The Parliamentary Assembly

The Assembly of parliamentarians was an extralegal meeting held in Barcelona and later in Madrid between July and October 1917 in which a group of deputies and senators took part to solve the important political, economic and social problems in Spain. They decided to introduce constitutional reforms and the improvement of the educational, military and justice systems, apart from more autonomy for Spanish regions and the development of a truly free electoral process. They even called for a general strike in August. However, the strike was controlled; the meeting was declared illegal and the Guardia Civil interrupted the assembly.

The assembly was led by the catalanist Francesc Cambó, who wanted not only a wide autonomy for Catalonia, but, according to his words: 
 «... españolizar nuestro movimiento, ligándolo a una empresa general española que nosotros iniciaríamos y dirigiríamos»1.​ «Cataluña, en un momento de la historia de España que puede ser épico y puede ser trágico, siente toda la grandeza y toda la generosidad de la misión salvadora de España».2

Referencias: 
1. Juliá, Santos (1999). pp. 55 - 56: "Un siglo de España: política y sociedad"
2. Moreno Luzón, Javier (2009).