Letter from Madrid: Independence drive suffers as Spanish austerity bites

When Catalan writer Lluís Simon was about to board the bus from his home town of Girona to the massive pro-independence demonstration in Barcelona, he ran into a friend he had not seen for nearly 30 years who was also heading for the protest.

“That’s the great thing about our drive for [Catalan] nationalism, it’s bringing together people from all kinds of backgrounds, making us all realise what we have in common — being Catalan,” said Simon.

Hundreds of thousands of Catalans of all classes and generations filled the streets of Barcelona on September 11 carrying red and yellow independence flags in a protest seen as kick-starting the latest bid for a separate state by Spain’s wealthiest region, a struggle which dates back to 1714. But fast

forward two months and yesterday’s regional Catalan elections which supposedly were to boost nationalist hopes yet further have instead earned the separatists a pyrrhic victory.

Left-wing Catalan pro-independence representatives of all political varieties made huge gains, with their main grouping, ERC, doubling its numbers in the 135-seat Catalan parliament from 10 to 21 deputies. However, the governing centre-right CiU party, which was supposed to spearhead Catalonia’s independence bid and mastermind a referendum on breaking away from Spain, punctured badly and lost 12 deputies — almost a fifth of its former total.

Although CiU easily remains the largest party, its shift from ultra-moderate, middle-of-the-road nationalism to a more hardline variety for this campaign appears, therefore, to have backfired.

ERC’s leaders, on the other hand, have addressed packed-out sports halls and conference halls about the real economic concerns that many believe have fuelled this latest peak in favour of Catalan independence — a bitterly long recession which has provoked rampant unemployment, spiralling numbers of foreclosure evictions, and constant cuts in health and education budgets. Widely expected to support CiU to keep the nationalist flag flying highest over Catalonia, ERC demands for a change to the local government’s programme of austerity cuts would make them a challenging ally. And there is speculation that Catalonia’s bid for independence may well end up taking a back seat in the process.

When CiU and Catalan president Artur Mas appeared to salute the crowds from a central hotel balcony in Barcelona last night, as at all pro-nationalist rallies, there were the usual cries for independence, and Mr Mas stubbornly insisted that plans for a referendum on secession would go ahead.

However, Madrid’s ruling party, the PP, is adamant that last night’s results show Catalonia’s separatist bid has failed. For many analysts, the regional election results only confirm the continuation of an increasingly acrimonious political stalemate.