On May 12th, Catalonia, an autonomous community in Spain, held parliamentary elections. Following the victory of the Socialist Party (PSC) with the most votes, Catalonia’s separatist parties may lose their long-held positions in government.
With over 99% of the vote counted, the Socialist Party of Catalonia (PSC) won 42 seats out of 135. The hardline separatist party “Together for Catalonia” (Junts) came in second with 35 seats, followed by the “Republican Left of Catalonia” (ERC) with 20 seats.
Led by former Spanish Health Minister Salvador Illa, the Socialist Party achieved a historic victory, gaining 42 seats, an increase of 9 seats from 2021. While the Socialist Party received the most votes in this election, they still need to form alliances as they did not secure the majority of 68 seats required to govern.
The conservative People’s Party also made significant gains, increasing from 3 seats in 2021 to 15 seats, marking the largest increase in this election. The right-wing Vox party maintained its 11 seats.
Despite “Together for Catalonia,” led by Carles Puigdemont, garnering 35 seats, the coalition of separatist parties including ERC and the far-left CUP only totaled 61 seats, falling short of the 68 seats needed to form a coalition government, potentially losing their government position.
Current President of Catalonia Pere Aragones, leading the Republican Left of Catalonia, suffered a defeat in this election, retaining only 20 seats out of 33.
Illa gave a speech after the vote count, stating that Catalonia has entered a “new era.” However, with no party holding an absolute majority and significant ideological differences among parties, a revote may still be necessary.
Since 2012, Catalan separatist parties have maintained control of the Catalan government, winning a majority of seats in regional elections four times in a row.
However, support for separatism has waned since Puigdemont led an illegal independence referendum in 2017 and declared independence.
Puigdemont went into exile in France in 2017 and campaigned there for this election. He has pledged to return to Catalonia in the coming weeks to participate in the election of a new regional president.
According to the latest survey by the Catalan Opinion Office, the most pressing issue for Catalans now is severe drought, rather than independence.
The survey shows that 50% of Catalans are opposed to independence, while 42% support it, indicating a decrease in support for independence to the level of 2012.
In 2017, when Puigdemont left Spain, 49% of Catalans supported independence, with 43% against it.
Since the Catalan Socialist Party did not secure an absolute majority of 68 seats in parliament, they will need to form a coalition government with other parties. However, winning the support of left-wing parties advocating for Catalonia’s independence, especially ERC, may prove challenging. Illa’s alliance-building for a new government will face hurdles.
Puigdemont had previously stated that if he is not elected as the President of Catalonia and the Socialist Party forms a coalition with the People’s Party, he might withdraw from politics, potentially leading to further instability.
According to official Spanish statistics, over 3.1 million people voted in this election, with a voter turnout of 57%.
(This article references reports from the Spanish newspaper “El Pais” and the Associated Press.)