Far-right pro-independence Aliança Catalana wins parliament seats for first time

Aliança Catalana, the far-right pro-independence party, has entered the Catalan parliament for the first time, winning two seats in Sunday’s election. 

Party leader Sílvia Orriols will represent the interests of residents in the Girona province, after gaining a seat in the chamber, after coming to prominence as the Ripoll mayor ever since last year’s municipal election.

The party also won representation in the Lleida constituency, but none in Barcelona, the most populated area of Catalonia. 

Cooked up in Ripoll

Their candidate, Sílvia Orriols, made her name in Ripoll, a municipality in northern Catalonia, where she was elected the mayor on an anti-immigration ticket. Orriols was the most voted party in the local elections on May 28, winning six councilors, three short of the absolute majority.

The rest of the parties tried to reach a deal to block the anti-migration political group, but while the Socialists and far-left CUP voted for Esquerra Republicana's candidate Chantal Pérez Capdevila, pro-independence Junts, the second most voted party, wanted to lead the coalition, but left-wing parties did not back the proposal.

Islamophobia slogans

Aliança Catalana was born in 2020, when Orriols left the far-right party Front Nacional de Catalunya, believing it was not tough enough on muslim migration. 

The party's message has been anti-immigration from the roots. Orriols has campaigned mostly in cities such as Mataró, Manlleu, and Manresa with a high percentage of migration to get the votes from those who share their anti-Islamic policies.

Anti-immigration and islamophobia slogans have been a constant at their rallies. 

"We are running in this election campaign to stop this massive and invasive migration from retrograde, misogynistic, and violent cultures," Sílvia Orriols said during a rally regarding Islam. 

"To protect the civil laws of those who do not conceive the separation between church and state and intend to impose sharia on us," she added.

Slogans against the Islamic veil have also been rife during the campaign and female candidates from other political parties have been attacked for using it.

It is difficult to say whether these seats will be added to the pro-independence bloc. During the campaign, right-wing pro-independence Junts+ have said they will not deal with Aliança Catalana, nor left-wing parties Esquerra Republicana and CUP. 

At the same time, far-right Aliança Catalana and far-left CUP make consensus impossible on some proposals.