Political separatists in Catalonia appear to have won control of the region’s parliament in a popular election Sunday, according to 97% of the votes counted, setting up a possible movement to declare independence from Spain.
Officials in the central Spanish government have said that Catalonia cannot become independent. Still, the separatist parties – namely the coalition of pro-independence parties called Together for Yes, which allied themselves with the radical, smaller Popular Unity Candidacy – have said for months that they will declare independence within 18 months of gaining a parliamentary majority.
Together for Yes appears to have won 62 seats in parliament and Popular Unity Candidacy appears to have won 10 seats, the AP reported. Combined, that exceeds the 68 seats needed to take the majority in the 135-seat parliament.
Complicating matters, the Popular Unity Candidacy has said it won't push for independence unless the coalition got more than 50% of the vote. It appears that the coalition will take about 46%, the AP reported.
Catalonia – which has a population of about 7.5 million people and contains Barcelona, the nation’s second-largest city – already has some autonomy. It is able to elect its own government – which makes laws second only to the Spanish government – and Catalonian is defined as a nationality with its own language.
The Together for Yes coalition essentially ran on a platform that the prosperous region was forced to divert a too-large portion of its tax revenues, that not enough money was spent on regional infrastructure, and that Catalonia contains a unique culture and language that deserves independence.
Catalonia is also home to FC Barcelona, one of the most successful soccer clubs in history, and one which has long been associated with Catalan nationalism, much to the despair of politicians in Madrid.
If Catalonia's politicians do successfully proceed along the path to secession, FC Barcelona would be forced out of Spain's top football league — called La Liga — as would local rival Espanyol.
This would have significant economic consequences for the football clubs: FC Barcelona has generated hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue from the sale of television broadcast rights to its La Liga games.
As the Associated Press reported:
The language was harshly suppressed during the 1939-1975 dictatorship of Gen. Francisco Franco.The surge in independence sentiment stems from June 2010, when Spain's Constitutional Court struck down key parts of a groundbreaking charter that would have granted Catalonia more autonomy and recognized it as a nation within Spain.
Spain's financial crisis and resulting harsh austerity measures have generated more support for independence. Artur Mas, Catalonia's regional leader, began openly pushing for an independence referendum after he failed to clinch a better financial pact from for Catalonia from Madrid in 2012.
It’s expected that the central government – which does not believe Catalonia has the authority to unilaterally declare independence – will take whatever legal steps necessary to prevent that from happening. Experts have said that the election’s results will make the central government more amenable to brokering a financial deal that has greater benefit for Catalonia.