CataloniaVotes website, focusing on self-determination process, celebrates 1st anniversary

Barcelona (ACN).- CataloniaVotes.eu provides an international audience with basic information on Catalonia as well as its self-determination process. On Thursday 22 April, the website will celebrate its 1^st anniversary with almost 150,000 hits. According to its traffic statistics, people based in the USA, the UK and France were its top followers in these first 12 months. The website is an initiative of the Public Diplomacy Council of Catalonia (Diplocat), an organisation backed by the Catalan Government, the 4 Provincial Councils, universities, chambers of commerce, the main business-owner associations, trade unions and FC Barcelona, among other public and private institutions. CataloniaVotes is available in English, German and French.

During this first year, the website received a total of 148,298 visits from 109,025 users, who viewed 314,077 pages, according to Diplocat's press release. Peak web traffic was registered in some key moments such as: right after the website's launch, on 22 April 2014; before and after Catalonia’s 11 September National Day and the 12 September V-shaped demonstration in Barcelona - when 1.8 million people claimed their right to vote on Catalonia’s political future; and, finally, on 9 November, the day the symbolic and non-binding vote on independence was held.

In recent months, 78% of the website's visits were from outside Catalonia, while the remaining 22% were Catalan, highlights Diplocat. Outside of Catalonia, the USA (10%), the United Kingdom (9%) and France (9%) lead the list, followed by Germany (8%) and the rest of Spain (8% - not counting Catalonia). They are followed by Canada, Ireland, Russia, Belgium, Switzerland and the Netherlands.

During the first 12 months, in addition to static information, a total of 964 new entries were added to the website, especially in the news section. The site also features 40 videos, including a promotional video with Bayern Munich FC Coach Pep Guardiola that received over 48,000 hits. Every Thursday, a newsletter with the main content of the web is sent to 1,900 subscribers. To celebrate the first anniversary, Diplocat has released a promotional postcard by Catalan designer Jordi Calvís to be distributed worldwide.

CataloniaVotes.eu offers basic information about Catalonia - statistics and figures as well as information on its history, economy, sport, language and culture. The distinguishing feature of this page, though, is the information regarding self-determination: the process so far, the motives behind it, the stances taken by the different actors involved, legal arguments, and so on. All the basic information is available in English, French and German, though some daily updates are only available in English.

The website was launched two hundred days before the date set for the initial Catalan self-determination vote, held on 9 November 2014. As Diplocat announced, it will remain active until the early elections on 27 September 2015, a ‘de facto’ referendum on independence from Spain.