What is a vegueria?

Coming Saturday, those who want a united Vegueria Penedès, will meet in Vilafranca del Penedès for a day of celebration (1ª Diada de la Vegueria Penedès). The vegueria reform will reshape the maps of Catalonia and it is high time that I try to describe what it is all about.

To use the word vegueria for the administrative regions of Catalonia has a long history. The origin dates back to the Carolignian Empire of the 9th century when vicars (from Latin and over the time catalanized to veguer), where given military and fiscal powers by the count of each territory. From the 13th century the title was used for the superior local representative of the Royal house.

Since the early 14th century and the reign of James II of Aragon (Jaume el Just), the Pricipality of Catalonia was devided into 21 vegueries. One of the biggest ones was Vilafranca, popularly called the Gran Penedès. It consisted of what we know as the comarques Alt Penedès and Baix Penedès plus Garraf (where Vilanova i la Geltrú is located). Except for that it controlled the so called sotsvegueria – a largely independent part – of Igualada (today the comarca Anoia). The medieval vegueries remained for centuries but were abolished through the Nova Planta decrees of 1716, when Catalonia lost the relative sovereignty it had enjoyed until then.

Much later, during what Catalans call the 2nd Republic (1931-39), the Generalitat again divided the area into comarques and then grouped these together into nine regions, from 1937 formally called vegueries. The regions/vegueries did not have names, but numbers, and were organized around the following capitals:

I – Barcelona
II – Girona
III – Tarragona
IV – Reus
V – Tortosa
VI – Vic
VII – Manresa
VIII – Lleida
IX – Tremp

From a local perspective, it is worth pointing out that Alt and Baix Pendés plus Garraf belonged to number III (Tarragona) while Anoia fromed part of number VII (Manresa). These administrative units were again abolished when Franco’s troops took control over the territory.

After the end of Franco’s dictatorship, the first Estatut of Catalonia did not contain the concept of vegueries, but the services for which the Generalitat is responsible has required for some kind of division of the territory. In 1987 it was decided that vegueries were to be re-established from 2011, but already since the 1995 Pla territorial de Catalunya does the administration split Catalonia into the following seven areas (so called àmbits):

Àmbit Metropolità - as of region I of above plus the comarques Garraf and Alt Pendès (4.863.161 inhabitants)
Alt Pirineu i Aran – as of region IX plus the comarca Cerdanya (72.929 inhabitants)
Ponent – as of region VIII (345.369 inhabitants)
Camp de Tarragona – parts of regions III and IV, including Reus (584.660 inhabitants)
Comarques Centrals – region VII plus Osona (496.227 inhabitants)
Comarques Gironines – region II plus Ripollès (694.954 inhabitants)
Terres de l’Ebre – region V plus Ribera d’Ebre (185.158 inhabitants)

The vegueries to come in 2011 will largely follow the borders of these àmbits, but they were modified in a report popularly called the informe Roca, after the man who presided the expert committee. If we then add some politics to that, we reach the currently foreseen seven vegueries:

The Vegueria de Barcelona and the Vegueria de la Catalunya Central will together coincide with what we know as the province of Barcelona. The first will, of course, have Barcelona as its capital while the second one will have Manresa as its capital but special recognition given to Vic and Igualada.
The Vegueria del Camp de Tarragona and the Vegueria de les Terres de l’Ebre will together coincide with the province of Tarragona. The first one will have its capital in Tarragona but with special recognition granted to Reus, while the second one will have its capital in Tortosa.
The Vegueria del Ponent plus the Vegueria Alt Pirineu i Aran coincide with the province of Lleida.
Finally, the Vegueria de Girona coincides with the province bearing the same name.

Now, these were a lot of facts, but a necessary background when we look into why some areas – notably the Gran Penedès where I live – claims their right to form separate vegueries. As we will see, both history and the number of inhabitants form part of the argumentation.

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CAT: Sóc una mica crític amb la poca atenció que dedica el Diari de Vilanova a la Vegueria Pròpia i acabo de formular un criteri per valorar la seva posició en aquest debat. Si en la seva próxima edició - que surt el dia abans de la 1ª Diada de la Vegueria Penedès - dedicaran menys d’una pàgina a aquest tema, faré la conclusió que no ho veuen com la seva tasca fer anar-hi els més vilanovins possibles. I si hi dedicaran una pàgina sencera (preferiblement més), em donaran confiança que entenen el seu rol pedagògic per a la gent i que poden influïr l’agenda de la política local. Honestament, quin assumpte és més important per al futur de la nostra ciutat – la vegueria pròpia o l’ubicació de la gossera?

Actualització el dia 24 d'abril: He mirat totes les pàgines del Diari de Vilanova d'avui (en realitat dues vegades, per si de cas) però segons veig no hi ha cap comentari sobre la Diada de la Vegueria que se celebrarà a Vilafranca demà, ni tan sols a l'Agenda. I això em fascina ja que la nostra ciutat - com la nostra comarca - és la més poblada de la zona que hauria de formar part de la vegueria pròpia. Disculpeu-me si dic coses rares - la meva defensa és que sóc estranger/nou català - però no és la demanda d'una vegueria pròpia només una demanda de la majoria dels polítics i no cap de la població? Espero que em convenceu que estiqui equivocat.

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Technorati tags: Barcelona, Catalonia, Estatut, Garraf, Penedès, Vilanova

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Main sources of information and maps: related Wikipedia entries in Catalan, English and Spanish.