beforehand to consider independence or self-determination. In 2020, the Spanish government began processing a request for the pardon of the arrested leaders, which was effective in June 2021. In the Parliament of Catalonia, parties explicitly supporting independence are Together for Catalonia (JxCat) (which includes Partit Demòcrata Europeu Català (PDeCAT), heir of the former Convergència Democràtica de Catalunya (CDC)); Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya (ERC), and Candidatura d'Unitat Popular (CUP). Parties opposed to the regional independence are Ciutadans (Citizens), People's Party (PP), the Partit dels Socialistes de Catalunya (PSC) and, since 2021, Vox. En Comú Podem supports federalism and a legal and agreed referendum. History Beginnings The Principality of Catalonia was an entity of the Crown of Aragon, created by the dynastic union of the County of Barcelona and the Kingdom of Aragon in 1137. In the late 15th century, Aragon united by marriage with the Crown of Castile to form what would later become Kingdom of Spain. Initially, the various entities of the Crown of Aragon, including Catalonia, kept their own fueros ( in Catalan, laws and customs) and political institutions as guarantee of their sovereignty, for which they fought a civil war during the actual union of the crowns, known as the Catalan Civil War (1462-1472) between foralists and royalists. In 1640, during the Thirty Years War and Franco-Spanish War, Catalan peasants revolted, starting the Reapers' War. The following year, the Catalan government seceded establishing the independence of the Principality, called France for protection and finally named Louis XIII count of Barcelona. After a decade of war, the Spanish Monarchy counter-attacked in 1652 and recovered Barcelona and the rest of Catalonia, except for Roussillon, which was annexed by France. Catalonia retained its fueros. During the War of Spanish Succession, most of the territories of the Crown of Aragon, including Catalonia, fiercely supported Archduke Charles, the Habsburg contender, who swore the Catalan constitutions, against the Bourbon contender, who would later abolish the Catalan constitutions and political institutions through the Nueva Planta Decrees. The Habsburgs' English allies withdrew from the war with the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713, and shortly thereafter, Habsburg troops were evacuated from Italy and from Spain. This left the Catalan government isolated, but it remained loyal to Charles. After a 14-month siege, Barcelona surrendered to a Bourbon army on 11 September 1714. 11 September, the date of the fall of Barcelona, was commemorated by Catalan nationalists from 1886,