Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s Socialists won a clear victory in Sunday’s Catalan regional election, in which Carles Puigdemont and fellow separatists lost their majority after 10 years in power.
The vote came six years after Puigdemont led a botched 2017 independence bid that triggered Spain’s worst political crisis in decades.
Led by Salvador Illa, the nation’s health minister during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Catalan Socialist party won 42 of the regional parliament’s 135 seats — nine more than in the previous election in 2021.
Photo: Bloomberg
Hailing the result as “historic” in a posting on X, Sanchez said it would mark the start of “a new era in Catalonia.”
“A new era for all Catalans, whatever they think,” Illa said as his supporters cheered his victory.
It was a major victory for Sanchez, who had wanted to show that his policy of defusing tensions triggered by the Catalan crisis had worked, ultimately reducing pro-independence sentiment in this wealthy northeastern region of 8 million people.
Moreover, it gives him some much-needed breathing space after a difficult start to his latest term in office which began in November last year and has been soured by right-wing opposition and a graft probe into his wife that almost caused him to resign.
Since becoming prime minister in 2018 in the months following the failed separatist bid, Sanchez has sought to “heal the wounds” caused by the unprecedented political crisis In 2021, he pardoned the separatists jailed over the secession bid and is currently advancing an amnesty bill for those still wanted by the justice system in exchange for key separatist backing that let him secure a new term in office.
In gaining more than 200,000 votes, the Socialists managed to deprive the pro-independence parties of the majority they needed to stay in power in a region they have ruled for the past decade.
Final results showed Puigdemont’s hardline Junt, the moderate ERC of outgoing Catalan leader Pere Aragones and the smaller hard-left CUP secured 59 seats, compared with 74 last time.
Even if they were to count the two seats won by the new ultranationalist Catalan Alliance, they would still be well short of the 68 seats required to rule. Junts won 35 seats, slightly higher than last time, while ERC fell sharply to 20, down 13, and CUP won just four, down from nine.
Puigdemont, 61, fled Spain to avoid prosecution following the botched secession bid and has lived in self-imposed exile ever since, running his campaign from southern France. Although he would be allowed back when the amnesty bill becomes law, he had hoped a strong showing in Sunday’s vote would have seen him re-elected leader, paving the way for a triumphant return. He pledged to retire from politics if he failed to win.
Despite his victory, Illa is still a long way from the 68 seats required to rule and must now seek out the necessary backing to be sworn in as regional leader. Although the Socialists also won most votes in 2021, Illa was unable to cobble together a majority while the separatists managed to piece together a 74-seat coalition.
Analysts said the most likely option would see the Socialists allying with the radical left Comuns Sumar, which won six seats, and ERC, which won 20. Together they could count exactly 68 seats.
The collapse of the Swiss Birch glacier serves as a chilling warning of the escalating dangers faced by communities worldwide living under the shadow of fragile ice, particularly in Asia, experts said. Footage of the collapse on Wednesday showed a huge cloud of ice and rubble hurtling down the mountainside into the hamlet of Blatten. Swiss Development Cooperation disaster risk reduction adviser Ali Neumann said that while the role of climate change in the case of Blatten “still needs to be investigated,” the wider impacts were clear on the cryosphere — the part of the world covered by frozen water. “Climate change and
Packed crowds in India celebrating their cricket team’s victory ended in a deadly stampede on Wednesday, with 11 mainly young fans crushed to death, the local state’s chief minister said. Joyous cricket fans had come out to celebrate and welcome home their heroes, Royal Challengers Bengaluru, after they beat Punjab Kings in a roller-coaster Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket final on Tuesday night. However, the euphoria of the vast crowds in the southern tech city of Bengaluru ended in disaster, with Indian Prime Minister Narendra calling it “absolutely heartrending.” Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said most of the deceased are young, with 11 dead
Poland is set to hold a presidential runoff election today between two candidates offering starkly different visions for the country’s future. The winner would succeed Polish President Andrzej Duda, a conservative who is finishing his second and final term. The outcome would determine whether Poland embraces a nationalist populist trajectory or pivots more fully toward liberal, pro-European policies. An exit poll by Ipsos would be released when polls close today at 9pm local time, with a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points. Final results are expected tomorrow. Whoever wins can be expected to either help or hinder the
DENIAL: Musk said that the ‘New York Times was lying their ass off,’ after it reported he used so much drugs that he developed bladder problems Elon Musk on Saturday denied a report that he used ketamine and other drugs extensively last year on the US presidential campaign trail. The New York Times on Friday reported that the billionaire adviser to US President Donald Trump used so much ketamine, a powerful anesthetic, that he developed bladder problems. The newspaper said the world’s richest person also took ecstasy and mushrooms, and traveled with a pill box last year, adding that it was not known whether Musk also took drugs while heading the so-called US Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) after Trump took power in January. In a
RSS