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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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.
