Catalan Republic (1931) in the context of Autonomous Region of Catalonia (1931-1939)

The Catalan independence movement (Catalan: independentisme català; Spanish: independentismo catalán; Occitan: independentisme catalan) is a social and political movement with roots in Catalan nationalism that seeks the independence of Catalonia from Spain and the establishment of a Catalan Republic.

While proposals, organizations and individuals advocating for Catalan independence or the restitution of statehood for the Principality of Catalonia existed through the 18th and 19th centuries, the beginnings of the independence movement in Catalonia can be traced back to regionalism and Catalan nationalism from the mid–19th century, influenced by romantic ideas widespread in Europe at the time. The first relevant organised Catalan independence party was Estat Català ("Catalan State"), founded in 1922 by Francesc Macià. In 1931, Estat Català and other parties formed Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya ("Republican Left of Catalonia", ERC). Macià proclaimed a Catalan Republic within an Iberian Federation in 1931, subsequently accepting autonomy within the Spanish Republic after negotiations with the leaders of the provisional Spanish Republican government. During the Spanish Civil War, General Francisco Franco abolished Catalan autonomy in 1938. Following Franco's death in 1975, Catalan political parties concentrated on the recovery and further increase of autonomy rather than independence, which was restricted to extraparliamentary Marxist organizations and internal factions of mainstream parties.

The Autonomous Region of Catalonia (Catalan: Regió autònoma de Catalunya, Spanish: Región autónoma de Cataluña) was established after the grant of self-government to Catalonia during the Second Spanish Republic (1931–1939), becoming an autonomous region within the Spanish Republic. The Generalitat of Catalonia (Catalan: Generalitat de Catalunya) was the institution in which the autonomous government of Catalonia was organized, it was established in order to replace the Catalan Republic proclaimed during the events of the proclamation of the Spanish Republic.

Historians often uses the term "Republican Generalitat" (Catalan: Generalitat Republicana) to refer to this period of the history of Catalonia, in order to distinguish it from the second and current stage of Catalan self-government.

Catalan Republic or Catalan State refers to Catalonia at various times when it was proclaimed or briefly established either an independent republic or as a republic within a Spanish federal republic:

• Catalan Republic (1640–1641), an independent state under French protection during the Reapers' War, but shortly thereafter put in a personal union with the Kingdom of France.
• Catalan State (1873), an attempt to proclaim a federated state within the First Spanish Republic.
• Catalan Republic (1931), a proclaimed state declared in expectations of the imminent formation of an Iberian Confederation of Republics. Within days, the Catalan Republic voluntarily became an autonomous region within the Second Spanish Republic.
• Catalan State (1934), a "Catalan State within the Spanish Federal Republic" proclaimed during the Events of 6 October.
• Catalan Republic (2017), a proposed state declared after the 2017 Catalan independence referendum, and immediately suspended.

Additionally, there were other historical proposals, attempts and ambiguous status regarding a non-monarchical Catalan statehood, among them: