Catalan political figures react to UK general election results

Friday morning saw Catalan political figures reacting to the results of Thursday's general election in the UK, in which Conservative Party leader Boris Johnson was returned to power with a big majority and a mandate to take the UK out of the EU next month.

Yet, the general election also saw big gains for the Scottish National Party (SNP), with leader Nicola Sturgeon and Scotland's First Minister saying that it sent a "clear message" from voters in Scotland on a second independence referendum.

In the pro-independence camp Catalan president Quim Torra tweeted his congratulations to the SNP and Sturgeon "for the magnificent results that demonstrate the democratic will for independence and the European commitment of the Scottish people."

It was a message seconded by Catalan vice president Pere Aragonès who celebrated the "the good result" for the SNP on Twitter, and added that "it is easy to understand, Scotland and Catalonia just want to build a better country."

For former Catalan president Carles Puigdemont who has been in exile in Belgium since the failed independence bid in 2017, the SNP's victory "shows the strength of the unity of the Scottish independence movement," and he added that "Europe has a lot of work to do." 

Meanwhile, the leader of the left-wing En Comú Podem party Jaume Asens said "the clear victory of the right in the UK shows the urgent need for progressive governments," and he lamented the "growing reactionary wave advancing in Europe and the US."