With more than 99% of the votes counted, the separatists won 50.9% of the votes, exceeding the 50% limit for the first time. The most likely scenario was for the two main separatist parties to extend their coalition government.
The end result is unlikely to lead to any repetition of Spain’s chaotic and ephemeral declaration of independence that took place in 2017. Tensions have eased and most voters were more concerned with the Covid-19 pandemic than with independence.
The low participation of 53% in the middle of the pandemic, compared to 79% in the previous election, in 2017, may have favored separatist parties, whose supporters were more mobilized.
Election monitors exchanged masks for full-body protective suits during the final voting time, “zombie hour”, which was reserved for people with confirmed or suspected Covid-19. Other precautions during the day included temperature measured on arrival, hand gel and separate entrances and exits.
The left-wing separatist party Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya (ERC) said it would lead the regional government and seek support from other parties for a referendum on independence.
“The country begins a new era with (separatists) surpassing 50% of the votes for the first time. … We have immense strength to win a referendum and the Catalan republic,” said acting regional chief Pere Aragones, who led his list of party candidates.
He urged Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez to enter into negotiations to reach a referendum.
But the fragmented vote, which saw the Socialists win the highest percentage of votes, 23%, and the same number of seats in the ERC – 33 in the 135-seat assembly – means that they will also try to form a government.
Socialist candidate Salvador Illa, who until recently led Spain’s coronavirus response as health minister, argued that there was a broad call for reconciliation in Catalonia after years of separatism and said he would try to win a majority in parliament.
This would require an unlikely alliance, however, with other parties.
The center-right pro-independence Junts won about 32 seats, while the far-left separatist party CUP won nine. Both parties are considered essential to reach another separatist coalition government.
The Spanish right-wing nationalist party Vox won 11 seats in the Catalonian parliament for the first time, ahead of the People’s Party, Spain’s main conservative party, and the center-right Ciudadanos. Vox is already the third largest party in the Spanish national parliament.
But with the ERC being seen receiving more legislators than Junts this time around, it could boost the stability of Spain’s central government.
The result can be seen as good news for Sanchez, as his socialist party won almost double the 17 seats he won in 2017.
ERC provided important votes for socialists in the Spanish parliament in exchange for negotiations over the Catalan political conflict.