**5. Conclusions**

Since the early 1980s, Catalan patriots promoted stories of loss and resistance, while Spanish nationalists fostered narratives of modernity and democracy. These patriotic narratives did not change over time, but to a large extent their impact depended on the historical context. Thus the idea that Spain was exploiting the Catalan people had a limited impact before the economic crisis, but this became much more powerful after the year 2008. Likewise, the Spanish national myths of the model transition to democracy and the exemplary 1978 Constitution were fairly successful until 2008, ye<sup>t</sup> their resonance dramatically dropped to the changed political and social scenario produced by the economic crisis. The economic and subsequent political crises led to the emergence of a new context hot nationalism. Confrontation over the nation moved to the front of the political agenda.

Despite the profound political transformations in Catalonia and the surge in secessionism, it is worth noting that Catalans' national identification did not change accordingly over the last decade. Dual identities remained the most widespread option, although exclusive identification with Catalonia increased moderately, ye<sup>t</sup> tellingly, since the start of the economic crisis. This continuity shows us the limits of state and regional institutions in shaping the national identities of their citizens in the public sphere. The education system, the mass media controlled by the Spanish and the Catalan governments and public administrations were fundamental nationalizing institutions, though they were far from being perfect tools of social engineering. Still, the limits of the nationalizations from above were not an obstacle for a historic secessionist surge, which increased during the first years of the crisis far more than the drop in multinational identification (Catalan and Spanish) among Catalans. Many citizens identified with Spain but nonetheless advocated for an independent Catalonia. Catalans with dual identities were more incline to support independence if their first language was Catalan and their family and friends backed secession. Furthermore, support for secession was, generally speaking, greater among high-income earners. Ethnicity and social class pretty much determined Catalans' backing for independence in the new context of hot nationalism.

In the first years of the rise of the pro-independence movement, 2008–2014, the there was a displacement of the spheres of public national a ffection to private spheres. The private sphere provided a space where dual identities could coexist with certain ease. Spanish identities, in particular, found a comfort zone of sorts within it. Informal nationalization processes related to football, popular music and television fostered a ffective ties linked to a sporting and folkloric Spain. However, these Spanish nationalization practices lacked a powerful narrative that could challenge that of Catalan nationalism. In addition, this displacement had a strong social class component, as the lowest social classes tended to identify with Spain more than the middle and upper classes.

The hegemonic position of the pro-independence movement was somehow challenged by Spanish nationalists in the period 2014–2018. The creation of unionist associations, the rise of anti-secessionist parties, the public display of Spanish symbols and the direct intervention of the central governmen<sup>t</sup> were all part of a revival of Spanish nationalism in Catalonia. This nationalism presented itself as the champion of dual identities and criticised the Generalitat's representation of Catalans as mononational individuals. For all its fragmentation and weaknesses, in recent years, the unionist camp gathered the support of roughly 50% of the Catalan population, as opposition to independence remained stable both in opinion polls and the ballot box. Following a period of rapid political changes and increasing support for independence, the situation in Catalonia reached a point of crystallization of national identities and opinions with regards to secession. The context of hot nationalism shaped by the economic and social crises ended up producing a national identity deadlock among Catalans.

**Author Contributions:** A.Q. and F.M. conceived the article, analysed the data and wrote the piece. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

**Funding:** This research was funded by Research group IT-708-13 and MINECO HAR2017–83955-P research project. **Conflicts of Interest:** The authors declare no conflict of interest.
