Welcome
The Catalan Observatory is part of the European Institute at the London School of Economics and Political Science and is the focus of a flourishing interest in Catalonia in the United Kingdom.
The activities organized by the Catalan Observatory include lectures, conferencesand symposia, as well as the publication of research monographs, newsletters and reports on specific issues.
Location and directions on how to find us.
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Latest news:
After the Honorary Degree ceremony, celebrated at the University of Barcelona at midday on 14 of June 2016, Professor Paul Preston went on to speak at the Born Centre de Cultura i Memòria (part of the Barcelona City Council), where he discussed his own intellectual development, the contribution of foreign experts to the study of contemporary Spanish history, the international context of the Civil War and other topics related to the present situation in Europe, Spain and Catalonia.
On 14 of June 2016, Professor Paul Preston was granted an Honorary Degree in a magnificent ceremony at the Universitat de Barcelona (Spain). This is the fifth honour of this kind that Paul Preston has received in the last year. In his speech, the Rector of the University declared that Preston “has helped us confront our history”, and Professor Joan Villarroya, representing the Department of History which had proposed the doctorate, said that “in his work, Preston embraces the totality of the most relevant and debated topics of the Spanish history of the 20th century”. He also emphasised Preston’s critical thinking and fight for freedom.
The celebrated Catalan novelist Eduardo Mendoza attended the LSE Literary Festival on 24 February 2016 on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the Spanish Civil War. Together with Prof. Paul Preston and Prof. Helen Graham, he discussed the challenges of incorporating historical events into fiction. Event page and podcast.
On the 3rd of February, Professor Paul Preston was awarded the Premi Ciutat de Barcelona 2016 by the Barcelona City Council (Spain) for "his important international profile as a historian of Spain, especially the Second Republic, the Civil War and its aftermath, and the Transition to democracy, periods of great significance for the city of Barcelona" (see article). The ceremony will be held at 19 h. on the 15th of February in the Saló de Cent of the Ajuntament de Barcelona and broadcasted live by BTV.
Professor Paul Preston received an honorary doctorate from the Universitat Rovira i Virgili in Tarragona (Spain), 15 May 2015. “He is a reference-point for scientific rigour and critical spirit… The transmission of his knowledge both to students and new academic generations and the general public through his books… His rigorous analysis was fundamental for our knowledge of ourselves, to learn our past, understand our present and project our future…”.
Ceremony held on 20 April 2015 in Barcelona's historic Saló de Cent of the City Council, officially announcing Professor Paul Preston's decision to donate his library and archive to the Royal Abbey of Santa Maria de Poblet (Tarragona, Spain, 1149, UNESCO World Heritage site).
Seminar Opening up Barcelona to Nature: Transitions on the City's Edge. Left to right: Paul Preston, Adolf Sotoca, Josep Maria Garcia Fuentes, and Antoni Vives, 10 March 2015.
Germà Bel, Disdain, Distrust and Dissolution. The Surge of Support for Independence in Catalonia (Brighton: Sussex Academic Press, 2015), 224 pp. ISBN: 978-1-84519-704-9. Co-edited by the Catalan Observatory.
Conference Barcelona, from Textiles to Technology: The Development of a Great City III. Left to right: Paul Preston, Olivia Muñoz-Rojas, Claudie Herrou, Antoni Vives and Michael Richards, 26 November 2014.
Conference History and Nationalism. Spain and Catalonia in a Comparative Context. Enric Ucelay-Da Cal and Paul Preston, 23 October 2014.
Conference Barcelona, from Textiles to Technology: The Development of a Great City II. Left to right: Antoni Vives, Chris Ealham, Paul Preston, Helen Graham and Joan Antón Sánchez, 28 May 2014.
Kathryn Crameri, ‘Goodbye Spain?’ The Question of Independence for Catalonia (Brighton: Sussex Academic Press, 2014), 224 pp. ISBN: 978-1-84519-659-2. Co-edited by the Catalan Observatory.
Jordi Carulla, Vice-president of the Lluís Carulla Foundation of Barcelona, at one of our seminars, 13 October 2013.
Round Table Barcelona, from Textiles to Technology: The Development of a Great City I. From left front to right back: Angel Smith, Montse Guibernau, Francisco Romero, Antoni Vives and Nick Rider. 9 October 2013.
From left to right: Dídac Gutiérrez, Elena Moya, Paul Preston, Montserrat Guibernau, Walter Oppenheimer and Josep Suárez, from the open-debate on The Catalan Elections: Consequences for Spain and Catalonia, 29 November 2012.
The Ambassador Carles Casajuana honoured many events of the Catalan Observatory with his presence during his time as head of the Spanish Embassy in the UK.
Jordi Gual is Chief Economist at the Research Department of the Spanish bank La Caixa, one of the sponsors of the Catalan Observatory.
Salvador Giner, President of the Institut d'Estudis Catalans, 16 June 2011.
Vicenç Villatoro, Director of the Institut Ramón Llul, 26 May 2011.
Joan Maria Nin, CEO of the Spanish bank La Caixa and LSE alumni, during a visit to the Catalan Observatory following its foundation, 5 October 2010.