News

Spanish parties not committing themselves to hold Catalan independence referendum

PP, PSOE, Citizens reject to hold secession vote in Catalonia · Podemos, United Left vow vague, unspecified recognition of "right to decide" of autonomous communities

Pablo Iglesias.
Pablo Iglesias. Author: Podemos
Not a single party at the Spanish level will be including an explicit commitment to hold a binding referendum on the independence of Catalonia after the December 20th election to the Spanish Parliament. After PP, PSOE and Citizens had already rejected organizing such a vote, yesterday it emerged that Podemos will not be calling it either.

Pablo Iglesias's party manifesto speaks of opening "a broad public debate on the recognition and ways of exercising the right to decide," and vows to "guarantee" the right of autonomous governments to hold non-binding votes on their relationship with the rest of Spain. Still, the manifesto includes no word about an explicit vote on Catalan independence, as demanded by pro-independence and pro-sovereignty parties in that stateless nation.

Neither United Left's Popular Unity candidacy includes the holding of a referendum in its draft manifesto. However, in this case the party opens a door to an eventual referendum -without specifying when or how should the vote be held- as its manifesto vows to "fully recognize the right of all peoples to decide, specifically accepting its exercise in historical nationalities."

"Historical nationalities," or "nationalities" alone, are two terms used in Spain to refer to several territories having enjoyed some sort of self-government or own political bodies throughout history. The following territories are officially considered to be "nationalities": Andalusia, Aragon, the Balearic Islands, the Canary Islands, Catalonia, the Valencian Country, Galicia and Euskadi.