Devendra Kumar
Catalonia is set to hold a regional election that is expected to have significant repercussions in Spain’s national politics. With over 5.7 million eligible voters, the election will serve as a test for the strength of the separatist movement in the region, as well as the policies of Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez. The separatist movement, led by former regional president Carles Puigdemont, has been the dominant force in Catalan politics for over a decade. However, recent polling and a national election in July suggest that support for secession has waned since Puigdemont’s failed 2017 bid to break away from Spain.
Despite being a fugitive from Spanish law, Puigdemont has chosen to run in the election, campaigning from exile in France. He claims he will return to Spain once cleared of legal troubles after Spain’s parliament grants amnesty to him and hundreds of other separatists. This amnesty, part of Sanchez’s efforts to reduce tensions in Catalonia, has also led to the pardoning of jailed high-profile separatists.
The election will feature a battle within the separatist camp between Puigdemont’s conservative Together party and Aragones’s Republican Left of Catalonia. The pro-secession, far-right party, Catalan Alliance, which campaigns against unauthorized immigration as well as the Spanish state, hopes to earn parliamentary representation. With nine parties running, no single party is expected to win an absolute majority, making deal-making critical in the days following the election.
As polls close on Sunday evening, the results will be closely watched not only in Catalonia but also in Madrid, as they will likely impact Sanchez’s leadership and the national government’s stability. The outcome will also have significant implications for the future of the separatist movement and the ongoing Constitutional crisis in Spain.