La Franja


La Franja is the area of Catalan-speaking territories of eastern Aragon bordering Catalonia, in Spain. It literally means "the strip" and can also more properly be called Franja d'Aragó, Franja de Ponent or Franja Oriental d'Aragó in Catalan.
La Franja is usually considered to be comprised by a part of the municipalities of the following Aragonese administrative comarcas: la Ribagorza/Ribagorça, La Litera/La Llitera, Bajo Cinca/Baix Cinca, Bajo Aragón-Caspe/Baix Aragó-Casp, Bajo Aragón/Baix Aragó and Matarraña/Matarranya.
La Franja has been part of Aragon since the medieval kingdom of Aragon; never in its history has it been part of Catalonia; however its population speaks in Catalan, presumably since the Middle Ages; consequently this territory is considered a part of the so-called Catalan Countries.
Among the territories where Catalan is spoken, La Franja is currently the one where oral knowledge of Catalan is the most universal; this is due to low immigration to the area compared to the other ones. Roughly 80% of adults can speak Catalan. In all of Aragon there are 55,513 speakers of Catalan, according to census data.
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. La Franja does not have any official political recognition within Aragon, nor is it a separate historical entity in and of itself; the territories only have in common being administratively and historically Aragonese and linguistically Catalan. The term is mostly used in the neighbouring Catalonia, especially by Catalan nationalists, though it has lately become common in Aragon too. Some right-wing political forces in Aragon prefer not to use the word Catalan when speaking of the language of eastern Aragon, and have used a number of alternative names for it, even in the Language Act of Aragon of 2013.

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"— that Catalan geographer Pau Vila used for the first time a term designating jointly the Aragonese area where Catalan is spoken.
This term was maintained in the second half of the 20th century by Catalan linguists such as Joan Giraldo, along with other terms such as Marques d'Aragó, Catalunya aragonesa or la ratlla d'Aragó.
Whichever term is used, they all refer to the eastern Catalan-speaking area of Aragon, which borders western Catalonia. These terms all originated in Catalonia but later became popular in La Franja itself. They are therefore Catalonia-centered and hence the Ponent reference in the term La Franja del Ponent, because these areas 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:
At the Second International Congress of the Catalan Language held in 1985, the normative authority on the Catalan language, known as Institut d'Estudis Catalans, adopted Franja d'Aragó as the denomination for the Catalan-speaking territories of Aragon for academic and linguistic purposes, while the denomination Franja de Ponent 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, Franja Oriental or Franja de Levante, all meaning roughly Eastern Aragon or Eastern Strip were created in Aragon.

Diverse meanings

While the term was created to designate a linguistic area, there are other issues in question:
Many parishes of what is now called la Franja had been historically part of the Diocese of Lleida, along with other, non-Catalan-speaking Aragonese towns. In 1995, Catholic church authorities, through the Papal Nuncio to Spain, informed the president of the Spanish Episcopal Conference –Archbishop of Saragossa, Elías Yanes– of the decision of the Holy See to align the diocesan boundaries with the political and historical ones.
This meant that 111 parishes and a population of 68,089 were transferred from the Diocese of Lleida to the enlarged Diocese of Barbastro, whose name was then changed to Diocese of Barbastro-Monzón 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. Other sources claim that the diocese of Barbastro—birthplace of the founder of Opus Dei, Josepmaria Escrivà de Balaguer—was losing population and needed to acquire neighbouring parishes from another diocese to be able to continue to exist.
The transfer of the parishes, specifically the ownership of the medieval artistic objects or sacred art comprised, originated an intricate series of lawsuits involving both dioceses, both autonomous governments 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 a statement accepting this decision but, at the same time, announced that then the administrative process would be opened, later on, it stated that talks should be opened to reach an agreement, 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 or del Aragón Oriental, and though it began as a local debate, it has become 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. 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. Then the Vatican itself urged the return of the pieces to Aragon, to no avail.

Linguistic sense

The Catalan language is spoken by a significant proportion of the population of La Franja This despite the fact that it is not an official language and has a very limited presence in education and in administration and or public acts, resulting in severe deficiencies in writing skills of this language.

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.

According to the draft of the Aragonese Language Law

During the fourth session of the Cortes de Aragón under the PP-PAR coalition government the was published. The report would be the basis for the published the following session 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 mainly by the Federación de Asociaciones Culturales del Aragón Oriental, a conservative organisation which maintained that the local 'linguistic modalities' were languages and not dialects of Catalan, and there was lack of consensus on the issue among the Aragonese political parties. There are other civic associations staunchly rejecting the Catalan affiliation of the language
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, La Franja would be composed of:
MunicipalityArea
Population
ComarcaProvince
Aguaviva42.2691Bajo AragónTeruel
Albelda51.9892La LiteraHuesca
Alcampell58.0827La LiteraHuesca
Altorricón32.41,469La LiteraHuesca
Arén119.3337RibagorzaHuesca
Arens de Lledó34.3227MatarrañaTeruel
Azanuy-Alins51.2173La LiteraHuesca
Baélls39.8125La LiteraHuesca
Baldellou30.4115La LiteraHuesca
Beceite96.7598MatarrañaTeruel
Belmonte de San José34.0144Bajo AragónTeruel
Benabarre157.11,160RibagorzaHuesca
Bonansa37.3101RibagorzaHuesca
Calaceite81.31,143MatarrañaTeruel
Camporrélls26.7217La LiteraHuesca
Castigaleu26.5118RibagorzaHuesca
Castillonroy37.6391La LiteraHuesca
Cretas52.7630MatarrañaTeruel
Estopiñán del Castillo88.7199RibagorzaHuesca
Fabara101.61,221Bajo Aragón-CaspeZaragoza
Fayón67.2427Bajo Aragón-CaspeZaragoza
Fórnoles32.6105MatarrañaTeruel
Fraga437.613,191Bajo CincaHuesca
Fuentespalda39.0347MatarrañaTeruel
Isábena118.5302RibagorzaHuesca
La Cañada de Verich10.9104Bajo AragónTeruel
La Cerollera33.7121Bajo AragónTeruel
La Codoñera21.0351Bajo AragónTeruel
La Fresneda39.5462MatarrañaTeruel
La Ginebrosa80.1239Bajo AragónTeruel
La Portellada21.4274MatarrañaTeruel
Lascuarre31.9147RibagorzaHuesca
Laspaúles81.6281RibagorzaHuesca
Lledó15.6181MatarrañaTeruel
Maella174.92,089Bajo Aragón-CaspeZaragoza
Mazaleón86.2589MatarrañaTeruel
Mequinenza307.22,533Bajo CincaZaragoza
Monesma y Cajigar62.6111RibagorzaHuesca
Monroyo79.2307MatarrañaTeruel
Montanuy174.1311RibagorzaHuesca
Nonaspe111.41,055Bajo Aragón-CaspeZaragoza
Peñarroya de Tastavins83.3488MatarrañaTeruel
Peralta de Calasanz114.9261La LiteraHuesca
Puente de Montañana48.688RibagorzaHuesca
Ráfales35.6156MatarrañaTeruel
San Esteban de Litera71.9512La LiteraHuesca
Sopeira44.1102RibagorzaHuesca
Tamarite de Litera110.63,678La LiteraHuesca
Tolva59.0176RibagorzaHuesca
Torre de Arcas34.393MatarrañaTeruel
Torre del Compte19.5168MatarrañaTeruel
Torre la Ribera32.1118RibagorzaHuesca
Torrente de Cinca56.81,084Bajo CincaHuesca
Torrevelilla33.4204Bajo AragónTeruel
Valdeltormo16.0349MatarrañaTeruel
Valderrobres124.02,142MatarrañaTeruel
Valjunquera41.8414MatarrañaTeruel
Velilla de Cinca16.5469Bajo CincaHuesca
Vencillón10.4471La LiteraHuesca
Veracruz63.8111RibagorzaHuesca
Viacamp y Litera107.725RibagorzaHuesca
Zaidín92.61,822Bajo CincaHuesca
62 municipalities of Aragon4,442.847,236

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 that 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.

According to the Gran Enciclopedia Aragonesa

The situation is reversed according to the Gran Enciclopedia Aragonesa 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 Catalan is definitively spoken nor the date of the census on which its figures are based.

According to the ''Gran Geografia Comarcal'' of the GREC

! Municipality/Urban nucleus
! Area'''
! Population

Comparative table and map according to sources

! Source
! Nº
munici-
palities
! % of
Aragon
! Area
! % of
Aragon
! Population
! % of
Aragon

Toponymy

There is no unitary policy on official toponymy in the Franja, leading to great variations between the local comarcalización laws as compared to 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 proposed names which it offers opposed to the official names:
Spanish Local variety or
linguistic vernacular
according to the
comarcalización law 		Catalan
according to the IEC
AguavivaAiguaviva de BergantesAiguaviva de Bergantes
AlbeldaAlbeldaAlbelda
AlcampellEl CampellEl Campell
AltorricónEl TorricóEl Torricó
ArénArenyAreny de Noguera
Arens de LledóArenys de LledóArenys de Lledó
Azanuy-AlinsAzanúy-AlinsSanui i Alins
BaéllsBaellsBaells
BaldellouValdellouValdellou
BeceiteBeseitBeseit
Belmonte de San JoséBellmunt de MesquíBellmunt de Mesquí
BenabarreBenavarriBenavarri
BonansaBonansaBonansa
CalaceiteCalaceitCalaceit
CamporréllsCamporrellsCamporrells
CastigaleuCastigaleuCastigaleu
CastillonroyCastellonroiCastellonroi
CretasQueretesCretes
Estopiñán del CastilloEstopanyàEstopanyà
FabaraFavaraFavara de Matarranya
FayónFaióFaió
FórnolesFórnolsFórnols de Matarranya
FragaFragaFraga
FuentespaldaFontdespatlaFondespatla
IsábenaIsàvenaIsàvena
La Cañada de VerichLa Canyada de BericLa Canyada de Beric
La CerolleraLa CerolleraLa Sorollera
La CodoñeraLa CodonyeraLa Codonyera
La FresnedaLa FreixnedaLa Freixneda
La GinebrosaLa GinebrosaLa Ginebrosa
La PortelladaLa PortelladaLa Portellada
LascuarreLascuarreLasquarri
LaspaúlesLaspaúlsLes Paüls
LledóLledóLledó d'Algars
MaellaMaellaMaella
MazaleónMassalióMassalió
MequinenzaMequinensaMequinensa
Monesma y CajigarMonesma i CaixigarMonesma i Queixigar
MonroyoMontroigMont-roig de Tastavins
MontanuyMontanuiMontanui
NonaspeNonaspNonasp
Peñarroya de TastavinsPena-roja de TastavinsPena-roja
Peralta de CalasanzPeralta de CalassançPeralta de Calassanç
Puente de MontañanaEl Pont de MontanyanaEl Pont de Montanyana
RáfalesRàfelsRàfels
San Esteban de LiteraSan Esteban de LiteraSant Esteve de Llitera
SopeiraSopeiraSopeira
Tamarite de LiteraTamarit de LliteraTamarit de Llitera
TolvaTolbaTolba
Torre de ArcasTorredarquesTorredarques
Torre del CompteLa Torre del ComteLa Torre del Comte
Torre la RiberaTorre la RiberaTor-la-ribera
Torrente de CincaTorrent de CincaTorrent de Cinca
TorrevelillaLa Torre de VilellaLa Torre de Vilella
ValdeltormoLa Vall del TormoLa Vall de Tormo
ValderrobresVall de RouresVall-de-roures
ValjunqueraValljunqueraValljunquera
Velilla de CincaVillella de CincaVilella de Cinca
VencillónVensillóVensilló
VeracruzVeracruzBeranui
Viacamp y LiteraViacamp i LliteràViacamp
ZaidínSaidíSaidí
Catalan
according to the GREC
BenasqueBenásBenasc
BisaurriBisaurriBissaürri
Castejón de SosCastilló de SosCastilló de Sos
ChíaChíaGia
SahúnSahúnSaünc
SesuéSesuéSessué
Valle de LierpValle de LierpLa Vall de Lierp
VillanovaBillanobaVilanova d'Éssera

Boletín Oficial de Aragón : 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.
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.
The Political significance of La Franja goes hand in hand with the Catalan nationalist political movement, which considers this part of Aragon to be part of the Catalan nation, because of its language.
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. Pan-Catalanism demands the creation of a nation-state for the Catalan Countries in which the cultural unity is based on the Catalan linguistic community.
In the Franja itself, there has never been a political movement promoting union with Catalonia or separation from Aragon. On the other hand, Catalan political parties do not participate in municipal or regional elections in the area.

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 and also of Aragon as shown by the digital publication .