Outlook: Conservative losers: Separatists win majority in Catalonia

Sunday 14 February 2021

Outlook: Conservative Losers
The separatists won the majority in Catalonia

The balance of power in the debate about a possible independence of the region of Catalonia from the rest of Spain has been adjusted: perhaps the separatist parties in Barcelona depend on a majority, and at the same time socialists willing to compromise can gain.

According to unofficial forecasts, separatist parties won most of the parliamentary seats in the general elections in Catalonia. The official results of the vote count were not available after that evening. According to a forecast published by the state television station RTVE immediately after the polls close, all separatist parties with a total of 73 to 78 deputies in the regional parliament in Barcelona can count on 135 seats. The majority has 68 seats.

In light of the Corona pandemic, voter turnout was much lower than in the 2017 elections. At that time, it was good at 79%. The PSOE in Madrid, called the PSC in Catalonia, improved significantly. It can hold 34 to 36 seats. It is against the secession of the region in the northeast of the country. But unlike the previous conservative government of the People’s Party, the Socialists are open to negotiations.

If expectations are confirmed, forming a government can be difficult. It is uncertain whether the two largest separatist parties, the left-wing ERC and the liberal conservative JuntsxCat, will be able to agree on a government again, as they did in the last legislative period. The differences are significant on the road to independence and in other areas of politics. In addition, the Socialists promote talk of conflict settlement.

A bitter defeat was looming for Spain’s largest opposition party, the Conservative People’s Party. According to expectations, it has been overtaken by the right-wing populist Vox party. Ciudadanos’ liberal party, which lost a large portion of its electorate to other parties, has collapsed.