In the recent election held in the Mediterranean region, the Socialists emerged victorious, but an old acquaintance holds the key to the government not only in Barcelona but also in Madrid. The Junts party of exiled ex-regional president Carles Puigdemont, despite being a separatist party, won 35 seats and led the Independence supporters. However, for the first time in over ten years, independence supporters in Catalonia have lost their absolute majority in the regional parliament with only 61 of the 135 parliamentary seats.
The CUP and Aliança Catalana parties had 4 and 2 seats respectively. The Socialists, led by Salvador Illa, secured the highest number of votes with 42 seats. Illa focused his campaign on moving away from the independence process and addressing other important issues such as mass tourism, the housing shortage, and climate change in Catalonia.
Despite Illa’s efforts to ease tensions between Catalonia and Spain by promoting an amnesty law for separatists and focusing on broader issues such as education and healthcare reforms, Puigdemont made significant gains in the election by threatening to withdraw support from the government in Madrid if he is not satisfied with how things are going down south. With no clear majority in parliament, an alliance between the Socialists and Junts party is needed to form a stable government. Otherwise, new elections may be on the horizon.
