The first step towards the restoration of home rule for Catalonia was taken in Madrid at the weekend.

The Prime Minister, Mr Suarez, reached an agreement With Mr Josep Tarradellas, President of the Generalitat – the Catalan government-in-exile – for a transition aimed at eventual autonomy.

Spanish women hold poster with the effigy of Josep Tarradellas as they welcome him on October 23, 1977 in Barcelona on his return from exile. Photograph: Stringer/AFP/Getty Images

The Generalitat was created in 1932 soon after the founding of Spain’s second republic. It died in bloodshed after the civil war in 1939. Franco was determined to stamp out devolution and even tried to obliterate the Catalan and Basque languages. The old dictator’s slogan was: “One united Spain.”

Mr Suarez, who this weekend celebrates his first anniversary as Prime Minister, admits that a measure of autonomy should be allowed to regions such as the Basque country and Catalonia, which seek it for historical and cultural reasons. The final decision on home rule will have to be made, however, by the newly elected Parliament.

The pact between Mr Tarradellas who is 78, and Mr Suarez has been generally welcomed.

At a press conference at the weekend, however, the Interior Minister, Mr Martin Villa, would not answer questions which would have clarified the agreement.

It appears, though, that before the end of July a representative association will be set up in the four provinces of Catalonia. The association will be able to negotiate with the Madrid Government on the eventual form which autonomy will take.

Mr Tarradellas went back to France on Sunday where he has lived in exile since the end of the civil war. He said he would return to Barcelona when the Generalitat was reestablished. “I expect to be back shortly,” he told friends.

But Mr Tarradellas, a gallant old patriot, whose term of office as president of the Generalitat technically expired in 1939, does not today represent the views of the majority of the Catalan people. He is being compared in Spanish Sunday newspapers to General de Gaulle and it is quite a fair comparison.

No one doubts his integrity or his patriotism. But, younger Socialist Catalans might be a better choice for guiding his compatriots along the still devious road towards home rule.