The term La Franja ("The Strip", more properly Franja de Aragón in Spanish; Franja d'Aragó or Franja de Ponent (Western Strip) 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.

The thin strip of land is very diverse geographically, ranging from valleys in the Pyrenees to the flat lands by the Ebro, all are included under this umbrella term. As such, La Franja does not have any official recognition nor historical entity by itself, but the term is mostly used in neighbouring Catalonia, especially within Catalan nationalism.

[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 was created to designate a linguistic area, there are other issues in question:

• The ecclesiastical sense
• The linguistic sense
• The political sense
• The socio-economic sense

[edit] The ecclesiastical sense

The parishes of what is now called la Franja had been historically a part of the Diocese of Lleida. In 1995, Catholic church authorities, through the Papal Nuncio to Spain, informed the president of the Spanish Episcopal Conference –Archbishop of Zaragoza, Elías Yanes– of the decision of the Holy See to align the diocesan boundaries with the political and historical reality.

This meant that 111 parishes and a population of 68,089 were transferred from the Diocese of Lleida to the amended Diocese of Barbastro, whose name was then changed to Diocese of Barbastro-Monzón^[3] As for the reasons of the transfer, some Catalan ecclesiastical ranks considered that it was a result of the opposition of these Aragonese parishes to a short-lived debate on the convenience of creating a distinct Catalan Episcopal Conference, which would have been detached from the Spanish one^[4].

The transfer of the parishes, specifically the ownership of the medieval artistic objects or sacred art comprised, originated 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 finally 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^[5], later on, it stated that talks should be opened to reach an agreement^[6], in the end effectively protracting the end of the dispute. In the meantime, the works of art remain located in the Diocese Museum of Lleida. The lawsuit is known as the conflicto del patrimonio eclesiástico de la Franja (the conflict of the ecclesiastical heritage of the Franja) or del Aragón Oriental (of Eastern Aragon), and though it began as a local debate, it has become in became a national press story, especially due to the confrontation between the political forces of Aragon and Catalonia.

On July 1, 2008 an agreement between the two dioceses was announced, again stating that the art pieces would return to the Barbastro-Monzón diocese^[7]. However, the situation remained stalled due to the continued refusal of the Catalan administration to issue an exit permit, something which eventually led to the Aragonese region president to open a criminal procedure in February 2009, thus effectively giving up on the resolved yet stalled civil procedure^[8]. Then the Vatican itself urged for the return of the pieces to Aragon, to no avail^[9].

[edit] The linguistic sense

Territorial Area of the Catalan Language, including Valencian

The Catalan language is spoken by a significant proportion of the population of La Franja— more than 90 percent^{[citation needed]}—the highest proportion of all the territories where this language is spoken^[10]. This 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, which amounts for severe deficiences in writing competences of this language.

[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 draft of the Aragonese 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 Draft 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), a conservative^{[citation needed]} 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. There are other civic associations staunchly rejecting the Catalan filiation of the language^[11]

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 Geografia Comarcal of the GREC

The Gran Geografia Comarcal of the Grup Enciclopèdia 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

Variations in the Catalan-speaking municipalities of Huesca.

[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:

• (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: [5]

[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 Lleida, 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 Lleida is especially reflected in editions of the local Lleida press for example La Mañana-Franja de Ponent and also of Aragon as shown by the digital publication Franja Digital.

[edit] References

1. ^ Vila, Pau (1929). "Les marques de Ponent. Els homes". La Publicitat. 
2. ^ 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. 
3. ^ 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. http://www.cortesaragon.es/bases/original.nsf/(BOCA1)/D4ABBF706B7D64F64125687B0028F049/$File/Boca179-3.pdf. 
4. ^ [1]
5. ^ M. J. SANGENIS (2005-10-07). "El Obispado de Lleida no devolverá el arte sacro a Barbastro sin el permiso del Govern". El Mundo. http://www.elmundo.es/papel/2005/10/07/catalunya/1871329.html. Retrieved 2008-06-05.  (Spanish)
6. ^ sourced from EFE (2008-05-13). "El Vaticano ordena a Lleida entregar las piezas de arte sacro a Aragón". La Vanguardia. http://www.lavanguardia.es/lv24h/20080513/53462786913.html. Retrieved 2008-06-05.  (Spanish)
7. ^ El obispado de Lleida devolverá al de Barbastro las obras de arte religioso reclamadas desde 1995 · ELPAÍS.com
8. ^ [2]
9. ^ [3]
10. ^ CRUSCAT - El coneixement del català
11. ^ [4]

[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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