Catalonia votes on Sunday in a regional election with national scope. Here are five things to know about this rich region in the north-east of Spain, run for almost ten years by the separatists and endowed with very broad autonomy.
Attempted secession
Catalonia made the headlines of the world’s media when the regional government of Carles Puigdemont organized the 1er October 2017 a self-determination referendum, despite its ban by the courts.
Nearly a month later, the local parliament unilaterally declared the region’s independence, immediately leading to its placement under supervision by the Spanish government and the dismissal of the local government. The main separatist leaders were then imprisoned or fled abroad, such as Carles Puigdemont.
This crisis, one of the most serious experienced by Spain since the return of democracy almost half a century ago, continues to weigh on national politics.
Coming to power in 2018, the socialist Pedro Sánchez managed to remain in power in November 2023 thanks to the support of the two Catalan independence parties. In return, the latter obtained an amnesty law for the separatists involved in the events of 2017.
This text, which should be definitively adopted in the coming weeks, will allow Mr. Puigdemont to return to Catalonia more than six years after his departure.
According to the elected party, the vote on May 12 will reveal whether the population is in favor of the amnesty proposed by Spanish President Sánchez, seen as a way of calming the independence movement, or whether they prefer the uncompromising reaffirmation of the independence of the region facing Spain.
The separatists in power
At the beginning of the 2010s, in the midst of the financial crisis, the nationalist regional president at the time, the conservative Artur Mas, made a turn towards independence, a growing sentiment among the population.
Carles Puigdemont, a die-hard separatist from the same party, succeeded him at the start of 2016 at the head of the region, which he led towards the secession attempt of 2017.
Since then, the separatists have managed to maintain their majority in the regional parliament. During the last election, in 2021, they obtained a total of 74 seats out of 135. Their divisions, however, led to the departure in October 2022 of Mr. Puigdemont’s party, Junts per Catalunya (Together for Catalonia), from the regional government. The other major separatist party, ERC, has since been alone in control of the region.
Ranging so far from the far left to the center-right, the independence movement has seen the emergence in recent months of a new far-right formation, Alliance Catalane, credited with 3% of the vote by the most recent polls.
Very broad skills
In a very decentralized Spain, Catalonia, populated by around eight million inhabitants, is one of the regions with the highest degree of autonomy.
Managing, like the others, health and education, it also has its own police force, the Mossos d’Esquadra, and has recently obtained the transfer of control over regional rail transport.
As part of the agreement sealed with the independence parties to return Pedro Sánchez to power in November, the Socialists promised “measures allowing financial autonomy” of Catalonia, in the face of the request from Mr. Puigdemont’s party to a “cession” to the region “of 100% of the taxes” paid there.
Economic engine
Catalonia is the second richest autonomous community in Spain and accounts for 19% of the national GDP (while it is home to around 16% of the population), just behind the region of Madrid (19.4%), which has been ahead since the 2017 secession attempt.
In addition, the region, where Mango (textiles), Puig (cosmetics), Grifols (pharmacy) and Cellnex (telecommunications) are based, is, by far, the first in Spain in terms of exports (26.1% of national total).
The industrial lung of the country, its unemployment rate is significantly lower than the national average, at 10.4%, compared to 12.3%.
Language
Catalan is the official language of the region, along with Spanish. Teaching is mainly provided in this language, which is also the one usually used in administration. According to figures published last year by the regional government, 86.8% of the region’s inhabitants understood Catalan well, which is the mother tongue of 29.2% of them.
Fearing a reduction in its use, separatists fiercely defend it and last year obtained the ability to speak in Catalan in the Spanish Parliament.