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Snap election consolidates Catalonia-Spain voting gap
None of Spain's two largest parties manages to place itself in one of Catalonia's three first places · In the Valencian Country, A La Valenciana alliance confirmed as main left-wing party
Indeed, the two largest parties in Spain (PP and PSOE) could only come 5th and 4th in Catalonia, with the three first places held by ECP and two pro-independence parties: ERC (centre-left) and CDC (centre-right).
ECP, ERC and CDC gathered a combined 56.6% of the Catalan votes, almost one percentage point more than 6 months ago. Their seats: 12 (ECP), 9 (ERC) and 8 (CDC), the same distribution as in December 2015.
Those three parties advocate the opening of a constitutional process in Catalonia, and are in favour of holding a referendum on self-determination.
Their strategies in that respect, however, are very different. ECP (brings together Spain-wide parties Podemos, United Left and Equo with Catalan parties ICV and Barcelona en Comú) yesterday insisted that, despite the fact that conservative PP won again the Spanish election, it is worth waiting for an eventual majority for change in Spain to emerge. ECP say they want to launch a constituent process in Catalonia, but their manifesto makes it clear that it should be "intertwined" with other constituent processes that could eventually take place around Spain. ECP's main goal is to reform Spain in a plurinational, plurilinguistic mood.
That is not the case for ERC and CDC. Both parties believe that yesterday's results show again that Spain is "unreformable" and, therefore, Catalonia must move forward with its own, unilateral constituent process towards an independent Catalan Republic, an option that won an absolute majority in the September 2015 Catalan Parliament election. ECP rejects this unilateral approach.
The two largest parties in Spain (PP and PSOE), combined with centre-right unionist party Citizens (C's), garnered 40.4% of the votes in Catalonia, half a point less than in December 2015. They got 6, 7 and 5 seats respectively. Of those parties, only PSOE agrees to offer a reform of the Constitution with Catalan pro-sovereignty forces, but only under a federal framework, not including any right to self-determination for Catalonia.
Conservative upsurge in the Valencian Country
A La Valenciana left-wing alliance (brings together Podemos, United Left and Equo with Valencian alliance Compromís) hoped to surpass PP in yesterday's elections. However, real results put PP ten percentage points (35% to 25%) and four seats (13 to 9) ahead of A La Valenciana. The left-wing alliance managed to retain all 9 seats it had won in December 2015, but it lost four percentage points.
A La Valenciana can take comfort in the fact that it again emerged as the strongest left-wing party in the Valencian Country, well ahead of PSOE, which saw itself again relegated to the third place (20% of the votes and 6 seats). C's got Valencia's remaining 5 seats.
Balearic pro-sovereignty party fails to get first ever seat
Balearic Islands' pro-sovereignty party Més hoped to get its first Spanish Congress ever seat thanks to an alliance with Podemos and United Left. The alliance targeted 3 seats, of which the last one would have been won by Més.
However, this was not the case. The left-wing alliance was only able to win the same 2 seats that it already had captured in December 2015, even if its parties then contested the election under three different lists. Then, the three lists got a combined 32% of the votes; now, the joint list has fallen down to 25%.
PP has again emerged as the Balearic Island's largest party, 6 percentage points up from 2015 (35% now, 29% then) and 3 seats. PSOE has won 2 seats; Citizens 1.
A pro-independence party, Sovereignty for the Islands (SI), contested the Spanish election for its first time ever. It captured 1.6% of the votes and no seats.