Generalitat

Plaça de Sant Jaume, roughly the site of Roman Barcino's forum, is the political headquarters of Catalonia today. Eying each other warily across the square are the Ajuntament, Barcelona's city hall, and the Generalitat, the home of Catalonia's regional government and headquarters of the current independence from Spain movement.

Created by Jaume I in 1249, the first Generalitat was made up of representatives of the three Estates (Church, military and civilian), and in 1359 it assumed fiscal responsibility for the realm, making it the first parliament on the Iberian peninsula with real clout.

The current palace, made out of several Gothic mansions, was adapted in the early 1400s to give the Generalitat a permanent seat. Its Roman Renaissance-style façade was added in 1617, complete with a statue of Catalonia's patron St Jordi by Andreu Aleu. When Philip V abolished it in 1714, the palace became seat of his Reial Audiencia, which rubber-stamped Madrid’s policies.