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| Catalan elections point to growing polarisation in independence debate | Catalan elections point to growing polarisation in independence debate |
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| Artur Mas, the Catalan president, was both clear winner and biggest loser in regional elections on Sunday, leaving his march towards statehood up in the air and ushering in years of messy strife with Madrid. | Artur Mas, the Catalan president, was both clear winner and biggest loser in regional elections on Sunday, leaving his march towards statehood up in the air and ushering in years of messy strife with Madrid. |
| "The next independent country within Europe," as separatist posters across this stateless nation had billed Catalonia, will have to wait, and the region's 7.5 million inhabitants risk being thrown into a bitter, confrontational internal debate. | "The next independent country within Europe," as separatist posters across this stateless nation had billed Catalonia, will have to wait, and the region's 7.5 million inhabitants risk being thrown into a bitter, confrontational internal debate. |
| Mas's Convergence and Union (CiU) nationalist coalition lost a fifth of its deputies in the 135-seat regional parliament, but its 50 deputies are still twice as many as any other party has. No one else can form a government, and Mas can in theory choose between three partners to prop him up. The clearly separatist Catalan Republican Left party (ERC) doubled its representation to 21 seats and is his most likely partner as he prepares for another four years of minority government. | Mas's Convergence and Union (CiU) nationalist coalition lost a fifth of its deputies in the 135-seat regional parliament, but its 50 deputies are still twice as many as any other party has. No one else can form a government, and Mas can in theory choose between three partners to prop him up. The clearly separatist Catalan Republican Left party (ERC) doubled its representation to 21 seats and is his most likely partner as he prepares for another four years of minority government. |
| ERC will try to stiffen his separatist spine, but it must battle against those in the CiU coalition who would rather put the issue on the back burner. The socialists and the local branch of Spanish prime minister Mariano Rajoy's People's party (PP) could also each provide enough deputies to guarantee him a stable government, but would not give him the backing he wants to drive the sovereignty issue forward. | |
| The surge in support for ERC was proof of growing polarisation. It was mirrored by the rise of the anti-separatist Citizens party, which tripled its number of deputies from three to nine. Both results are a sign of a new and difficult social reality in Catalonia. The Guardian's special coverage over the past week revealed that polarisation may spread beyond day-to-day politics. | The surge in support for ERC was proof of growing polarisation. It was mirrored by the rise of the anti-separatist Citizens party, which tripled its number of deputies from three to nine. Both results are a sign of a new and difficult social reality in Catalonia. The Guardian's special coverage over the past week revealed that polarisation may spread beyond day-to-day politics. |
| In L'Hospitalet, a mostly working-class part of greater Barcelona, people whose families migrated from elsewhere in Spain in the 1950s and 1960s complained that Mas was seeking to divide the population into good Catalans, who supported independence, and bad ones, who did not. Already neighbours were hanging out different banners – of Catalonia, Spain or southern Andalusia – in a miniature war of flags. | In L'Hospitalet, a mostly working-class part of greater Barcelona, people whose families migrated from elsewhere in Spain in the 1950s and 1960s complained that Mas was seeking to divide the population into good Catalans, who supported independence, and bad ones, who did not. Already neighbours were hanging out different banners – of Catalonia, Spain or southern Andalusia – in a miniature war of flags. |
| In an interview with this newspaper, Mas said Catalonia would win independence by peaceful means or not at all. But on election night he said he had not won the clear majority that he had asked for in order to invest him with the authority to lead Catalonia towards independence. Having failed that test, he must now pass another one: keeping Catalans bound together even as they argue about how much – and how – they want to remain Spaniards. | In an interview with this newspaper, Mas said Catalonia would win independence by peaceful means or not at all. But on election night he said he had not won the clear majority that he had asked for in order to invest him with the authority to lead Catalonia towards independence. Having failed that test, he must now pass another one: keeping Catalans bound together even as they argue about how much – and how – they want to remain Spaniards. |
| In the meantime Mas must deal with the unpleasant reality of governing a region that is short of money. In his interview he made it clear this meant more cuts, and no relief to many traditional Catalan gripes such as paying for toll motorways. Quite how he squares this with the leftwing ERC is another mystery. The sight of ERC trading cuts for separatism will do little to win it long-term support. It has a chance to show where its priorities lie. | In the meantime Mas must deal with the unpleasant reality of governing a region that is short of money. In his interview he made it clear this meant more cuts, and no relief to many traditional Catalan gripes such as paying for toll motorways. Quite how he squares this with the leftwing ERC is another mystery. The sight of ERC trading cuts for separatism will do little to win it long-term support. It has a chance to show where its priorities lie. |
| For the rest of Spain, Catalonia remains a big problem. Mas is still on collision course with Rajoy as he tries to fulfil a pledge to call a non-binding referendum – with no settled question – that the government considers illegal. Both men thought confrontation between them suited their electoral ambitions as they wrapped themselves in the flags of Catalonia and Spain respectively. Both were proved wrong. The lesson, surely, is that they must now talk. | For the rest of Spain, Catalonia remains a big problem. Mas is still on collision course with Rajoy as he tries to fulfil a pledge to call a non-binding referendum – with no settled question – that the government considers illegal. Both men thought confrontation between them suited their electoral ambitions as they wrapped themselves in the flags of Catalonia and Spain respectively. Both were proved wrong. The lesson, surely, is that they must now talk. |