Support for Catalan independence falls to historic low, poll reveals

4 months ago 17

Support among Catalan citizens for a hypothetical future independence of Catalonia from the rest of Spain has fallen to 40%, a record low, while 53% oppose its independence, data from an official poll showed on Thursday. Read more.

According to the poll conducted by Catalonia’s regional government (Generalitat), this is the lowest level of support for independence since 2015, when the first such official survey was conducted.

The survey carried out by the Generalitat’s Centre for Opinion Studies (CEO) involved 2,000 interviews between 10 June-the day before the entry into force of the controversial amnesty law pardoning around 300 Catalan separatists involved in illegal actions committed between 2011 and 2023-and 8 July.

Compared to the previous survey of this type, the percentage of Catalonian citizens who would support independence has fallen by two points.

Opposition to independence has risen by two points to a record high, with the biggest difference in favour of independence compared to 2015: 13 points higher.

Regarding support or rejection related to political ideology, the ‘yes’ to independence is in the majority among voters of the right-wing separatist party Together for Catalonia (JxCat), led by former Catalan president Carles Puigdemont, with 91%.

It is followed by the radical left separatist platform Candidatura de Unidad Popular (CUP) with 80%, the radical left separatist party Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC) with 75% and the far right separatist formation Aliança Catalana with 56%.

On the other hand, the anti-independence parties are mainly on the left.

The left-wing Catalunya en Comú party leads the list of those who reject this possibility with 62%, followed by the group of abstainers (62%), the voters of the Socialist Party of Catalonia (PSC/S&D), winner of the snap regional elections on 12 May, with 80%.

Meanwhile, the far-right VOX party opposes Catalan independence by 90%, and the centre-right Partido Popular (PP/EPP), the main opposition in parliament to the progressive coalition government of PSOE and Sumar (The Left), by 96%.

When asked what kind of relation there should be between Catalonia and the Spanish state, 34% of respondents said they preferred Catalonia to be an autonomous community (as it is now), 31% wanted it to be an independent state, 22% wanted it to be a state within a federal Spain, and 7% preferred it to be a region of Spain, the survey revealed.

(Fernando Heller | EuroEFE.Euractiv.es)