The 1977 Catalan Autonomy Protests were a set of protesting advocating for democracy, the end of Spanish fascism and Catalan autonomy following the death of Francisco Franco. The protests were part of the broader protests for democracy during the Spanish transition to democracy.
Background
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Catalonia during the late 19th and early 20th century was a stronghold of republican and left-wing politics in Spain. Increasing industrialisation during the 19th century pushed more individuals into the city and towards the growing labour movement, particularly trade unions. The economy of the Barcelona became dominated by worker controlled cooperatives and Catalonia as whole drifted further left during this period. One of the main trade unions during this period was the Confederación Nacional del Trabajo (CNT) which at it's height controlled nearly all sectors of the Barcelona economy and society. Catalonia during this period began clashing with the conservative monarchical Spanish government, and conflict within the province grew. Following the abdication of Amadeo I of Spain, Catalonia was supportive of the First Spanish Republic during the 1873 Spanish general election voting overwhelmingly for the Federal Democratic Republican Party. Following the Coup d'état of Pavía and the dissolution by of the republic, reactionary policies were introduced suppressing pro-leftist, republican and Catalan parties, finalized in the Bourbon Restoration. More radical anti-electoral organizations began growing in influence in Catalonia often influenced by anarchism, such as the Spanish Regional Federation of the IWA the predecessor to the CNT.
After the collapse of the first republic, the politics of Spain were dominated by aristocracy which vested support to the monarchy. After this politics was dominated by the constitutionalist party and conservatives in which large scale electoral fraud swung power between the two parties inside a political status quo known as the Turno system that assigned seats before the election. Catalonia during this time became socially polarized between the an urban-rural divide in which cities like Barcelona and Girona moved further towards the left influenced by anarchism and socialism and rural landowners in the countryside amassed large estates primarily supporting the Spanish monarchy.
As the political situation in Spain became increasingly authoritarian and corrupt under Alfonso XII and Alfonso XIII political violence in the country rose dramatically. Right-wing militias who supported the monarchy, as well as left-wing militias in the growing labour movement both grew during this time. Violence between these groups emerged frequently and often reached a boiling point during general strikes, such as during the Cullera events and the tragic week. During this period Spain began majorly lagging behind the rest of industrialised European nations such as France, the United Kingdom, and the German Empire.