Catalonia used as electoral weapon in Andalusian election

Unemployment, corruption and the rise of the far-right. These are some of the main topics in the Andalusian election campaign… along with the Catalan independence push.

Ciutadans and the People’s Party, two of the political forces standing in the vote, have made the relationship between Spain's ruling Socialist party and the Catalan pro-independence government one of the main reasons to criticize the current Andalusian president, Susana Díaz, also Socialist.

Díaz, herself traditionally highly critical on the pro-independence movement, is in this campaign facing criticism because her party in Madrid is taking a more moderate approach towards the Catalan government than its People’s Party predecessor.

“I don't need to wrap myself in the Spanish flag”

“I do not need to wrap myself in the Spanish flag, and less so to defend centralism,” she said in a TV debate on Monday, fighting back at the criticism of the Socialists being in power with the support of pro-independence parties.

During the debate, the Ciutadans candidate, Juan Marín, said that the Socialists and left-wing Podemos “have left governance and public services in the hands of those who have carried out a coup against democracy.”

Socialist “lack of courage” to defend Spain

The People’s Party leader in Andalusia, Juanma Moreno, also used Catalonia to attack Susana Díaz.

“You have a president who does no know how to defend Spaniards. He is doing it with Gibraltar, and the concessions to the independence movement, who are humiliating Spaniards,” he said on Monday. “And you are absolutely silent, submissive at the lack of courage of [Spanish president] Sánchez when it comes to defending Spain.”