Spain and Catalonia. Bad echoes from the past

An errant general tests the prime minister's talent for compromise

SPARE a thought for Spain's satirists. How can they match the decision by the defence minister, Jose Bono, to order eight days' house arrest for the head of the land forces, General Jose Mena Aguado? The general, who was due to retire in March, had publicly exhorted his fellow officers to defend Spain's unity against the prospect of a law giving more autonomy to Catalonia. He spoke of a "deep disquiet" over the planned statute, which acknowledges Catalonia as a nation, replaces Madrid's constitutional court with the regional high court as Catalonia's highest judicial authority, gives it broader tax-raising powers and obliges officials to speak Catalan. "The armed forces have as their mission to guarantee the sovereignty and independence of Spain," trumpeted the general.

Mr Bono will now ask the cabinet to sack him. One irony is that his comments were in the tradition of burlesque patriotism that Mr Bono himself so often displays. Yet the general struck a nerve in a country that has seen dozens of military coups over the past 200 years. The civil war of 1936-39 that led to Franco's dictatorship began partly because the army took exception to Catalan autonomy. Democracy was restored only in 1975; another comic-opera coup was tried six years later.

This incident has ratcheted up the row over Catalonia's new statute, and increased tensions between the Socialist government of Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero and the opposition. Spain's political agenda is now dominated by the issue. Mr Zapatero, whose minority Socialist government relies on Catalan nationalist votes, has left himself open to the criticism that he is a lightweight who has let his tenure be taken over by regional squabbling.

Last November the Cortes, Spain's parliament, voted 197-146 to accept the Catalan statute and send it to its constitutional committee. The opposition People's Party (PP), which says the plan is unconstitutional, voted no and has tried to block its progress. A PP spokesman said that General Mena's latest pronunciamentito was inevitable in the prevailing climate. The PP leader, Mariano Rajoy, argues that "the whole Catalan statute is built on a false assumption that Catalonia is a nation, so it is sovereign...and has a right to decide by itself its relations with the Spanish state."

The Catalan dispute is being watched closely in the Basque country, the other region that always wants more autonomy. It has also encouraged less restive places. Socialist-ruled Andalusia is toying with a definition of itself as a "nation". One wag suggested that such a putative al-Andalus might see Osama bin Laden as its spiritual father. A similar reform in the PP-governed Valencia provoked less reaction.

Mr Zapatero has declared that the Catalan statute is unacceptable in its present form. But he seems to have persuaded most Spaniards that the PP is scaremongering. "When the Catalan statute is approved and in force, I will remind you [ie, the PP] that you were wrong and deceived the citizens, because nothing is at risk," he said. In keeping with his instinct for compromise, Mr Zapatero has told Catalans that the statute heralds a new dawn, yet at the same time assured Spaniards that nothing of substance will change. But the conservative newspaper ABC noted that the statute deepens "the abyss between the two visions of Spain held by Zapatero and Rajoy," and also pointed to its "elastic, imprecise and ambiguous" language.

The final version of the statute is likely to be substantially altered; more than 500 amendments have been proposed. Even many Socialists have threatened to oppose it unless it is watered down. The toughest wrangling is over how much tax autonomy to cede to Catalonia (Socialist-run Extremadura and Andalusia are both anxious to keep fiscal transfers from Spain's richest region) and the use of the word "nation". The Catalans want to keep 90% of their income taxes; Madrid may offer a compromise of 50%. Mr Zapatero has also suggested "national identity" as a better phrase than "nation". Yet striking a deal on either point will be hard.

Despite the fuss on the centre-right and in the army, most Spaniards seem not to care much. Opinion polls still give the Socialists an edge over the PP, although the lead is shrinking. At the start of his tenure Spain's prime minister remarked that it was easy to govern Spain because he had "demystified power". That claim might hold good so long as he can keep telling everybody what they want to hear and amiably fudging through. But a fudge may not prove possible over Catalonia.

Feature looks at the suggestion of disquiet in the military in Spain to the reforms which will give Catalonia greater autonomy.