Tabarnia
Fictional region of Catalonia / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Tabarnia (Tabàrnia in Catalan) (Catalan pronunciation: [təˈβaɾ.ni.ə]; Spanish: [taˈβaɾnja]) is a fictional region within Catalonia,[1][2] a satirical parody of the Catalan independence movement[3][4][5][6] and a movement against the independence of Catalonia from Spain.[7][8][9] The Tabarnia movement mirrors the independentist movement advocating for a referendum[10][11] to create a new Spanish autonomous community out of coastal urban parts of Catalonia, a region that gathers most of the population of Catalonia and in which, in general, votes for independentist parties rarely reach 30% of the votes but generates most of the gross domestic product of Catalonia. It would encompass the current Catalan comarques of Maresme, Baix Camp, Baix Penedès, Alt Penedès, Garraf, Baix Llobregat, Barcelonès, Vallès Oriental, Vallès Occidental and Tarragonés.
The Tabarnia movement assumes that the sovereign subject is not the total of Catalans, but the total of Spaniards (as stated in the Spanish Constitution), so it proposes satirically a gerrymandering[12][13] strategy to mirror another case of alleged gerrymandering by Catalan independentists, that propose breaking the sovereignty of Spain to decide if Catalonia should become a separate state,[14] allowing people to vote only where secessionism could have chances to win.
Proponents believe the area somewhat corresponds to the historic County of Barcelona, although its extent is considerably different.[15] This proposal, from a platform created in 2011,[16] provoked renewed interest after the electoral results of the 2017 Catalan regional election. The word 'Tabarnia' went viral on 26 December 2017, reaching worldwide top-trending status with over 648,000 mentions. The only major demonstration organized by the Tabarnia movement took place in Barcelona on 4 March 2018, with 15,000 participants according to the Guarda Urbana and 200,000 according to organizers.[17]
The term, the concept and the Tabarnia flag were invented by a neighbor of Barcelona named Daniel de la Fuente in 2012.[18][19][20][21] Jaume Vives and Albert Boadella (considered one of the founders of Ciudadanos) have self-proclaimed to be the spokesman and president of Tabarnia.[22][23][24] Jaume Vives stated: "It is starting to achieve its objective, that the (Catalan) independentists start debunking their own arguments.".[25] Miquel Martinez presents itself as the representative of Platform for Tabarnia,[26] but in the association registry of Catalonia only exists the "Associació Somos Tabarnia" (Association We are Tabarnia).[27] At a Spain level two other platforms exist: "Coordinadora por Tabarnia" and "Asamblea Nacional de Tabarnia".[28]
Several anti-secession parties and organisations have publicized and participated in events in support of the idea of Tabarnia. Those include Ciudadanos, Partido Popular, Vox and Plataforma per Catalunya.[29][30][31] On the Internet, the blog Dolça Catalunya contributed to boost its popularity.[32][33] Other parties and movements, mostly pro-secession, have criticized the concept of Tabarnia, like Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya, PDeCAT and the far-right and xenophobic Moviment Identitari Català and Front Nacional de Catalunya.[34][35]