The Republican Left of Catalonia is a pro-Catalan independence, social-democratic political party in the Spanish autonomous community of Catalonia, with a presence also in Valencia, the Balearic Islands and the French department of Pyrénées-Orientales. It is also the main sponsor of the independence movement from France and Spain in the territories known as Catalan Countries, focusing in recent years on the creation of a Catalan Republic in Catalonia proper. Its current president is Oriol Junqueras and its secretary-general is Marta Rovira. The party is a member of the European Free Alliance.
The Catalan independence movement is a social and political movement which seeks the independence of Catalonia from Spain.
The Popular Unity Candidacy is a left-wing to far-left pro-Catalan independence political party active primarily in Catalonia, where it has political representation, but also in other autonomous communities in Spain it considers to be part of the Catalan Countries. The CUP traditionally has focused on municipal politics, and is made up of a series of autonomous candidatures that run in local elections. Its presence is strongest within the Catalonia.
Oriol Junqueras i Vies is a Spanish politician and historian from Catalonia. A former mayor of the municipality of Sant Vicenç dels Horts in Catalonia, Junqueras served as Vice President of Catalonia from January 2016 to October 2017 when he was removed from office following the Catalan declaration of independence and entered prison until June 2021, for his role in organizing the 2017 Catalan independence referendum. He is president of the Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC). Born in 1969 in Barcelona, Junqueras grew up in the municipality of Sant Vicenç dels Horts. After graduating from the Autonomous University of Barcelona, he taught history at the university.
The 2015 Catalan regional election was held on Sunday, 27 September 2015, electing the 11th Parliament of the autonomous community of Catalonia. All 135 seats in the Parliament were up for election. This was the third regional Catalan election in only five years, after the 2010 and 2012 elections and the first one in over 37 years in which Democratic Convergence of Catalonia (CDC) and Democratic Union of Catalonia (UDC) ran separately, after the dissolution of Convergence and Union (CiU) in June 2015 over disagreements on the coalition's separatist turn.
The 2017 Catalan regional election was held on Thursday 21 December 2017 to elect the 12th Parliament of the autonomous community of Catalonia. All 135 seats in the Parliament were up for election. The election was called by Spanish prime minister Mariano Rajoy after the invocation of Article 155 of the 1978 Spanish Constitution to enforce direct rule in Catalonia and the subsequent dismissal of the Catalan government under President Carles Puigdemont. The three pro-Catalan independence parties won a slim majority of parliamentary seats, claiming 70 out of 135, but fell short of a majority in the popular vote by securing 47.6% of the share.
Carles Puigdemont i Casamajó is a Catalan politician and journalist from Catalonia. Since 2019 he has served as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP). A former mayor of Girona, Puigdemont served as President of Catalonia from 2016 to 2017 when he was removed from office by the Spanish Government following the unilateral Catalan declaration of independence. He is co-founder of the National Call for the Republic (CNxR), leader of the Together for Catalonia (JuntsxCat) electoral alliance and founder of the Together for Catalonia party.
Antoni Comín, born in Barcelona on March 7 1971, is a Catalan intellectual and politician from Spain. He is currently the executive vice-president of the Council for the Republic and has been an MEP since July 2019. He is the fourth child of the politician and intellectual Alfonso Carlos Comín i Ros and Maria Lluïsa Oliveres i Sanvicens, whose other children are Maria, Pere and Betona. He is the partner of the stage designer Sergi Corbera, and they have a daughter called Laia.
The Greens–Green Alternative is a political party based in Catalonia, founded in September 1999 by former members of The Greens–Ecologist Confederation of Catalonia (EV–CEC), after the party had split in March 1998 over the type of relationship to establish with the newly-autonomous Initiative for Catalonia (IC).
The 2017–2018 Spanish constitutional crisis, also known as the Catalan crisis, was a political conflict between the Government of Spain and the Generalitat de Catalunya under former President Carles Puigdemont—the government of the autonomous community of Catalonia until 28 October 2017—over the issue of Catalan independence. It started after the law intending to allow the 2017 Catalan independence referendum was denounced by the Spanish government under Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy and subsequently suspended by the Constitutional Court until it ruled on the issue. Some international media outlets have described the events as "one of the worst political crises in modern Spanish history".
The Puigdemont Government was the regional government of Catalonia led by President Carles Puigdemont between 2016 and 2017. It was formed in January 2016 after the resignation of Puigdemont's predecessor Artur Mas and it ended in October 2017 with the imposition of direct rule following the Catalan declaration of independence.
Attempts to form a government in Catalonia, and related events, followed the inconclusive Catalan regional election of 27 September 2015, which failed to deliver an overall majority for any political party.
Together for Catalonia was an electoral and parliamentary alliance in Catalonia, registered as a political party in the interior ministry in July 2018, originally envisaged as a platform comprising the Catalan European Democratic Party (PDeCAT), successor of the late Democratic Convergence of Catalonia (CDC), and independents and centered around the candidacy of former Catalan president Carles Puigdemont ahead of the 2017 Catalan regional election. Some of these independents went on to form the Action for the Republic (AxR) political party, which is also part of the alliance in the Parliament of Catalonia.
Joaquim Torra i Pla, known as Quim Torra, is a Catalan lawyer and journalist from Spain. He served as President of the Government of Catalonia from 17 May 2018 to 28 September 2020, when the Supreme Court of Spain confirmed a court ruling by the High Court of Justice of Catalonia condemning him for disobeying the Central Electoral Board during the April 2019 general election, leading to his disqualification from office.
The National Call for the Republic is a pro-independence, big tent political party in Catalonia. It aimed at uniting pro-independence political parties and organisations throughout Catalonia towards the common goal of establishing a Catalan Republic, regardless of political ideology. Its members included both independent figures from the civil society and aligned to the Together for Catalonia (JxCat) alliance—such as Quim Torra or Jordi Sànchez—as well as prominent members of the Catalan European Democratic Party (PDeCAT), among others: former Catalan president Carles Puigdemont, former regional ministers Josep Rull, Jordi Turull and Laura Borràs or party vice-president Míriam Nogueras.
Gabriela Serra i Frediani is a Spanish teacher and politician. An advocate of Catalan independence, she was a deputy in the Parliament of Catalonia for the Popular Unity Candidacy (CUP) from October 2015 to October 2017.
Albert Botran i Pahissa is a Spanish historian and politician from Catalonia and a member of the Congress of Deputies of Spain. He was previously a member of the Parliament of Catalonia.
Mireia Vehí i Cantenys is a Spanish sociologist and politician from Catalonia, who currently serves as Member of the Congress of Deputies of Spain. She was previously a member of the Parliament of Catalonia.
Eulàlia Reguant i Cura is a Spanish politician. From 2015 to 2017 she represented the constituency of Barcelona in the Parliament of Catalonia, where she was a member of the Popular Unity Candidacy (CUP). From 2017 to 2019 she was a councilor in the City Council of Barcelona.
David Fernàndez i Ramos is a Catalan journalist, political and social activist. He was a member of the Parliament of Catalonia in the tenth legislature for the Popular Unity Candidacy (CUP) from December 17, 2012 to August 4, 2015.
