La Franja Roja

Lore & Background

La Franja has been part of Aragon since the medieval kingdom of Aragon; never in its history has it been part of Catalonia; however its population speaks in Catalan, presumably since the Middle Ages. The term was first used in 1929 by Catalan geographer Pau Vila, who christened these as Marques de Ponent ("Western Marches"). The term Franja de Ponent itself first appeared in the second half of the 1970s, during the Spanish transition to democracy.

Reader's Guide

La Franja is usually considered to be comprised by a part of the municipalities of the Aragonese administrative comarcas: la Ribagorza/Ribagorça, La Litera/La Llitera, Bajo Cinca/Baix Cinca, Bajo Aragón-Caspe/Baix Aragó-Casp, Bajo Aragón/Baix Aragó and Matarraña/Matarranya. The exact territorial limits differ depending on the source, since there are some municipalities of Ribagorza where there are doubts over whether to include them as Catalan-speaking or as Aragonese-speaking.

Did You Know?

• Roughly 80% of adults in La Franja can speak Catalan.
• The term Franja d'Aragó was adopted by the Institut d'Estudis Catalans in 1985 for academic and linguistic purposes.
• The conflict over ecclesiastical heritage of La Franja involved lawsuits between the dioceses of Barbastro-Monzón and Lleida, with the Vatican urging the return of art pieces to Aragon.