Voters in the Spanish region of Catalonia have backed pro-independence parties in elections, dealing a major blow to leaders in Madrid, which has been desperate to quell the separatist movement.
The Spanish government had called the early vote in the hope of having a more moderate Catalan administration to deal with — the previous one held an illegal referendum to secede from Spain and its MPs then declared unilateral independence, triggering the country’s worst political crisis in decades.
No single party has gained an outright majority, but with more than 97% of the vote counted, the three separatist parties took 70 seats. They needed 68 to gain control of the 135-seat Parliament. If they agree to govern in a coalition, it would put Madrid and Barcelona back to where they were before the seismic political events.
Elsa Artadi from Junts per Catalunya (Together for Catalonia), which gained 34 seats, declared victory in front of party supporters, who shouted “Freedom.”
Despite the clear support for separatist parties, it was actually the anti-independence Ciutadans (Citizens) party that came up with the most seats, winning 36 — a sweeping gain compared to the 25 the party won in the last vote — in a sign of just how divisive the independence issue has been.
The results, however, do not necessarily mean easy sailing for the independence movement. There will likely be intense negotiations, particularly over the issue of who would become Catalonia’s next president.
The two main parties do not have the same unity as when they won the previous election, in 2015 — and the situation is further complicated by the fact that the head of the leading pro-independence party, Carles Puigdemont of Junts Per Catalunya, is in self-imposed exile in Brussels. He said last week that he would come back if he won, but he is likely be arrested by Spanish authorities over the illegal referendum. His party won 34 seats.
Puigdemont led the previous government as president before Madrid fired him and his entire administration over the referendum and independence declaration, then called the snap election.
The other leader — Oriol Junqueras of Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya (Republican Left of Catalonia), which won 32 seats — is detained in a Madrid prison over the referendum, on charges of sedition and rebellion. Both leaders face 30 years in prison.
