Jouer la carte catalane? Un estudio de la presencia económica francesa en Cataluña, 1939-1975

During the Francoist period, many representatives of the French political and economic milieu underlined the big differences that, in their view, separated Catalonia from the rest of Spain. Did these perceptions have real consequences in the field of economic relations? We are particularly interested in testing if France had more intense or somehow specific relations —in the spheres of technology, investment, trade, tourism and migration— with Catalonia than with Spain as a whole. We examine also if the French agents used the same strategies towards Madrid and Barcelona, if they shared trading and financial partners and if the Catalan demands for autonomy affected the French attitude. In attempting to answer these questions, we will base on a great geographical and sectoral variety of sources.