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Next November 20th, Spaniards will vote for the new Spanish Parliament. They will elect one of the lists running in their province, which is their constituency. Catalans will thus elect the lists running in the four Catalan provinces. Therefore, they will not directly elect Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba (PSOE) or Mariano Rajoy (PP), but their party candidates in Catalonia, as well as parties only running in Catalonia, such as the Centre-Right Catalan Nationalist Coalition (CiU), the Left-Wing Catalan Independence Party (ERC) or the Catalan Green Socialist Coalition (ICV-EUiA).

The President of the Catalan Government, from the Centre-Right Catalan Nationalist coalition CiU considered the statement “an important step” and stressed that they “are hoping for the terrorist group's total break up and the total abandonment of its weapons”. The Left-Wing Catalan Independence Party, ERC, asked the Spanish Government to quit its “ivory tower”, “as the United Kingdom did”, and “let the Basque and the Catalan peoples decide their future”. However, the Catalan Association of Terrorist Victims has criticised ETA’s announcement and said that it only hopes for ETA’s disappearance, but other individual victims have celebrated the news. ETA has killed more than 800 people, 50 of them in Catalonia.

Heribert Barrera, who became the first president of the reinstituted Catalan Parliament after Franco, died last Saturday aged 94 years old. He was the oldest leader of Catalan independence movement and a respected figure within the entire political spectrum. The farewell ceremony took place this Monday at the Catalan Parliament.

However, if the question is open to other options, 33% would prefer a Catalan State within a Federal Spain, 31.8% the current situation as an Autonomous Community and 25.5% want Catalonia to be an independent nation. The poll results also show that 75.5% of Catalans want the Catalan Government to raise all the taxes, while only 18.2% prefer the current system through which the Spanish Government raises the main taxes. The poll was compiled by the Catalan Polling Centre (CEO), which is managed by the Catalan Government.

'Convergència i Unió' (CiU) increases its vote share across Catalonia and becomes the leading party in number of votes. The large victory backs the Catalan Government’s controversial austerity measures. The Catalan Government and Barcelona City Council will be run by the same party, CiU. The Catalan Socialist Party loses large cities and 22% of its votes across the country. The People’s Party becomes the third party and wins in Badalona with a discourse focused on illegal immigration. ERC loses around a third of its votes but other pro Catalan independence parties gain support. The xenophobic and extreme right PxC remains marginal but increases its base and enters the Barcelona Metropolitan Area. The turnout was 55%, one point higher than in 2007. The null or spoilt vote multiplied its share by three but remains marginal.

The Catalan Parliament rejected a law proposal on Catalonia’s independence three days after the popular consultation process on the issue ended with a clear “yes”. This civil society voting was not an official referendum and it was not organised by public powers. It took place over the course of 18 months, and Barcelona closed the process on Sunday. 21% of the electoral census turned out (885.000 citizens) and 90% of the voters backed Catalonia’s independence from Spain. Members of the Catalan Government cast their vote, including the President.

The Catalan Government’s initiative received the support of its own group (CiU) as well as votes from the opposition: the Catalan Socialist Party (PSC), the Catalan People’s Party (PPC) and the Left-Wing Catalan Independence Party (ERC). The Catalan Minister for Economy Andreu Mas-Colell explained the details of the legal initiative that was passed via an urgency procedure. The initial amount will be of 2,613 million euros.

If South Sudan citizens finally vote for independence, the Spanish Government will respect it and recognise their independence. However, the Spanish Minister for Foreign Affairs, Trinidad Jiménez, announced that Spain would not review its stance on Kosovo. The Balkan country declared its independence from Serbia in 2008 but Spain is one of the 5 EU Member States that still refuses to recognise it.

The Centre-Right Catalan Nationalist Coalition, ‘Convergència i Unió’ (CiU) wins. The Centre-Right forces get a clear majority in the Catalan Parliament. The governing Left-Wing parties collapse. The Catalan Socialist Party (PSC) gets the worst results in history, which could be fatal for Spanish Prime Minister Zapatero future’s re-election. The speech on immigration control, the economic crisis and Spanish identity gives the Catalan People’s Party (PPC) their best results ever in Catalonia. Catalan Nationalist forces globally increase their absolute majority, despite the collapse of the Left-Wing Catalan Independence Party (ERC). A new populist independence party ‘Solidaritat per la Independència’ (SI), former FC Barcelona’s President Joan Laporta’s party, enters into the Parliament. The Anti-Catalan Nationalist Party ‘Ciudadanos’ (C’s) maintains its 3 seats. The Catalan Green Socialist Party (ICV-EUiA) loses 2 seats.

Exit polls predict that Artur Mas, CiU’s leader, will very likely be able to govern alone, with between 63-66 seats. The Catalan Socialist Party may collapse, losing more than 10 seats and getting between 24 and 27 seats. The parties in the 3-party governing coalition are losing a lot of support. The Catalan People’s Party (PPC) may become the 3rd force, with 15-17 seats. The Left-Wing Catalan Independence Party (ERC) may drop to between 11-13 seats. The Catalan Green Socialist Party (ICV-EUiA) may loose some support and get between 8 and 10 seats. The former FC Barcelona’s President Joan Laporta’s party (SI) could enter into the Parliament with 3-4 seats. The Anti-Catalan Nationalism Party (C’s) may get the same results with around 3 seats. The Right-Wing Catalan Independence Party, Reagrupament (Rgt), could be at the limit of entering into the Parliament with 1 seat.

The ERC is going through an inflexion. It was part of the Left-Wing 3-party coalition that ruled the Catalan Government for the last 7 years. After the trimming of the Catalan Statute of Autonomy by the Spanish Constitutional Court, the ERC is now pushing for an independence referendum for the next term. In these elections, they risk losing many seats according to the polls, possibly going back to their 1990s figures and losing their status as the 3rd Catalan party. In addition they are running with a new leader, Joan Puigcercós.

The president of the CATmón Foundation argues that the creation of new Balkan states in Bosnia, Montenegro and Kosovo show different 'models' of achieving independence.

Recent polls and the massive demonstration in Barcelona on 10 July suggest a widening gap between citizens in Spain and Catalonia since the cuts in the Statute

Despite the International Court of Justice's decision, the Spanish Government decided not to recognise Kosovo as an independent state. Both the Spanish Government and Catalan nationalists see implicit parallelisms in both cases, although Madrid denies it.

Joan Laporta ends his term as Barça?s president today. He has created a new political party called ?Democràcia Catalana? (Catalan Democracy) which has Catalonia?s independence from Spain as its main objective. This week he will announce that he is in the