Catalonia's Separatists Gain Ground In Last Week's Election

 

DNYUZ: Spain Hoped Catalonia’s Separatists Would Fade. They’re Gaining Ground. 

MADRID — For years, Spain’s government dismissed the separatist movement in the Catalonia region as little more than a “soufflé” — easy to inflate but then collapsing in on itself. 

Yet the movement shows no signs of imploding anytime soon, even amid a pandemic that has bridged divides elsewhere in Europe. 

In a regional election on Sunday, parties seeking to create a breakaway state for Catalonia — the part of northeastern Spain that includes Barcelona — increased their majority in the regional Parliament. 

They began negotiations this week to form a coalition. 

Election turnout was sharply reduced by the coronavirus, but the final tally showed pro-independence parties receiving a majority of votes — a prize that had long eluded them. 

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Update: Catalonia election: Socialists win, but separatists expand majority (DW) 

WNU Editor: Catalonia's separatist parties received a majority of votes in last Sunday's elections. In total, the separatist bloc boosted its parliamentary presence from 70 lawmakers in 2017 to 74 in the 133-seat parliament following the Sunday vote.