results

Sunday's poll saw an upsurge for parties on the right at the expense of the left, while in Catalonia left-wing and pro-independence parties came out on top

Vox party greeted by Marine Le Pen as PP and Cs consider deal to end Socialists' rule

Catalan President, Carles Puigdemont, called for “leaving” Spain “as soon as possible” and stated that Catalans “not only have to make a change of state but also a change of era” since what is currently going on in Spain “is proper of another era, one in black and white”. Puigdemont accused current Spanish Minister for Home Affairs, Jorge Fernández Díaz, who is involved in a smear scandal against two Catalan pro-independence parties, of being “anti-system” and called for “leaving” Spain “as soon as possible”. “We can’t stay any longer in such a state” stated Puigdemont. “As a helpless democrat from Madrid who couldn’t change things once said: “Basques and Catalans, run away”. 

The Catalan banking group Banc Sabadell earned €708.4 million in 2015, according to figures published by the company. This result is 90.6% higher than that obtained in 2014. The good result of Banc Sabadell in 2015 is mainly due to the integration of the UK bank TSB in June, which added accounts worth €122 million. Without this operation, Banc Sabadell’s net profits would only had grown by 57.8%. Thus, net interest income, which measures the bank’s ordinary activity of receiving deposits and authorising credit, was €3.203 billion, 41.7% higher than in 2014. The internationalisation of Banc Sabadell has already been consolidated and 32% of the credits were authorised abroad. In 2014, this percentage was 6%. The default rate, which has dropped to 7.79%, 5 points less than in 2014, also contributed to Banc Sabadell’s positive result.

Current Catalan President Artur Mas congratulated the winning list in Catalonia running for the Spanish Elections, alternative left coalition En Comú Podem and emphasised the coalition’s commitment to Catalonia’s right to decide. “We take Podemos at their word and ask them not to take a single step backwards” he stated. Mas admitted that Democràcia i Llibertat, the coalition which includes his party, liberal CDC, didn’t obtain the expected results, “we have been mercilessly attacked by the Spanish State’s powers” he said. Left wing pro-independence ERC’s candidate for Barcelona, Gabriel Rufián, noted that his party “obtained its best result ever” in the Spanish Elections “we have tripled the result of 2011” he emphasised. “Those who have been repeatedly ignored and who don’t have the support of any factional power have won the elections in Catalonia” stated Barcelona’s mayor Ada Colau, referring to the En Comú candidates, which were part of the En Comú Podem coalition. 

The party led by Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has obtained 123 MPs from the 350 in the Spanish Parliament, which represents a decline of 63 seats in comparison to the last Spanish Elections. The Spanish Socialist Party, PSOE, has obtained 90 seats, 20 less than in 2011 and the two new parties running for the Spanish Elections for the first time, alternative left Podemos and anti-Catalan nationalism Ciutadans, got 68 and 40 seats respectively. In Catalonia, alternative left coalition En Comú Podem has won the elections, obtaining 12 MPs. Pro-independence left wing ERC has obtained 9 MPs, three times more than in the 2011 elections. Democràcia i Llibertat got 8 MPs and Catalan Socialist Party 7 MPs, half of what they obtained in 2011. Ciutadans have secured 5 representatives in their first time running for the Spanish Elections, the same number of seats as the Catalan People’s Party (PPC). The overall turnout in the whole of Spain was 73.22%.

Cross-party list ‘Junts Pel Sí’ and radical left CUP, the two main forces supporting Catalonia’s independence in the Parliament, handed over an agreed declaration which establishes “the start of the process to create the independent Catalan State in the form of a Republic”. The document states that “the process of democratic disconnection won’t be subject to Spanish institutions’ decisions, particularly those from the Spanish Constitutional Court, which is regarded as discredited and without competences”. In fact, the declaration urges the new government to “obey exclusively those mandates produced” by the Parliament. The document considers it appropriate to start within a maximum of 30 days the processing of the laws for the constituent process, social security and the creation of a Catalan public tax office. The proposal will have to be voted on in an extraordinary plenary session to be held before the new president is instated.

The plenary session to constitute the new Catalan Parliament will be on the 26^th of October next. Current Catalan President, Artur Mas, having used up the maximum legal term for doing so, signed this Wednesday the decree which establishes the constitution of the new chamber. However, there are still some pending issues regarding the composition of the new Catalan Parliament. The negotiations between cross-party list 'Junts Pel Sí' and radical left pro-independence CUP regarding who will be President have yet to be concluded and the future composition of the Parliament's Bureau isn't clear either, as anti-Catalan nationalism Ciutadans, alternative-left coalition 'Catalunya Sí que es Pot', Catalan Socialist Party PSC and Catalan People's Party PPC demand that 'Junts Pel Sí' not have an absolute majority in the Bureau. 

Two weeks after the 27-S Catalan elections, the debate on who will be the next President is still bogged down. Pro-independence unitary list ‘Junts Pel Sí’ (‘Together For Yes’), which won the elections but didn’t get an absolute majority, confirmed that Artur Mas was their candidate to run for President. However, radical left CUP have repeatedly stated that they won’t instate Mas as President, as an independent Catalonia needs a leader “who can’t be identified with cuts, corruption and privatisations”. “Now we are extremely focused on the content, the what, when, and how” stated CUP’s leader Antonio Baños, in an interview with 'Catalunya Ràdio'. Simultaneously, in another radio interview, ‘Junts Pel Sí’ lead member Raül Romeva assured that he “agrees with almost everything” regarding CUP’s roadmap towards independence and insisted that choosing a candidate to be President “is now secondary”.

196,062 Catalans abroad are registered to vote but only 14,781 could effectively do so in the 27-S Catalan elections. Too many agents involved in a complex and long process deprived them of exercising their democratic right. “The Spanish State can’t ignore such a violation of a basic and fundamental right” stated the Catalan Minister for Public Administration, Meritxell Borràs, who lamented that nearly “7,000 votes that were sent on time couldn’t reach their destination”. On Wednesday the ballots that did arrive in Catalonia on time showed 63% of Catalans living abroad voted in support of independence. Although cross-party list ‘Junts Pel Sí’ (‘Together for Yes’) was the most voted, with 7,894 votes, it only maintains its 62 seats in the Catalan Parliament and still requires radical left pro-independence CUP in order to instate Mas as President, which the radical party refuses to do. 

Pro-independence parties have “achieved” their goal in “winning 72 of the 135” seats in the Catalan Parliament, stated an editorial in the Financial Times published this Tuesday. The British business daily insisted that once Spain has held national elections at the end of this year, a new government in Madrid needs to enter into talks with President Mas, to “find a third way between independence and the status quo”. However, the editorial is titled “Catalonia needs to step back from the brink”, since it puts forward the idea that Mas has “less legitimacy to implement his plan” considering that the percentage of voters who supported a clear ‘yes’ for independence was less than 50%.

The Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy offered “dialogue and negotiation” to the new Catalan government that would form after the 27-S elections, but warned that this “loyalty” would be subject to legality and “always within the law”. He emphasised that if the Catalan authorities “are planning to break the law and make declarations that contradict the Spanish Constitution and the Catalan Statute of Autonomy” Spain will fulfil its duty and make sure that “the law is adhered to”. Meanwhile, former Spanish Prime Minister José María Aznar has blamed Rajoy for leading the PP into “the worst possible scenario”. In a communicate published through the FAES foundation, the PP’s think tank over which he presides, Aznar stated that the PP “can’t ignore” the “the fifth warning” that Catalans have sent to the party.

The winning coalition in the 27-S elections, pro-independence unitary list ‘Junts Pel Sí’ insisted that their candidate to run for President of the Catalan Government is Artur Mas. Mas himself stated that what matters now “is the roadmap”and not who is the candidate for President. He addressed this warning to radical left pro-independence CUP, which would bring an absolute majority for pro-independence forces in the Parliament if they join ‘Junts Pel Sí’ but whom refuse to instate Artur Mas as Catalan President. “Now we have a shared responsibility” assured Mas and highlighted that “the priority” was to know if the 72 MPS who favour independence would be able to work together.