La Franja
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The term La Franja, more properly Franja de Aragón or Franja de Poniente (Western Strip) in Spanish, Franja d'Aragó or Franja de Ponent in Catalan, and Francha d'Aragón or Francha de Lebán (Eastern Strip) in Aragonese is a term that refers to the territory comprising the Catalan-speaking territories of Aragon bordering Catalonia (Spain). Usually La Franja is considered to be comprised by the municipalities of the following comarcas: Ribagorza, La Litera, Bajo Cinca, Bajo Aragon-Caspe, Bajo Aragon and Matarraña.
[edit] Origin of the names that refer to La Franja
The use of a term to refer to the eastern area of Aragon bordering Catalonia as based on linguistic criteria is recent. It was in 1929 —when he christened these as Marques de Ponent, "Western Marches"—[1] that Catalan geographer Pau Vila used for the first time a term designating jointly the Aragonese comarcas where Catalan is spoken.
This term was kept in the second half of the 20th centuries by Catalan philologists such as Joan Coromines, along with other terms such as Marcas de Aragó or Marques d'Aragó ("Marches of Aragon"), Cataluña aragonesa or Catalunya aragonesa ("Aragonese Catalonia") or "la raya de Aragón" or la ratlla d'Aragó ("the Aragonese Strip").
Whichever term is used, they all refer to the eastern Catalan-speaking area of Aragon, which borders Catalonia to the west. These terms all originated and remain chiefly used in Catalonia, they are therefore Catalonia-centered and hence the Ponent ("Western") reference in the term La Franja del Ponent, because these comarcas lie to the west of Catalonia.
The term Franja de Ponent itself first appeared in the second half of the 1970s, during the Spanish transition to democracy:
the name in question is the collective creation of a group of Catalan-speaking Aragonese and Catalans from the Principality (Catalonia), interested in the fact that a part of Aragon is Catalan-speaking, who used to met some Saturday evenings at the Centro Comarcal Leridano (CCL) premises in Barcelona during the first years of the transition, and, simultaneously, it was also the creation of some original and small local groups –which were often joined by those CCL members– which emerged in La Litera in defense of the cultural-linguistic identity of the comarca.[2]
At the Second International Congress of the Catalan Language (Segon Congrés Internacional de la Llengua Catalana) held in 1985, the normative authority on the Catalan language, known as Institut d'Estudis Catalans, adopted Franja d'Aragó ("Aragonese Strip") as the denomination for the Catalan-speaking territories of Aragon for academic and linguistic purposes, while the denomination Franja de Ponent ("Western Strip") is used mainly in the political arena by some associations, groups and political parties associated with pancatalanism.
Later on, alternative denominations such as Aragón Oriental (Aragó Oriental), Franja Oriental o Franja de Levante (Franja de Llevant), all meaning roughly Eastern Aragon or Eastern Strip were created in Aragon.
[edit] Diverse meanings
While the term originally refers to a linguistic area, it carries several connotations:
- The ecclesiastical sense
- The linguistic sense
- The political sense
- The socio-economic sense
[edit] The ecclesiastical sense
[edit] Origin
The Catholic church authorities, through the Papal Nuncio to Spain, informed on 15 June 1995 the president of the Spanish Bishops' Conference –Archbishop of Zaragoza, Elías Yanes– of the decision of the Holy See to align the diocesan boundaries with the political and historical reality. With the implementation of this decision 111 parishes were transferred from the Diocese of Lleida to the amended Diocese of Barbastro-Monzón. The notification was expressed in the following terms:
In accordance with my remit, it is my pleasure to communicate to you that the Congregation of Bishops has thoroughly examined the issue of the redrawing of the borders of the dioceses of Lleida and Barbastro, based on the petition formulated by the Spanish Episcopal Conference that the territories of the Autonomous Community of Aragon belonging to the Diocese of Lleida come to form part of the Diocese of Barbastro. And, bearing in mind the reasons expressed in order to favour the spiritual well being of the faithful, it has decided to agree to it.
For the realisation of the aforementioned redrawing of the borders, the said Dicastery has taken the following decision:
1. to detach the parishes situated within the Autonomous Community of Aragon belonging to the deanery of Ribagorza Occidental, Ribagorza Oriental and Cinca Medio from the Diocese of Lleida and incorporate them into the Diocese of Barbastro, which will become known as Barbastro-Monzón:
2. the other deaneries of Litera and Bajo Cinca, with their respective parishes, will be joined to the Diocese of Barbastro-Monzón within three years, that is to say, by 15 June 1998, in such a way that the territory of the Diocese of Lleida may in the meantime be adequately defined.[3]
The transfer of the parishes, specifically the ownership of the medieval artistic objects or sacred art comprised, resulted in an intricated series of lawsuits involving both dioceses (Barbastro-Monzón and Lleida), both autonomous governments (Aragón and Catalonia) and both legal systems canon and administrative law. It was decided by the ecclesiastic canon judges in 2005 that the 113 works of art belong to the Barbastro-Monzón diocese. The Lleida diocese released and statement accepting this decision but, at the same time, announced that then the administrative process would be opened[4], later on it stated that talks should be opened to explore an agreement[5], in the end effectively protracting the end of the dispute. In the meantime, the works of art located in the Diocese Museum of Lleida have been retained by the Bishop of Lleida, refusing to transfer them to the collection of the Diocese of Barbastro-Monzón. The lawsuit is popularly known as the conflicto de los bienes/patrimonio eclesiástico de la Franja (the conflict of the goods/ecclesiastical heritage of the Franja) or del Aragón Oriental (of Eastern Aragon), and though it began as a local debate, it has become in the last year a national press story, especially due to the confrontation between the political forces of Aragon and Catalonia.
[edit] Territorial basis
This case emphasises how the conflict over the churches' treasures has brought a new dimension to the term Franja; the territoriality to which it refers does not follow linguistic criteria but lies in the ecclesiastic territorial area based on deaneries, indifferently including monolingual Spanish-speaking and bilingual municipalities, and all being confined to the province of Huesca.
The Deaneries that include the Franja de Aragón in its ecclesiastic sense are:
- The Deanery of Bajo Cinca
- The Deanery of Cinca Medio
- The Deanery of La Litera
- The Deanery of Ribagorza Occiental
- The Deanery of Ribagorza Oriental
|
|
parishes |
(km²) |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Septembre 1995 | 84 | 2.317,3 | 37.793 |
| June 1998 | 27 | 1.607,7 | 30.296 |
| Total parishes transferred | 111 | 3.925,0 | 68.089 |
[edit] The linguistic sense
The Catalan language is spoken by a significant proportion of the population of La Franja— more than 90 percent —the highest proportion of all the territories where it is spoken, despite the fact that it is not an official language and that it has a very limited presence in education (where it is only possible to study it as an optional subject), in administration and or public acts in general. According to recent studies[6], La Franja is actually one of the territories with the highest oral usage of Catalan language, but with severe deficiences in writing competences because of its lack of officiality and support in education.
[edit] Territorial basis
The exact territorial limits of the Franja de Aragón differ depending on the source, since there are some municipalities of Ribagorza where there are doubts over whether or not to include them as Catalan-speaking or as Aragonese-speaking. The proportion of speakers of the two languages varies over time and with immigration according to the municipality, something which leads to different sources drawing slightly different linguistic borders.
[edit] According to the Avant-project of the Language Law
During the fourth session of the Cortes de Aragón (the parliament of Aragon) (1995-1999) under the PP-PAR coalition government the Special Commission Report on the Language Policy of Aragon was published. The report would be the basis for the Avant-project of the Language Law of Aragon published the following session (1999-2003) under the PSOE-PAR coalition, where for the first time from the Cortes de Aragón would detail those municipalities which formed part of a Catalan-speaking community, with the aim of recognising co-officiality and encouraging the use of Catalan in public life and especially in education.
The law was never approved due to protests and petitions in Aragon opposed to the co-officiality of Catalan, promoted in the main part by the Federación de Asociaciones Culturales del Aragón Oriental (FACAO), an organisation which maintained that the local 'linguistic modalities' were languages and not dialects of Catalan, and the lack of consensus on the issue among the Aragonese political parties. According to the list of municipalities which could be considered to be areas of predominant use of its own language or linguistic modality or areas of predominant use of normalised Catalan in the Second annex of the Second Final Disposition of the Avant-project of the Language Law, the Franja de Aragón would be composed of:
[edit] According to the Institut d'Estudis Catalans
From the point of view of the Institut d'Estudis Catalans the territory is smaller, due to the fact the municipality of Torre la Ribera is not considered Catalan-speaking, and the municipalities of Azanuy-Alins, Isábena, Lascuarre and San Esteban de Litera are classified as transitional dialects. The Catalan-speaking lands are thus reduced to a total of 57 municipalities with an area of 4,137.2 km² with a population of 45,984.
[edit] According to the Gran Enciclopedia Aragonesa
The situation is reversed according the Gran Enciclopedia Aragonesa (GEA) with the Franja having an area of 5,370 km² and with a population of 70,000. It should be mentioned that the GEA does not recognise the denomination Franja but discusses its situation under Catalan in Aragon, nor does it specify in how many or which municipalities where Catalan is clearly spoken nor the date of the census on which its figures are based.
[edit] According to the Gran Geografía Comarcal of the GREC
|
|
(km²) |
(2006) |
|---|---|---|
| Benasque | 233.6 | 2,045 |
| Bisaurri | 62.9 | 247 |
| Castejón de Sos | 31.8 | 733 |
| Chía | 26.1 | 113 |
| Güell (1) | 28.0 | 29 |
| Laguarres (2) | 33.0 | 71 |
| Sahún | 72.9 | 331 |
| Sesué | 5.2 | 125 |
| Torres del Obispo (3) | 32.0 | 163 |
| Valle de Lierp | 32.8 | 47 |
| Villanova | 6,9 | 154 |
| 8 municipalities and 3 nuclei | 565.2 | 4,058 |
| Franja de Aragon according to the Commission report | 4.442,8 | 47,236 |
| Total 70 municipalities y 3 nuclei according to the GREC | 5.008,0 | 51,294 |
The Gran Geografía Comarcal of the Grupo Enciclopedia Catalana (GREC) classes the territorial area of the Franja de Aragon as larger than that defined by the Commission report although not as large as the GEA definition. All the municipalities which it adds to those of the Avant-project and of Ribagorza and therefore belong to the Province of Huesca. It adds a total of 8 municipalities and 3 population nuclei; Güell, Laguarres y Torres del Obispo, which form part of two municipalities; Graus in the case of the first and the third, and Capella the case of the second. The table to the right details the population nuclei and official area and population figures.
- (1) Population centres belonging to the municipality of Graus. Population figures according to Ayuntamiento (no date given), area according to GREC.net.
- (2) Population centres belonging to the municipality of Capella. Population 2004, area according to GREC.net.
- (3) Population centres belonging to the municipality of Graus. Population according to Ayuntamiento (no date given), area according to GREC.net.
[edit] Comparative table and map according to sources
|
|
munici- palities |
Aragon |
|
Aragon |
(2006) |
Aragon |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Avant-project of the Language Law |
62 | 8.5 | 4,442.8 | 9.3 | 47,236 | 3.7 |
| Institut d'Estudis Catalans (IEC) |
57 | 7.8 | 4,137.2 | 8.3 | 45,984 | 3.6 |
| Gran Enciclopedia Aragonesa (GEA) |
? | - | 5,370.0 | 11.3 | 70,000 | 5.5 |
| Grupo Enciclopedia Catalana (GREC) |
70 | 9.6 | 5,008.0 | 10.5 | 51,294 | 4.0 |
| Total Aragon | 730 | 100.0 | 47,719.2 | 100.0 | 1,277,471 | 100.0 |
[edit] Toponymy
There is no unitary policy on official toponymy in the Franja leading to great variations between the local comarcalización laws in comparrison with those proposed by the IEC. The following table details the translation of the toponymy in Spanish to the official version in the local vernacular and that proposed by the IEC. At the bottom are the municipalities which the GREC includes in its definition of the Franja and the poposed names which it offers opposed to the official names:
|
|
linguistic vernacular according to the comarcalización law (1) |
according to the IEC (2) |
|---|---|---|
| Aguaviva | Aiguaviva de Bergantes | Aiguaviva de Bergantes |
| Albelda | Albelda | Albelda |
| Alcampell | El Campell | El Campell |
| Altorricón | El Torricó | El Torricó |
| Arén | Areny | Areny de Noguera |
| Arens de Lledó | Arenys de Lledó | Arenys de Lledó |
| Azanuy-Alins | Azanúy-Alins | Sanui i Alins |
| Baélls | Baells | Baells |
| Baldellou | Valdellou | Valdellou |
| Beceite | Beseit | Beseit |
| Belmonte de San José | Bellmunt de Mesquí | Bellmunt de Mesquí |
| Benabarre | Benavarri | Benavarri |
| Bonansa | Bonansa | Bonansa |
| Calaceite | Calaceit | Calaceit |
| Camporrélls | Camporrells | Camporrells |
| Castigaleu | Castigaleu | Castigaleu |
| Castillonroy | Castellonroi | Castellonroi |
| Cretas | Queretes | Cretes |
| Estopiñán del Castillo | Estopanyà | Estopanyà |
| Fabara | Favara | Favara de Matarranya |
| Fayón | Faió | Faió |
| Fórnoles | Fórnols | Fórnols de Matarranya |
| Fraga | Fraga | Fraga |
| Fuentespalda | Fontdespatla | Fondespatla |
| Isábena | Isábena | La Pobla de Roda |
| La Cañada de Verich | La Canyada de Beric | La Canyada de Beric |
| La Cerollera | La Cerollera | La Sorollera |
| La Codoñera | La Codonyera | La Codonyera |
| La Fresneda | La Freixneda | La Freixneda |
| La Ginebrosa | La Ginebrosa | La Ginebrosa |
| La Portellada | La Portellada | La Portellada |
| Lascuarre | Lascuarre | Lasquarri |
| Laspaúles | Laspaúls | Les Paüls |
| Lledó | Lledó | Lledó d'Algars |
| Maella | Maella | Maella |
| Mazaleón | Massalió | Massalió |
| Mequinenza | Mequinensa | Mequinensa |
| Monesma y Cajigar | Monesma i Caixigar | Monesma i Queixigar |
| Monroyo | Montroig | Mont-roig de Tastavins |
| Montanuy | Montanui | Montanui |
| Nonaspe | Nonasp | Nonasp |
| Peñarroya de Tastavins | Pena-roja de Tastavins | Pena-roja |
| Peralta de Calasanz | Peralta de Calasanz | Peralta de la Sal |
| Puente de Montañana | El Pont de Montanyana | El Pont de Montanyana |
| Ráfales | Ráfels | Ràfels |
| San Esteban de Litera | San Esteban de Litera | Sant Esteve de Llitera |
| Sopeira | Sopeira | Sopeira |
| Tamarite de Litera | Tamarit de Llitera | Tamarit de Llitera |
| Tolva | Tolba | Tolba |
| Torre de Arcas | Torredarques | Torredarques |
| Torre del Compte | La Torre del Compte | La Torre del Compte |
| Torre la Ribera | Torre la Ribera | Tor-la-ribera |
| Torrente de Cinca | Torrent de Cinca | Torrent de Cinca |
| Torrevelilla | La Torre de Vilella | La Torre de Vilella |
| Valdeltormo | La Vall del Tormo | La Vall de Tormo |
| Valderrobres | Vall de Roures | Vall-de-roures |
| Valjunquera | Valljunquera | Valljunquera |
| Velilla de Cinca | Villella de Cinca | Vilella de Cinca |
| Vencillón | Vensilló | Vensilló |
| Veracruz | Veracruz | Beranui |
| Viacamp y Litera | Viacamp i Lliterà | Viacamp |
| Zaidín | Saidí | Saidí |
|
according to the GREC (3) |
||
| Benasque | Benás | Benasc |
| Bisaurri | Bisaurri | Bissaürri |
| Castejón de Sos | Castilló de Sos | Castilló de Sos |
| Chía | Chía | Gia |
| Sahún | Sahún | Saünc |
| Sesué | Sesué | Sessué |
| Valle de Lierp | Valle de Lierp | La Vall de Lierp |
| Villanova | Billanoba | Vilanova d'Éssera |
- (1) Sources of the official denominations in Spanish and local vernacular:
Boletín Oficial de Aragón (BOA): Ley 10/2002, de 03 de mayo, de creación de la comarca del Bajo Aragón / Ley 12/2003, de 24 de marzo, de creación de la comarca del Bajo Aragón-Caspe / Ley 20/2002, de 07 de octubre, de creación de la comarca del Bajo Cinca / Ley 25/2002, de 12 de noviembre, de creación de la comarca de La Litera / Ley 07/2002, de 15 de abril, de creación de la comarca del Matarraña / Ley 12/2002, de 28 de mayo, de creación de la comarca de la Ribagorza.
- (2) Source of the denominations in Catalan according to the Institut d'Estudis Catalans (IEC):
Lista de denominaciones en catalán aprobada por la Sección Filológica del IEC en reunión del día 15 de diciembre de de 1995, en la reunión de la Sección Filológica de 15 de enero de 1999 se decidió incluir en la lista el topónimo "Vensilló" al ser un municipio de nueva creación. En la primera reunión los municipios de Azanuy-Alins, Isábena, Lascuarre y San Esteban de Litera se excluyeron de la lista oficial de municipios de lengua catalana de la Franja de Aragón, listándose a parte como municipios pertenecientes a un área de transición lingüística.
- (3) Source of the denominations in Catalan according to the Grupo Enciclopedia Catalana: [1]
[edit] Political sense
The Political significance of the Franja goes hand in hand with the catalanist political movement, which has always considered this part of Aragon as historical Catalonia, which through history has ended up detached from its cultural community, a community which is fundamental to the pancatalanist Catalan nation.
This new interpretation as part of the political connotation ascribed to the Catalan Countries emerged throughout the 20th Century - and especially after the 1960s - encouraged in the main part by the Valencian Joan Fuster. Pancatalanism demands the creation of a nation-state for the Catalan Countries in which the cultural unity is based on the Catalan linguistic community.
There has never been a political movement from the Franja promoting union with Catalonia, and separation from Aragon, in order to form a new political entity. In the same way, catalanist political parties do not participate in municipal or regional elections.
[edit] Socioeconomic sense
The socioeconomic meaning of the Franja relates to the economic region surrounding the Catalan city of Lérida, which encompasses Catalan-speaking Huescan and Zaragozan municipalities and excludes those in the region of Teruel and includes Spanish-speaking municipalities such as Alcolea de Cinca, Binéfar, Monzón, etc... The area of influence of Lérida is especially reflected in editions of the local Lérida press for example La Mañana-Franja de Ponent and also of Aragon as shown by the digital publication Franja Digital.
[edit] References
- ^ Vila, Pau (1929). "Les marques de Ponent. Els homes". La Publicitat.
- ^ Moret, Héctor (1995). "Com en direm? A propòsit de la denominació de les comarques de llengua catalana de l'Aragó". Revista de Catalunya 96: 41.
- ^ Justicia de Aragón (1998-04-22). Sobre la transferencia de diversas parroquias procedentes de la Diócesis de Lérida a la Diócesis de Barbastro-Monzón. Boletín Oficial de las Cortes de Aragón, number 179.
- ^ M. J. SANGENIS. "El Obispado de Lleida no devolverá el arte sacro a Barbastro sin el permiso del Govern", El Mundo, 2005-10-07. Retrieved on 2008-06-05. (Spanish)
- ^ sourced from EFE. "El Vaticano ordena a Lleida entregar las piezas de arte sacro a Aragón", La Vanguardia, 2008-05-13. Retrieved on 2008-06-05. (Spanish)
- ^ CRUSCAT - El coneixement del català
[edit] External links
- Ecclesiastic meaning
- The ecclesiastical heritage in eastern Aragon, special issue of "Heraldo de Aragón"
- The ecclesiastical heritage in La Franja, special issue of "El Periódico de Aragón"
- The ecclesiastical heritage in La Franja, Observatory of the Spanish Historical Heritage
- Image gallery and map with the dioceses borders
- Cultural meaning
- ASCUMA Associació Cultural del Matarranya. Promotes Catalan language and culture in Matarraña.
- CERIb Centro de Estudios Ribagorzanos. Studies and promotes Catalan language in Ribagorza.
- Institut d'Estudis del Baix Cinca Promotes Catalan culture in La Franja.
- Catalan in Aragon - News and resources about Catalan in La Franja
- Map of Language distribution in Aragon, by Francho Nagore
- The Western Strip Cultural Institution. Promotes Catalan culture in La Franja.
- Acció Cultural del País Valencià - Its "Casal Jaume I" promotes Catalan culture in Fraga. Delegations on Fraga and Castillonroy
- FACAO Federación de Asociaciones Culturales del Aragón Oriental. Analogously to blaverists in Valencia, they affirm that no Catalan is spoken in La Franja, but "Eastern Aragonese".
- Others
- Cinca river as frontier in History About the frontier changes between Aragon and Catalonia in la Franja.
- Franja de Ponent, entry on the Great Catalan Encyclopedia
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