Generalitat facts for kids

The Generalitat (pronounced roughly like "zhen-uh-ruh-lee-TAT") is a special name for important governments in Spain. It's used for two main areas: Catalonia and the Valencian Community. These areas have their own governments that help them run things locally, a bit like states in other countries. They are two of the 17 self-governing regions in Spain. The name is also used for the government of a smaller area called Val d'Aran, which is known as the Generalitat a l'Aran.

What is the Generalitat?

The idea of the Generalitat started a long, long time ago, back in the 1200s. In those days, there were special meetings called Corts (like old parliaments) in old Catalonia and the old Kingdom of Valencia. The Generalitat was originally a small group of people chosen from these meetings. Their job was to make sure that the decisions made by the Corts were actually put into action when the meetings weren't happening. The name comes from the Catalan phrase Diputació del General, which means "Delegation of the General Assembly."

A Look at History

The Generalitats in Catalonia and Valencia were stopped in the early 1700s. This happened because Philip V of Spain signed some laws called the Nueva Planta decrees. These laws changed how Spain was governed and took away a lot of the local power.

The Generalitat only came back much later, after Francisco Franco passed away in 1975. However, in Catalonia, the Generalitat did exist for a few years before that, during the time of the Second Spanish Republic (from 1931 to 1939).

The Generalitat a l'Aran in Val d'Aran was officially created more recently, in 2006. But even before that, Val d'Aran had a good amount of self-rule within Catalonia since 1979.

How the Generalitat Works Today

Today, when people say "Generalitat," they are talking about the entire government of a region, not just one part of it. This includes all three main parts of a government:

• The group that makes decisions and carries them out (the executive).
• The group that makes laws (the legislative).
• The group that handles justice (the judicial).

For example, the government of Catalonia is officially called the "Government of the Generality of Catalonia" (Govern de la Generalitat de Catalunya). In the Valencian Community, their government is known as the "Council of the Valencian Generality" (Consell de la Generalitat Valenciana). For Val d'Aran, their main leader is called the Síndic.

See also

• Generalitat de Catalunya
• Generalitat Valenciana