PSC: the conciliatory unionist approach

Q&A on Miquel Iceta’s party, its decline, and recovery

Miquel Iceta, leader of the Catalan Socialist Party, speaks at a campaign event on December 12 in Rubí (by Andrea Zamorano)
Miquel Iceta, leader of the Catalan Socialist Party, speaks at a campaign event on December 12 in Rubí (by Andrea Zamorano) / ACN

ACN | Barcelona

December 15, 2017 10:27 PM

What is the PSC?

This election cycle promises to be better for the Catalan Socialist Party (Partit dels Socialistes de Catalunya or PSC). Its ideology is squarely in social democracy, and it’s put much of the spotlight on its leader, Miquel Iceta. Indeed, Iceta is the moto itself: “Solutions! Now, Iceta!” While it’s had fewer years in power in Catalonia as a whole, it’s held massive sway over the capital, governing up for 3 decades until recently, and has run almost uncontested in smaller towns in the Barcelona metro area.

Who is its leader?

Iceta’s presence in the campaign is no accident. He’s seen as having brought new life to the party, and is set to halt the PSC’s nonstop decline since the late ‘90s. Many of the supporters focus on the party leader as the solution: he’s seen as an experienced politician, and his affable approach has solidified the party’s stance as one of compromise. “We don’t want a country guided by division and hate,” proclaimed Iceta at a recent political campaign event in Rubí, “but instead by brotherhood and cheer.”