Catalonia is an autonomous community within Spain defined as a nationality, and before the 18th century it was an State (in the form of principality) of the Crown of Aragon, with a complex parlamentary system. After 1714, as a consequence of its defeat in the War of the Spanish Succession, Catalan institutions and legislation were supressed, as well as the administrative use of Catalan language. The country regained its current autonomous status first in the Republican era (1931-1939) and then again after Franco's death in 1975 and continues to press for more political and economic autonomy, mainly in the form of the right to decide on language, education, culture, healthcare and to determinate its political future. (Catalonia Wikitravel)