Catalonia’s cause gains new hope after elections see surge for smaller parties

thenational.scot

Image from article, with caption: Supporters of third place Podemos celebrate their party’s gains

Excerpt:

SPAIN could be facing weeks of political horse-trading after two new parties rocked the country’s traditional two-horse race in its general election – a result that could prove beneficial for the independence lobby in the north-eastern Catalonia region. ...

The Public Diplomacy Council of Catalonia said there appeared to be two possible alternatives.

Albert Royo-Mariné, its secretary general, said: “Either a left coalition led by the PSOE with the support of Podemos and the Catalan pro-independence parties, or a grand coalition of PP and PSOE, maybe with the (unnecessary) support of Ciudadanos.

“The former would imply a shift to the left in the government policies as well as support for some basic reforms, and would be very good news for Catalonia because a self-determination referendum would be part of the deal. The latter would create a broad consensus to reform the Spanish Constitution in order to consolidate the status quo and avoid the structural reforms needed, and would not take into account the Catalan request for a referendum.”

Royo-Mariné said a grand coalition with no referendum proposals could exacerbate the conflict between Catalonia and Spain.