Nationalist historians prepare to celebrate 500 years of the Catalan Empire. For the independentists, the Kingdom of Spain (and with it the Spanish nation) is an entelechy and the only real thing is the Kingdom of Catalonia, which would have been founded in 1519

The last delirium of the independence movement already surpasses the roots of normality and dangerously approaches the grounds of the absurd. The Institut Nova Historia (INH), the entity (praised by nationalist leaders, which Jordi Pujol himself congratulated in writing and revisionist of history with fantastic theories) now pays the theory of a Universal Catalan Empire. That supposed 'empire' would have been born in 1519, so next year he wants to celebrate his "500 years" in style.

https://www.elconfidencial.com/espana/cataluna/2018-11-17/historiadores-nacionalistas-festejar-500-anos-imperio-catalan_1652214/