Cs’ leader calls for ‘constitutionalist coalition’ with Socialists and PP

The leader of Ciudadanos in Catalonia, Carlos Carrizosa, demanded that the Socialists and the People’s Party "stop looking at each other's navels and make calculations" and back a wide-reaching constitutionalist coalition for the next Catalan elections. 

In an interview with COPE, after 'La Vanguardia' published a poll showing that ERC would win the elections and independence would get 51% of the vote, Carrizosa said that this is the scenario that will pan out if pro-unionist parties do not "ally." 

The leader of the party attributed the growth of the pro-independence bloc to the "great abstention of the constitutionalist electorate" and believes that it would be resolved with a large coalition that brings together Ciudadanos, the Catalan Socialists, and the Catalan People’s Party.

The poll shows that Cs would lose 23 seats, but Carrizosa believes his formation "is always above" what polls suggest.

Carrizosa has also called on the Socialists to vow not to go into government with ERC. 

Catalan elections imminent

The date of the next election has not yet been set, but president Quim Torra announced in January that he would call the snap election once the budget is passed. 

The Covid-19 health crisis and state of alarm put a pause to the plans for an election, but the subject is arising once again. 

Torra is expected to call elections soon, or else they could be forced if the president is barred from office when the Spanish Supreme Court begins reviewing his conviction for disobedience over the yellow ribbon row. 

Should Torra be disqualified, the Catalan parliament will have two months to try to name a new president, and failing that, elections will automatically be set for two further months down the line.