Catalans go to the polls on Sunday in a regional vote which offers the choice of an exiled separatist politician who led a breakaway push in 2017, or an anti-independence government led by the Socialist Party.
\nOpinion polls forecast a comfortable lead for Socialist candidate Salvador Illa over the hardline separatist Junts and its more moderate rival Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya (ERC), which currently governs the wealthy northeastern region.
\nJunts\u2019 candidate is Carles Puigdemont, who was Catalonia\u2019s president during an ill-fated attempt to wrest the region from Spain in 2017 before fleeing to Belgium, and he has vowed to resurrect an independence bid.
\n\u201cToday we are stronger, more resilient and determined. The time to return has come,\u201d Puigdemont told a closing campaign rally in southern France, near the Catalonia border, on Friday.
\nPuigdemont faces prosecution in Spain over the failed independence bid, which triggered the country\u2019s worst political crisis in decades. He is set to return home following an amnesty put forward by the Socialist national government that would annul the arrest warrant he faces.
\n\u201cWe are the largest nation in Europe that is not a state and (Spain) has not been able to stop us from working without rest to achieve independence,\u201d said Puigdemont.
\nThe Socialists stand to win 40 seats in the Catalan assembly, with Junts forecast to get 34 and ERC 26, according to a poll of polls by El Pais newspaper.
\nA government led by Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez\u2019s Socialists in Catalonia would end a decade of separatist governments that have roiled Spanish politics, and would be a vindication of Sanchez\u2019s conciliatory approach with Catalonia.
\n\u201cWe need a change on May 12 and only Salvador Illa can lead it,\u201d Sanchez told the Socialists\u2019 closing rally in Barcelona, arguing that only Illa can give stability and improve the social climate in the region.
\nIt is uncertain what the impact will be of Sanchez\u2019s surprising five-day break from office last month to weigh his possible resignation over what he said was a smear campaign directed against his family by right wing opponents.
\nHis break \u201chas mobilized a lot the Socialist vote\u201d in Catalonia, said a Socialist source.
\nSome surveys show that around 40% of voters are undecided, so any outcome is possible.
\nUNDECIDED VOTERS
\nBarcelona resident Lino Iglesias, 76, said he would decide his vote in the last minute.
\n\u201cI don\u2019t trust any candidate,\u201d he said, pondering between centre-right parties People\u2019s Party (PP) or Junts, though he dislikes Puigdemont.
\nIt was a sentiment shared by 38-year-old Guillem, who said he might not even vote because \u201cnothing would change in the next four years regardless of the candidate\u201d as the regional government can\u2019t promote significant transformations.
\nAny victor in Catalonia will probably have to govern in coalition since no party looks capable of reaching the 68-seat threshold for a majority on its own.
\nIf the Socialists win they may seek an alliance with ERC or Junts, although both separatist parties have so far ruled that out.
\nFailing that, they could attempt an even more unlikely partnership with the PP, their main rivals at a national level.
\nIf they took power, Junts and ERC would seek to lead a new pro-independence government. But some opinion surveys have forecast they would fall short of the seats required, including with the support of smaller separatist parties.
\nIf post-election negotiations fail to produce an agreement by August, a repeat election would take place in October.
\n(Reuters)election. Catalans, regional vote, exiled separatist politician<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Catalans are voting in a regional election between an exiled separatist politician, Carles Puigdemont, and the Socialist Party led by Salvador Illa. Puigdemont, who fled Spain after a failed independence bid in 2017, is vowing to resurrect the bid if elected. Opinion polls predict a lead for the Socialists, with the possibility of forming a coalition government due to the likelihood of no party reaching a majority. If no agreement is reached by August, a repeat election would take place in October.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":11512,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"Default","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[3038,6134,2594,232,9126,1397,2508,7129,1221,9679,9680,604,4044,3348,1793,2708,5255,1600,201,9682,2459,499,415,7905,185,1864,4593,634,7378,2447,5328,8642,301,1215,5863,1004,4843,1792,8096,1400,9681,2065,720,586,7967,1358,1681,1217,380,9604,1774,1379,2343,4928,6305,18],"class_list":["post-11511","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-other","tag-agreement","tag-alliance","tag-amnesty","tag-arrest","tag-arrest-warrant","tag-barcelona","tag-belgium","tag-border","tag-campaign","tag-catalan-election","tag-catalans","tag-catalonia","tag-centre-right-parties","tag-change","tag-coalition","tag-coalition-government","tag-crisis","tag-election","tag-europe","tag-exiled-separatist-politician","tag-family","tag-france","tag-government","tag-impact","tag-main","tag-negotiations","tag-office","tag-opinion","tag-parties","tag-partnership","tag-party","tag-political-crisis","tag-politics","tag-poll","tag-polls","tag-power","tag-president","tag-prime-minister","tag-prime-minister-pedro-sanchez","tag-rally","tag-regional-vote","tag-resignation","tag-rest","tag-spain","tag-state","tag-support","tag-trust","tag-undecided-voters","tag-us","tag-vindication","tag-vote","tag-voters","tag-voting","tag-wealthy","tag-who","tag-world"],"acf":{"keyphrase":"","keywords":"","sourceimg":"","country-category":""},"yoast_head":"\n