Òmnium Cultural () is a Spanish association based in

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

Catalonia Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...

. It was originally created in the 1960s to promote the

Catalan language Catalan () is a Western Romance languages, Western Romance language and is the official language of Andorra, and the official language of three autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous communities in eastern Spain: Catalonia, the Balearic I ...

and spread Catalan culture. Over the years it has increased its involvement in broader political issues; in 2012 it committed itself to

Catalan independence The Catalan independence movement (; ; ) is a Social movement, social and political movement with roots in Catalan nationalism that seeks the independence of Catalonia from Spain. While proposals, organizations and individuals advocating for Ca ...

, specifically demanding the right of

self-determination Self-determination refers to a people's right to form its own political entity, and internal self-determination is the right to representative government with full suffrage. Self-determination is a cardinal principle in modern international la ...

for Catalonia.

Jordi Cuixart Jordi Cuixart i Navarro (born 22 April 1975) is a Spanish businessman and cultural activist from Catalonia. He was the president of Òmnium Cultural, a non-profit cultural organisation founded in 1961 with more than 190,000 members and 52 local b ...

, then president of Òmnium, was jailed for his involvement in protests preceding the 2017 Catalan independence referendum. Currently Òmnium claims more than 190,000 members organised in 52 regional offices besides the headquarters in Barcelona.

History

Òmnium Cultural was created on 11 July 1961 in the context of

Francoist Spain Francoist Spain (), also known as the Francoist dictatorship (), or Nationalist Spain () was the period of Spanish history between 1936 and 1975, when Francisco Franco ruled Spain after the Spanish Civil War with the title . After his death i ...

when the institutional use of Catalan was forbidden. In 1963 the Francoist authorities closed down the association. Òmnium had to continue to exist as a clandestine association between 1963–1967. In 1967, after a long

legal case Legal proceeding is an activity that seeks to invoke the power of a tribunal in order to enforce a law. Although the term may be defined more broadly or more narrowly as circumstances require, it has been noted that " e term ''legal proceedings'' ...

before the Francoist courts, the association won its right to exist and was once again authorised. In order to promote Catalan culture within the many limits of Francoism, Òmnium was the main creator and sponsor of various

award An award, sometimes called a distinction, is given to a recipient as a token of recognition of excellence in a certain field. When the token is a medal, ribbon or other item designed for wearing, it is known as a decoration. An award may be d ...

s and literary contests for works published in Catalan, such as the ''Premi d'Honor de les Lletres Catalanes'' (1969). In the early 1970s it established the ''Nit de Santa Llúcia'' a festival of

Catalan literature Catalan literature (or Valencian literature) is the name conventionally used to refer to literature written in the Catalan language. The focus of this article is not just the literature of Catalonia, but literature written in Catalan from anywhe ...

where three prizes are awarded: the '' Premi Sant Jordi'' (

novel A novel is an extended work of narrative fiction usually written in prose and published as a book. The word derives from the for 'new', 'news', or 'short story (of something new)', itself from the , a singular noun use of the neuter plural of ...

), the '' Premi Mercè Rodoreda'' (

short story A short story is a piece of prose fiction. It can typically be read in a single sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the old ...

) and the ''Premi Carles Riba'' (poetry). After the Francoist dictatorship ended in 1975, Òmnium continued its work promoting Catalan language and culture. Once democracy was restored, Òmnium supported and defended Catalan self-government. It was awarded the

Creu de Sant Jordi The Creu de Sant Jordi (, in English language, English 'St George's Cross') is one of the highest civil distinctions awarded in Catalonia (Spain), surpassed only in protocol by the Gold Medal of the Generalitat of Catalonia, Gold Medal of the G ...

by the Catalan government (Generalitat) in 1984 and named a

public interest In social science and economics, public interest is "the welfare or well-being of the general public" and society. While it has earlier philosophical roots and is considered to be at the core of democratic theories of government, often paired ...

body in 2009. After the Spanish Constitutional Court's rejection of the new

Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia The Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006 () provides Catalonia's basic institutional regulations under the Spanish Constitution of 1978. It defines the rights and obligations of the citizens of Catalonia, the political institutions of the Ca ...

in 2010, one million people marched in Barcelona calling for national self-determination in a

2010 Catalan autonomy protest The 2010 Catalan autonomy protest was a demonstration in central Barcelona on 10 July 2010 against limitations of the autonomy of Catalonia, and particularly against a recent decision of the Spanish Constitutional Court to annul or reinterpret ...

organised by Òmnium. In December 2015,

was elected president by a large majority. He was then re-elected in 2018. During Cuixart's arrest, the most visible member of the association was its spokesman Marcel Mauri. In 2022 Xavier Antich won the association's presidency with the 21,758 votes cast in an election where Antich was the sole candidate. Òmnium was one of the main organisations, together with Assemblea Nacional Catalana, supporting the Catalan self-determination referendum in 2017. After

Operation Anubis The Operation Anubis was a police operation in Catalonia, Spain, initiated on 20 September 2017 by the Civil Guard (Spain), Civil Guard following orders of the trial court number 13 of Barcelona, directed by judge Juan Antonio Ramírez Sunyer. Its ...

, both the president of Òmnium, Jordi Cuixart, and the president of ANC,

Jordi Sànchez Jordi () is the Catalan form of the ancient Greek name Georgios. Jordi is a popular name in Catalonia and is also given in the Netherlands and in Spanish-, English- and German-speaking countries. Jordi may also refer to: Sant Jordi – patron sa ...

, were sent to jail. Since then, several organizations including

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says that it has more than ten million members a ...

, the

Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) is a department of the United Nations Secretariat that works to promote and protect human rights that are guaranteed under international law and stipulated in the Univers ...

PEN International PEN International (known as International PEN until 2010) is a worldwide professional association, association of writers, founded in London in 1921 to promote friendship and intellectual co-operation among writers everywhere. The association ...

, the

World Organisation Against Torture The World Organisation Against Torture (''Organisation Mondiale Contre la Torture''; OMCT) is the world's largest coalition of non-governmental organisations fighting against arbitrary detention, torture, summary and extrajudicial execution ...

Front Line Defenders Front Line Defenders, or The International Foundation for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, is an Irish-based human rights organisation founded in Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland in 2001 to protect those who work non-violently to uph ...

and the

International Association of Democratic Lawyers International Association of Democratic Lawyers (IADL) is an international organization of left-wing and progressive jurists' associations with sections and members in 50 countries and territories. Along with facilitating contact and exchange of v ...

have asked for their release.

Structure and funding

Òmnium Cultural is one of the biggest organizations in Catalonia, claiming more than 190,000 members. It is based in Barcelona with regional offices in 52 other municipalities. Òmnium Cultural cooperates with other organizations that share similar goals in other Catalan-speaking territories: Acció Cultural del País Valencià (in the Valencian Country) and Obra Cultural Balear (in the

Balearic Islands The Balearic Islands are an archipelago in the western Mediterranean Sea, near the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. The archipelago forms a Provinces of Spain, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain, ...

). Between 2005 and 2012, the association received up to 13 million euros in grants from the Catalan regional government (Generalitat). from which 1.4 million were received in 2012 alone. In all, in the 2011–2016 period Òmnium could have received more than 20 million euros from the Generalitat (2.9m euros in 2011, 3.2m euros in 2012, 4.5m euros in 2013, 6.6m euros in 2014, 5.6m euros in 2015 and 4.4m euros in 2016). In 2013 the association announced that it would no longer receive funding from the Catalan government, but the organization does not publish its accounts. In 2016, different local authorities gave grants to Òmnium, basically for local cultural activities, for a value of €144,404.12, out of a total income in 2016 of €4.4 million. According to the Spanish Civil Guard in 2018, 98% of Òmnium Cultural's budget came from private contributions and it did not receive funding from the Catalan government in relation to the 2017 independence referendum. In November 2015 Òmnium was condemned by the

Audiencia Nacional The Audiencia Nacional (; ) is a high court in Spain with jurisdiction over all of the Spanish territory. It is specialised in certain kinds of crime, having original jurisdiction over major crimes such as those committed against the Crown and i ...

for the unauthorised use and deficient custody of

personal data Personal data, also known as personal information or personally identifiable information (PII), is any information related to an identifiable person. The abbreviation PII is widely used in the United States, but the phrase it abbreviates has fou ...

, after its data had been stolen by a hacker. This led to a €200,000 sanction imposed by the Spanish agency responsible for

data protection Data protection may refer to: * Information privacy, also known as data privacy * Data security {{Authority control ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Omnium Cultural Catalan advocacy organizations Culture of Catalonia Cultural promotion organizations Organizations established in 1961 1961 establishments in Spain Catalan nationalism Catalan independence movement

History

Structure and funding

See also

References

External links