Tag: Catalonia

Analysis and commentary about the independence crisis in Catalonia by Nick Ottens (based in Barcelona) and Ainslie Noble (an expert in Basque and Catalan identity issues).

Catalan Separatists Close In on Post-Election Deal

Nick Ottens
Palau de la Generalitat Barcelona Spain
Palace of the Catalan regional government in Barcelona, Spain at night (iStock/Tomas Sereda)

Catalonia’s separatist parties, which won a majority in last month’s election, have taken the first step to forming a regional government.

The Republican Left, the formerly center-right Together for Catalonia — which now presents itself as a big tent — and the far-left Popular Unity Candidacy (CUP) have divided up five of the seven seats on the presidium of the new parliament, with the speakership going to Together’s Laura Borràs.

The Republican Left, the biggest party for the first time since the Civil War, has its eyes on the regional presidency. Read more “Catalan Separatists Close In on Post-Election Deal”

Catalan Election: Takeaways and What Happens Next

Nick Ottens
Pere Aragones
Acting Catalan president Pere Aragonès outside the headquarters of his Republican Left party in Barcelona, Spain, January 10 (ERC/Marc Puig)

The Catalan branch of Spain’s ruling Socialist Party shared first place with the separatist Republican Left in regional elections on Sunday, but the unionist camp as a whole lost support relative to pro-independence parties.

Both the Republican and Socialist party leaders have announced they will put themselves forward as candidates for the regional presidency.

The Republican candidate, Pere Aragonès, is most likely to succeed. Read more “Catalan Election: Takeaways and What Happens Next”

Republicans, Socialists Share First Place in Catalonia

Nick Ottens
Plaça de Sant Jaume Barcelona Spain
Early morning in Plaça de Sant Jaume, Barcelona, seat of the Catalan regional government (iStock)
  • The Catalan branch of Spain’s ruling Socialist Party (PSOE) shared first place with the separatist Republican Left (ERC) in regional elections on Sunday.
  • Pro-independence parties won 74 out of 135 seats, up four. The parties have governed since 2012.
  • The Republican Left and Socialists would also have a majority with the left-wing Catalonia in Common-Podem.
  • The far-right Vox entered Catalonia’s parliament for the first time, but the right as a whole lost twenty seats.
  • Turnout was 54 percent, the lowest since the restoration of democracy. Read more “Republicans, Socialists Share First Place in Catalonia”

Catalan Election Guide

Nick Ottens
Barcelona Spain
Skyline of Barcelona, Spain (Unsplash/Anastasiia Tarasova)

Catalans vote in regional elections on Sunday that are unlikely to produce a breakthrough in their region’s acrimonious relations with the rest of Spain.

I’ll be live-blogging the results on Sunday night. In the meantime, this explainer will get you up to speed. Read more “Catalan Election Guide”

Three-Way Race for First Place in Catalonia

Nick Ottens
Salvador Illa
Spanish health minister Salvador Illa listens to a debate in Congress in Madrid, October 28, 2020 (PSOE/Eva Ercolanese)

Pro-independence parties are projected to defend their majority in the Catalan parliament on Sunday, but the regional branch of Spain’s ruling Socialist Party could place first in the election.

The Catalan Socialists, led by former health minister Salvador Illa, who resigned from Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’ cabinet two weeks ago to campaign, are polling at 21-23 percent, up from 14 percent in the last regional election and 20.5 percent in the last national election.

The Socialists and their allies in the far-left Podemos (We Can), who have 6-8 percent support, oppose Catalan independence but do want to give the region more autonomy. Although talks about transferring more power to Barcelona are still on hold due to the coronavirus pandemic. Read more “Three-Way Race for First Place in Catalonia”

Catalan Separatist Parties Go Separate Ways

Nick Ottens
Pere Aragones
Acting Catalan president Pere Aragonès gives a speech in Barcelona, Spain, December 14 (ERC)

Catalonia’s ruling separatist parties are drifting apart.

José Antich writes in the pro-independence outlet El Nacional that the top candidates of Together for Catalonia, the senior party in the regional government, are “supporters of a path of greater confrontation with Madrid.”

The list of the Republican Left, by contrast — currently the smaller party, but the largest in the polls — is led by office holders, including Acting President Pere Aragonès and Health Minister Alba Vergés. Read more “Catalan Separatist Parties Go Separate Ways”

Allegations of Russian Meddling Resurface in Catalonia

Nick Ottens
Sagrada Família Barcelona Spain
Aerial view of the Sagrada Família in Barcelona, Spain (Unsplash/Carles Rabada)

Allegations of Russian interference have swirled around the Catalan independence movement for the last three years.

I cautioned against exaggerating Russia’s role in 2017, when two million Catalans voted in a referendum that had been deemed illegal by the Spanish state to break away.

I still believe what I did then: that Russia is a convenient scapegoat for Spaniards who don’t want to understand why nearly one in two Catalans prefer their own republic.

“Easier to blame foreign manipulation than examine the root causes of Catalan separatism and the events which led to the current crisis,” I wrote — from the 2010 Constitutional Court ruling that overturned parts of Catalonia’s autonomy statute to former prime minister Mariano Rajoy’s years-long refusal to negotiate a revision of the charter to current prime minister Pedro Sánchez slow-walking his promise to do just that. Read more “Allegations of Russian Meddling Resurface in Catalonia”

Spain’s Judicialization of Catalan Separatism Has Failed

Nick Ottens
Palau de la Generalitat Barcelona Spain
Palace of the Catalan regional government in Barcelona, Spain at night (iStock/Tomas Sereda)

Successive Spanish governments have treated Catalan separatism as a legal, rather than a political, problem. This has done nothing to weaken support for independence. It has radicalized Catalans.

The dismissal of Catalan president Quim Torra is the latest episode in a decade-long legal drama. Spain’s Supreme Court removed him from office on Monday for hanging a “partisan” banner from the balcony of his government’s medieval palace in the center of Barcelona during the 2019 election.

The banner didn’t express support for a political party, but rather called for the release of the nine separatists who were imprisoned for leading a failed breakaway from Spain in 2017.

Torra’s removal triggers early elections, which polls predict the separatists will win.

He is the second Catalan president in three years to be unseated by the Spanish judiciary. His predecessor, Carles Puigdemont, was ousted after leading the 2017 independence bid. He fled to Belgium to escape prosecution. Read more “Spain’s Judicialization of Catalan Separatism Has Failed”

Catalonia and Spain Are Reaching the Breaking Point

Nick Ottens
Barcelona Spain
Basílica de Santa Maria del Pi in the Gothic Quarter of Barcelona, Spain (Egor Myznik)

I have a story in The National Interest about the independence crisis in Catalonia.

The arguments will sound familiar to those of you who have been reading my analyses and opinions. I blame the Spanish government for refusing to listen to Catalans when all they asked for was more autonomy. I think it was a mistake to deny them a legal independence referendum when the majority of Catalans were still opposed to breaking away.

Now half are in favor and hope of a compromise is fading. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez at least recognizes that the problem calls for a political, not a legal, solution, but he has postponed talks with the Catalan regional government due to COVID-19. Read more “Catalonia and Spain Are Reaching the Breaking Point”

Sánchez Can’t Put Off Catalans Indefinitely

Nick Ottens
Pedro Sánchez
Pedro Sánchez speaks at a conference of the Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party, January 30, 2016 (PSOE)

Spanish prime minister Pedro Sánchez needs to make good on his promise to open dialogue with the Catalan regional government.

Talks about more autonomy were put on hold when the COVID-19 pandemic reached Spain in March. Now that it looks like the country will have to live with coronavirus for many more months, Sánchez cannot delay indefinitely.

Catalonia is due to hold elections before the end of the year. If the Republican Left, the more moderate of the separatist parties, doesn’t have anything to show for bringing Sánchez, a fellow social democrat, to power in Madrid, hardliners could win in Barcelona and make a negotiated solution even more elusive. Read more “Sánchez Can’t Put Off Catalans Indefinitely”