict (section 3.1), as well as a number of conclusions which are the result of a comparative study of 19 federal and regional democracies using four analytical axes: the uninational/plurinational axis; the unitarianism-federalism axis; the centralisation-decentralisation axis; and the symmetry-asymmetry axis (section 3.2). This analysis reveals shortcomings in the constitutional recognition of national pluralism in federal and regional cases with a large number of federated units/regions with political autonomy; a lower degree of constitutional federalism and a greater asymmetry in the federated entities or regions of plurinational democracies. It also reveals difficulties to establish clear formulas in these democracies in order to encourage a “federalism of trust” based on the participation and protection of national minorities in the shared government of plurinational federations/regional states. Actually, there is a federal deficit in this kind polities according to normative liberal-democratic patterns and to what comparative analysis show. Finally, this chapter advocates the need for a greater normative and institutional refinement in plurinational federal democracies. In order to achieve this, it is necessary to introduce a deeper form of “ethical” pluralism -which displays normative agonistic trends, as well as a more “confederal/asymmetrical” perspective, congruent with the national pluralism of these kind of polities.

Spanish monetary policy: A structural VAR analysis

Some past studies analyzed Spanish monetary policy with the standard VAR. Their problem is that this method obliges researchers to impose a certain extreme form of the short run policy rule on their models. Hence, it does not allow researchers to study the possibility of structural changes in this rule, either. This paper overcomes these problems by using the structural VAR. I find that the rule has always been that of partial accommodation. Prior to 1984, it was quite close to money targeting. After 1984, it became closer to the interest rate targeting, with more emphasis on the exchange rate.

The so-called "Spanish model" - Tobacco industry strategies and its impact in Europe and Latin America

Background To demonstrate the tobacco industry rationale behind the "Spanish model" on non-smokers' protection in hospitality venues and the impact it had on some European and Latin American countries between 2006 and 2011. Methods Tobacco industry documents research triangulated against news and media reports. Results As an alternative to the successful implementation of 100% smoke-free policies, several European and Latin American countries introduced partial smoking bans based on the so-called "Spanish model", a legal framework widely advocated by parts of the hospitality industry with striking similarities to "accommodation programmes" promoted by the tobacco industry in the late 1990s. These developments started with the implementation of the Spanish tobacco control law (Ley 28/2005) in 2006 and have increased since then. Conclusion The Spanish experience demonstrates that partial smoking bans often resemble tobacco industry strategies and are used to spread a failed approach on international level. Researchers, advocates and policy makers should be aware of this ineffective policy.

Las relaciones económicas internacionales de la "España Europea"

[eng] Since the year 1986 in which Spain became full member of the European Communities, the quantity and quality of the Spanish international economic relations measured in terms of Balance of Payments have change dramatically. In the past Spanish workers moved to Europe. Now Spain is among the three major countries attracting immigrants from developing countries. In the past Spain received a lot of Foreign Investment, today many Spanish companies are investing abroad. The changes are not only due to membership to the EU but also to the Spanish accommodation to the Globalization.

Las relaciones económicas internacionales de la "España Europea"

[eng] Since the year 1986 in which Spain became full member of the European Communities, the quantity and quality of the Spanish international economic relations measured in terms of Balance of Payments have change dramatically. In the past Spanish workers moved to Europe. Now Spain is among the three major countries attracting immigrants from developing countries. In the past Spain received a lot of Foreign Investment, today many Spanish companies are investing abroad. The changes are not only due to membership to the EU but also to the Spanish accommodation to the Globalization.

Sedimentological and palaeohydrological responses to tectonics and climate in a small, closed lacustrine system: Oligocene As Pontes Basin (Spain)

A small, closed, lacustrine system developed during the restraining overstep stages of the Oligocene As Pontes strike-slip basin (Spain). The increase in basin accommodation and the headward spread of the drainage, which increased the water input, triggered a change from shallow, holomictic to deeper, meromictic conditions.

Design and construction of precision heat fluxmeters

The possibility of local elastic instabilities is considered in a first¿order structural phase transition, typically a thermoelastic martensitic transformation, with associated interfacial and volumic strain energy. They appear, for instance, as the result of shape change accommodation by simultaneous growth of different crystallographic variants. The treatment is phenomenological and deals with growth in both thermoelastic equilibrium and in nonequilibrium conditions produced by the elastic instability. Scaling of the transformed fraction curves against temperature is predicted only in the case of purely thermoelastic growth. The role of the transformation latent heat on the relaxation kinetics is also considered, and it is shown that it tends to increase the characteristic relaxation times as adiabatic conditions are approached, by keeping the system closer to a constant temperature. The analysis also reveals that the energy dissipated in the relaxation process has a double origin: release of elastic energy Wi and entropy production Si. The latter is shown to depend on both temperature rate and thermal conduction in the system.

El primer liberalismo y las pautas de resistencia tradicional en Lleida (1833-1868)

Lleida, una ciudad media de España en el XIX que tiene como particularidad ser una capital de provincia con una economía tradicional a medio camino entre las actividades del campo y las incipientes urbanas, es nuestro marco de estudio para analizar el comportamiento de los grupos sociales de su comunidad ante los cambios políticos operados en España durante el siglo XIX para consolidar el liberalismo como sistema de gobierno. Las fuentes consultadas fueron los archivos locales mediante el contraste de los censos de población, sus rentas y la lista de políticos y milicianos implicados en el proceso político para establecer pautas y analogías entre ellos según su filiación política. Con estas pautas nos acercamos a la sociología de su población y sus concreciones políticas durante este período. De esta manera, descubrimos los mecanismos de resistencia del grupo dominante del antiguo régimen para mantener el poder y las tácticas de los liberales para conseguir desbancarlos y conseguir mayor representación política en el municipio. La conclusión de este estudio es que mediante el acomodo de los grupos privilegiados del antiguo régimen al liberalismo moderado, estos consiguieron su espacio político en la comunidad para mantener la mayor parte del tiempo su cuota de poder, mientras que los liberales, mediante su identificación al progresismo, tenían enormes dificultades para conseguir el control y poner en práctica su proyecto político.

Cationic and charge segregation in La2/3Ca1/3MnO3 thin films grown on (001) and (110) SrTiO3.

Electron energy-loss spectroscopy is used to map composition and electronic states in epitaxial La2/3Ca1/3MnO3 films grown on SrTiO3 001 and 110 substrates. It is found that in partially relaxed 110 films cationic composition and valence state of Mn3+/4+ ions are preserved across the film thickness. In contrast, in fully strained 001 films, the Ca/La ratio gradually changes across the film, being La rich at film/substrate interface and La depleted at free surface; Mn valence state changes accordingly. These observations suggest that a strongly orientation-dependent adaptative composition mechanism dominates stress accommodation in manganite films and provides microscopic understanding of their dissimilar magnetic properties.