Catalan Politics

Catalan Politics vs. U.S. Politics 

Before arriving in Barcelona, I knew little to none about the political landscape in Catalonia. It was not long before I got to witness one of the biggest struggles in Catalan politics, independence. On September 11, I saw people with the independent flag draped over there back and people chanting independence. After hearing about the number of people who attended this event, I knew this was an important issue to the people. Most days, I see some symbol of independence. For example, during the Barca vs Real Mardrid match, the independent flag was being flown and the chant of independence could be heard. With such importance put on this from the people, a lot of Catalan politicians run off this platform. The first thing I learned about the different political parties was if they support independence or not. A lot of the politicians’ political posters made some reference to this. Also, the parties seem to agree on different variations of independence. For example, some favor complete independence like the ERC while others want to be somewhat independent like the ICV. 

http://international.reagrupament.cat/?p=4633

http://www.eitb.com/en/news/politics/detail/983339/catalonia-vote--election-campaign-kicks-catalonia/

For me, the election process in Catalonia is still a little complicated. It is very different in relation to America. In the U.S., there are pretty much two parties fighting to win the election and once one of them wins then he controls the government. The Catalan election operates differently. For one, Artur Mas moved the elections up by two years, unlike in America where the President would not be able to do this. Also, during the elections in Catalonia, you are voting for a party to receive more seats in Parliament. For example, in the 2002 election, CiU won 30% of the votes and so they received 30% of the seats in Parliament. Another, interesting thing about Catalan politics is the formation of alliances. In America, there really is no formation of alliances because it is a two party system. There is more comprise than alliances. In the 2002 election in Catalonia, the ERC, with 11% of the vote, asked CiU if they wanted to form an alliance. CiU declined and so ERC formed an alliance with PSC, with 22% of the vote, and so PSC and ERC gained majority. They went on to add IPC to form the Tripartit. An alliance allows parties to come together to gain majority of the Parliament. CiU lost majority in 2002 because is chose not to form an alliance. Another interesting aspect of Catalan politics is where the money for the parties comes from. In America, a citizen is allowed to give money to a certain party or candidate. There is a good amount of transparency because anybody can look up and see how much this person gave to this party. It is a little different in Spain. It is against the law to give money directly to a candidate. Most of political parties money comes from taxes. The amount of tax money each company receives is based on the percent of the votes received in the election. It is impossible to know where the money comes from. So, your tax money could go to a party that you do not support at all. Many people believe this causes a lot of corruption that goes on in the government.

http://www.demotix.com/news/1588768/voting-united-spain-and-catalonia#media-1588735

Recently, the Catalan parties favoring independence seem to be gaining a strong following. It will be very interesting to see how well the parties that favor independence do in the upcoming election and what will happen if they do gain many seats. Tension between Madrid and Catalonia will certainly heighten if that is the outcome. 

http://www.inosaltres.cat/3-2-1-comenca-la-campanya/erc/