Spanish prime minister Mariano Rajoy has called the snap election in the hope of ending ‘separatist havoc’

The Catalan regional election – everything you need to know

Why are there elections in Catalonia?

On 27 October, less than an hour after secessionist Catalan MPs voted to declare independence, Spain’s senate gave the country’s prime minister, Mariano Rajoy, power to assume control of Catalonia.

As well as sacking the regional president, Carles Puigdemont, and his pro-independence government, Rajoy called snap elections to be held on 21 December.

Who is standing?

Although Puigdemont is currently in Belgium and his former vice-president, Oriol Junqueras, is one of eight former Catalan ministers on remand pending possible charges including rebellion and sedition, both their parties are going to contest the election.

Unless or until any of those facing charges is tried, convicted and barred from holding public office, all are eligible to stand.

However, while Puidgemont’s Catalan European Democratic party (PDeCat) and Junqueras’s Catalan Republican Left party (ERC) ran on a joint ticket last time, they are planning to run separately, with polls suggesting the ERC will take significantly more votes than the PDeCat.

Among those also running are the anti-independence, centrist Ciutadans or Citizens party, the Catalan Socialist party (PSC), En Comú Podem-Catalunya en Comú – a coalition of the anti-austerity Podemos party and various green and leftist groupings – and the local branch of Spain’s ruling conservative People’s party.

Despite branding the elections “imposed and illegitimate”, the far-left, anti-capitalist Popular Unity Candidacy (CUP) has decided to participate in the poll. The CUP, whose support allowed Puigdemont to achieve a parliamentary majority following the 2015 election, could play the king-maker once again.

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What will the election mean for independence?

Pro-independence parties used the polls two years ago as a de facto vote on splitting from Spain. After securing the CUP’s support to claim 72 of the regional parliament’s 135 seats, Puigdemont’s Together for Yes coalition set about paving the way for the unilateral referendum held on 1 October.

Its constituent parties will be looking to use the December election to maintain the momentum of the past few weeks, months and years. Failure to achieve a similar number of votes would deal a decisive blow to the quest for independence.

Opposition parties, meanwhile, will be looking to capitalise on the frustrations of those Catalans – roughly 50% – who are opposed to independence.



How does voting work?

Members of the 135-seat Catalan parliament are elected using proportional representation. The seats are divided into four districts: Barcelona (85), Tarragona (18), Girona (17) and Lleida (15).

A list must take at least 3% of the vote in each district in order to win seats, and 68 seats are needed for a majority.

The electoral system is weighted in favour of less populated rural areas, where the independence vote tends to be higher. Although the Barcelona metropolitan area is home to around 5.5 million of Catalonia’s 7.5 million people, it is under-represented in terms of seats given its population, meaning parties need more votes to win a seat there. In Lleida, 21,000 votes are needed per seat; in Girona, 30,000; in Tarragona, 31,000 and in Barcelona, 48,000.

What do the polls say?

A recent poll for Barcelona-based newspaper La Vanguardia suggested the ERC could win 45 or 46 seats and the PDeCat 14 or 15. That would leave them needing the CUP’s help to reach the 68-seat threshold.

Another poll - for the conservative newspaper La Razón - showed pro-independence parties would capture the most votes though still fall three seats short of a majority.