Parlament de Catalunya

Parlament de Catalunya stands in the Palace of the Parliament of Catalonia, surrounded by Ciutadella Park in Barcelona. The unicameral legislature represents Catalonia, an autonomous community of Spain, through 135 elected deputies. Four constituencies correspond to the Catalan provinces, giving the chamber its present representative structure.

Catalan parliamentary traditions reach back to the eleventh century, when the Comital Court of Barcelona and Peace and Truce assemblies appeared. By the late thirteenth century, the Corts Catalanes had formal procedures and written constitutions. Three estates took part: clergy, feudal nobles, and citizens from royal towns including Barcelona and Girona. The Nueva Planta decrees abolished these institutions after the War of the Spanish Succession, ending an earlier period of self-government.

The modern legislature began in 1932, entered exile after the Civil War, and returned through the democratic restoration of Catalan autonomy. Since 1980, it has passed laws, approved budgets, and overseen the Government of Catalonia. Its responsibilities also include appointing the President of the Generalitat, the Catalan ombudsman, and eight senators. In the park, the palace connects centuries of assemblies, suppression, exile, and restored legislative power.