Last Sunday, the Spanish autonomous community of Catalonia had its regional parliamentary elections. Following rejections from Madrid to allow for an independence referendum in Catalonia, regional President Artur Mas made this a key electoral theme. His party, Democratic Convergence of Catalonia (CDC), teamed up with Republican Left of Catalonia (ER) to form the Junts pel Sí (Together for Yes) independence coalition, hoping to gain more votes on the independence issue [1].
Having the opportunity to see the fervor in Barcelona first hand, the streets were bursting with rallies, held together by an endless horizon of Catalonian flag. The fiery spirit was further intensified by the hustle and bustle of La Mercè, an annual festival held in Catalonia’s capital city. The human towers, the fireworks, the street performances and whispers (sometimes in ear-piercing form) on the upcoming election meshed harmoniously in a potpourri of excitement.
The votes are now in, and Junts pel Sí has won 62 of 135 seats, meaning that they will need to create a coalition with another party to receive majority on the march toward independence [2]. The Popular Unity Candidacy (CUP) party is most likely to join this coalition, although it previously stated that it would not do so unless Junts pel Sí received at least 50% of the vote and has little in common with CDC and ER parties [3]. With a majority, Artur Mas will push for a binding referendum and aims for independence in 2017 [4], although pro-unity Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy Brey has claimed that, constitutionally, a referendum can only be authorized by the central government and that it will not do so [5].
The above infographic provides additional statistics, as well as “issues at hand” in the separatism debate. Data for the infographic was collected through content analysis of articles published online by The Guardian, Associated Press and The Local ES, from September 24-29.
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References
[1] The Local ES (2015). “Q&A: Everything you need to know about the Catalan elections”. The Local ES, 25 September; available online at: http://www.thelocal.es/20150925/q-a-everything-you-need-to-know-about-catalan-refu
[2] Minder, R. (2015). “Catalan separatists win narrow majority in regional elections”. New York Times, 27 September; available online at: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/28/world/europe/catalan-vote-seen-as-referendum-on-secession.html?_r=0
[3] Clendenning, A. and Wilson, J. (2015). “Spain: A look at Catalonia’s secession drive, Sunday’s vote”. The Denver Post, 26 September; available online at: http://www.denverpost.com/nationworld/ci_28881723/spain-look-at-catalonias-secession-drive-sundays-vote
[4] Dawber, A. (2015). “Catalan independence vote may push Spain into crisis”. Independent, 26 September; available online at: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/catalan-independence-vote-may-push-spain-into-crisis-10517293.html
[5] Kassam, A. (2015). “Catalan separatists win election and claim it as yes vote for breakaway”. The Guardian, 28 September; available online at: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/sep/28/catalan-separatists-win-election-and-claim-it-as-yes-vote-for-breakaway
Nik Parent 