Origins In March 1969 the Constituent Assembly of the party was celebrated. In this assembly the organization officially adopted a
communist and
independentist ideology.
Joaquim Maurín,
Jaume Vicens i Vives and the classical international
marxist authors were the most important theoretical inspirations the party. The influence of the
Third World revolutionary movements, specially the
Cuban Revolution, the
Vietcong and the
Algerian FLN was also very important. The
Basque organization
Euskadi Ta Askatasuna (ETA) and the
Galician People's Union (UPG) were also references, both in theory and practice. The main objectives of the party were: the expulsion of the
occupation forces, the territorial unity of the
Catalan Countries, the
creation of a Catalan socialist state and the constitution of a Catalan socialist society in an international socialist society. The strategic line of the party was defined as: • Awareness of dual national and
social oppression. • Organisation of the
working class and other popular sectors. • Organizational autonomy and generalization of the struggle. The PSAN also established some minimum points to negotiate with other parties:
freedom of association,
right to strike,
the statute of Núria 1932, at least similar statutes to the
Valencian Country and the
Balearic Islands. The PSAN criticized the
National Front of Catalonia (FNC) for
being in the past and established a new organizational model: • ''Bases d'Enquadrament
, divided into fronts (students, union, education, comarques and neighborhoods) and a service of propaganda and education, which is in charge of publications, including the magazine, Lluita'', published since August 1969. • Assembly of representatives, the
central committee of the party (15 to 20 members). • Executive Board, responsible for policy direction, coordination of the party and the propaganda apparatus. Its members at the time, between 50 and 100, were concentrated in
Barcelona,
Vallès Oriental,
Vallès Occidental,
Maresme,
Lleida, the
Tarragonès, the
Terra Alta and the
Gironès. The party had also contacts they had in
Mallorca and
València. Since
September 11, 1969 the PSAN participated in the placement of
estelades, political graffiti and posters. Some members were arrested due to those actions. At the same time, in December 1969 they were invited to join the
Council of Political Forces of Catalonia, but they refused because of the
Burgeois and moderate character of this body. In September 1970 the PSAN encouraged its members to join
CCOO. They participated in the demonstrations on
May 1, and attempteded to form a teachers union and maintained contacts with the
Socialist Movement of Catalonia. Influenced by the
Process of Burgos and the
Basque armed group
ETA, the party created a
direct action section, to show solidarity with the
Basque movement. The same year Socialist Independentist Action of Catalonia (ASIC), led by
Fèlix Cucurull, a small group but with experienced militants. They also maintained contacts with
Esquerra Catalana dels Treballadors (ECT), the
Valencian Socialist Party (PSV),
Germania Socialista and the
Comité Rossellonès d'Estudis i d'Acció (CREA). On January 16, 1971, the party called for a demonstration in
Barcelona in solidarity with the people being tried in the
Process of Burgos, with 200 participants. The PSAN also showed support to the
Assembly of Catalonia, to avoid isolation and lose influence. Joan Josep Armet became the spokesman and intended to strengthen its popular and paraticipativo character and deepen its national character. In 1972 the party was in crisis because of its slow growth, especially in the unions, and some activists believed that changes were needed to energize the party. This critical members published, between 1972 and 1973, several magazines. In 1972 the youth section,
Catalan Revolutionary Youth (JRC) was created. The PSAN also supported the militants of the
Catalan Liberation Front (FAC), that were jailed or were being tried, but criticized the lack of serious political content in that organization. After the Second Plenary Session of the
Assembly of Catalonia in 1973, the PSAN politically confronted the
PSUC and
OCE-Bandera Roja, accusing them of being
Spanish nationalists. The
Catalan Revolutionary Youth and the PSAN had also at the time the first confrontations, since the youth group wanted a more
frentist approach to organization. The insurrectionsm of some sectors also caused internal problems.
The split of the PSAN-Provisional In March 1973 the PSAN suffered a split of a more radical group, including the majority of the
Catalan Revolutionary Youth. This group considered that the PSAN had an excessively conciliatory stance towards the
PSUC. The splitters formed the
Socialist Party of National Liberation-Provisional in 1974. In August 1973, the PSAN establishes a cell in
Prada de Conflent, in the French department of
Pyrénées-Orientales and gained presence in the city of
València in 1974, the party being joined by people that would become very important members in the future:
Josep Guia, Gonçal Castelló or Manuel Tarín among them. In April 1975 the PSAN joined the Democratic Council of Valencia. In 1976 the party gained presence in the
Balearic Islands. In January 1976, the PSAN elected a new
Central Committee, that adopted a new Political Declaration of Principles, which declared the party to be strictly
Leninist. In the labor field in 1977, the party sponsored the
Col·lectius de Treballadors, while the
PSAN-Provisional did the same with the
Col·lectius d'Obrers en Lluita, to enter the labor field. In 1977 the party suffered a split from the moderate
marxist current, that created the Catalan Liberation Collective. In the
elections of 1977, the first democratic ones since
1936, the party created the
Popular Unity Candidature for Socialism (CUPS), in coalition with the
Marxist Unification Movement and the PSAN-P, that gained 12.040 votes (the 0.4% of the total in
Catalonia). The party was legalised in 1978. The PSAN also supported the successful candidacy of
Lluís Maria Xirinacs to the
Spanish Senate. In
elections of 1977 the PSAN created a new coalition with the
Catalan Workers Bloc and independents, the Bloc d'Esquerra d'Alliberament Nacional (BEAN). BEAN gained 46,962 votes (1.59% of the total vote in
Catalonia). In the
local elections of the same year the party got 8,878 votes and 5 town councillors. In 1980 the party abandoned the coalition and suffered the split of
Nacionalistes d'Esquerra (NE), the
eurocommunist section of the party.
From the 80's to today and Jordi Fornas in 2013. After the split of
NE, the PSAN radicalized, and in 1983 became the axis of the
Moviment de Defensa de la Terra (MDT), created in 1984 thanks to the union with
Independentists of the Catalan Countries (CPI), the successor organization
PSAN-Provisional. However, in 1987 the
MDT was divided and fragmented. The faction of the
MDT close to the PSAN was the
MDT-Patriotic Front (MDT-FP). In 1988 a new youth organization,
Maulets was created. In 1989 the PSAN joined
Catalunya Lliure, an electoral coalition formed by the
National Front of Catalonia, the
MDT-FP and
Maulets. The adoption of independentism by
Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC) at the end of that year left
Catalunya Lliure in a difficult position, since a lot of its members joined
ERC. The PSAN and
Maulets were the only organizations left in
Catalunya Lliure in 1993. The coalition was dissolved in 1996. Since then, the PSAN has been very isolated from the rest of the Catalan Independentist Left. Since 2010 the party supports
Catalan Solidarity for Independence and joined the coalition in 2012. ==References==