After rolling back Catalonia’s declaration of independence, Spain forced a new regional vote in the area, hoping that mass arrests and exile of Catalan leaders would sweep pro-Unionist parties into power. Catalonia has since voted, and that assumption by Spain has proven false, with the separatist groups winning an outright majority.
Separatist groups retain 70 out of 135 seats in the Catalan parliament, with President Carles Puigdemont’s party winning 34 seats, the largest in the secessionist coalition, suggesting they and the Republican Left, at 32 seats, will continue to drive pro-independence ambitions.
Interestingly, the pro-Unionist Citizens Party actually won the plurality among individual parties at 36 seats, but has no way to form a majority government with what’s left, as the People’s Party, which rules Spain’s central government, losing almost all of its seats, and down to a paltry 4 in Catalonia.
What this means remains to be seen, with the Citizens Party claiming their tiny plurality proved Catalans favor unity, but members of the secessionist coalition saying the vote was vindication for the previous secessionist referendum, and that Spain must accept the mandate given to the Catalan Republic.
So the vote can be interpreted either way, a plurality for the party against independence, or a technical majority for a coalition that agrees on independence but not much else.
The sides are likely to take this as confirmation of what they were doing anyway, and just keep on doing it.