Sub-State Diplomacy: Catalonia's External Action Amidst the Quest for State Sovereignty

In: International negotiation: a journal of theory and practice, Band 22, Heft 2, S. 344-373

Abstract

The Spanish self-governing regions' international actions date back as far as the 1980s. Together with the Basque Country, Catalonia is the Spanish self-governing region with the most active trajectory of international action. Catalan international action, which is a pioneer in the Spanish context, came to be slowly but progressively accepted as a normalized form of conduct by the Spanish state, as was the international action of other Spanish self-governing regions. Nevertheless, this normalization did not eliminate conflict, which continued to surface, though sporadically and without representing significant problems. However, things appear to have changed recently. Since 2012, Catalonia has been immersed in the process of independence or national transition. In this context, the Catalan Government's international action has taken new directions and created new instruments. For the first time in the history of Catalonia's international action, we witness clear signs of protodiplomacy.