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The Italian Democratic Party MP, Marco Miccoli expressed in favour of finding “a political solution which meets Catalans’ demands” to overcome the current political deadlock between Catalonia and Spain. In an interview with CNA, Miccoli pointed out that the judicial way “doesn’t solve the problem from a political or historic point of view” but “only puts if off”, he said referring to the Spanish Government’s use of the court to stop Catalonia’s democratic demands. Miccoli also added that the EU “has a fundamental duty” regarding political conflicts such as that growing between Catalonia and the Spanish State and considered that an eventual intervention would have to be carried out with an “appropriate approach” aimed at “solving problems rather than throwing a spanner in the works”.

The Catalan President, Carles Puigdemont, called all members of the National Alliance for the Right to Self-Determination to a summit this Friday in order to find political and social consensus around the organisation of the referendum on independence to be held next September 2017. To achieve this, the National Alliance for the Referendum has been created, presided over by former Catalan Socialist, Joan Ignasi Lena. Representatives from all those political parties which support Catalonia’s right to decide, together with more than 3,000 civil society, business, cultural, sports and political organisations committed to launch a campaign to promote an agreed referendum with the Spanish State, specially oriented toward the international audience. Puigdemont called the meeting after finding that the Spanish Government’s repeated calls for dialogue have not resulted in any material actions. On the contrary, all the steps towards launching the pro-independence roadmap have been suspended by the Spanish Constitutional Court.

The European Parliament approved on Tuesday with 456 votes in favour, 138 against and 104 abstentions a resolution on fundamental rights in the EU. The draft, written by the Slovak MEP of the European People's Party (EPP), József Nagy, includes a specific call for Spain to investigate Francoism crimes. The amendment states that it “essential that all Member States cooperate with national and international judicial investigations” in order to “ensure truth, justice and reparations for victims of crimes against humanity committed by totalitarian regimes in the EU”. Furthermore, it calls on the European Commission to make an “objective assessment of the situation” in “all” states “to promote the historical memory”. The text was promoted, among others, by MEPs from the Catalan left-wing pro-independence party (ERC), the Catalan European Democratic Party (PDeCAT), and the Catalan Green-Socialist party (ICV). Currently in Catalonia there are 390 mass graves and the number of people who went missing during the Franco era and are still yet to be located totals 4,912 people.

Current Spanish President and Conservative People’s Party (PP) leader, Mariano Rajoy, will be reinvested as President of the Spanish Government next Saturday. Although the Spanish Socialist Party (PSOE) has announced that it is going to vote ‘no’ in the first round of the debate on investiture, this Wednesday afternoon, the party explained on the 23^rd of October, after its federal committee, that it will abstain and facilitate the PP to form government in the second round. Currently the PSOE has faced tensions with the Catalan Socialist Party (PSC), which on Tuesday approved a resolution to say ‘no’ to Rajoy’s investiture in the second vote. Despite the Catalan Socialists’ opposition and the opposition of some other independent MPs and the former PSOE leader, Pedro Sánchez, Mariano Rajoy is likely to be sworn in on Saturday, putting an end to 10 months of political blockade in Spain.   

European Free Alliance (EFA) director, Günther Dauwen, would approve if the Catalan Democratic Party (PDC), the new name for former liberal ‘Convergència’, were to leave the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) and join the EFA in the European Parliament instead. “The family of regionalist nationalists would be more homogeneous and consistent and that could help to reinforce our message”, Dauwen told the CNA. Although he admitted that there hasn’t yet been any official request, if joining the EFA “could help to promote and make progress” for the Catalan cause “a positive decision could be expected”. Dauwen also noted that left wing pro-independence ERC, which together with other 44 groups belongs to the EFA, wouldn’t oppose welcoming the PDC to the family. PDC MEP, Ramon Tremosa has repeatedly said he was “not comfortable” within the ALDE because they voted “following instructions from Spanish Unionist ‘Ciutadans’, a private brand of the Conservative People’s Party”.

The PSC, the Catalan branch of the Spanish Socialist Party have insisted on their ‘no’ to reinstating current Spanish President, Mariano Rajoy. “We can’t betray our principles”, stated this Monday one of the candidates to lead PSC in the upcoming primary elections, Núria Parlon. In a clear move to differentiate themselves from the overall Spanish Socialist Party (PSOE) position, which is to abstain in the upcoming investiture debate and allow the formation of a government in Spain, the PSC emphasised their “commitment to the citizens’ mandate” and their predisposition to offer “an alternative government to that of the Conservative People’s Party (PP)”. The Catalan Socialists expressed their position after the resignation of PSOE’s leader, Pedro Sánchez, who stepped down on Saturday after a week of turmoil within the Spanish Socialist Party.

Isla Fantasia waterpark, located 30 kilometres north of Barcelona, hosted this Tuesday the 'Water Park Day', the main highlight of Circuit Festival 2016, the world’s largest LGBTI party. Around 8,000 people from all over the world, mainly gay males between 25 and 40 years old, enjoyed the sun, the water facilities and live sessions from nine different DJs, in what is considered to be the biggest open-air gay party in Europe. Circuit Festival kicked off in Barcelona on the 2^nd of August and will feature a wide range of parties, concerts, sports events and other leisure activities for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transsexual people until the 14^th of August. Last year around 72,000 people attended the Circuit, 80% of them foreigners. 

The Spanish Parliament’s Bureau, headed by the Conservative People’s Party (PP) decided this Tuesday to integrate the Catalan Democratic Party (PDC), former liberal Convergència, into the Mixed Group rather than allow them to be constituted as a parliamentary group. Thus, the PDC will see its influence in the Chamber much reduced and its interventions will have to be shared amongst the other minority forces in the Mixed Group. The decision, which comes just one day after the PDC was denied its own group in the Senate, is regarded by the PDC as a political reprisal for the Parliament’s approval of the pro-independence roadmap. This will be the first time since 1977 that the former Convergència party, the party which ruled in Catalonia for more than 20 years in coalition with Christian Democrats ‘Unió’, won’t have its own group in the Spanish Parliament. 

The Catalan Democratic Party (PDC), the new political force which has emerged after former governing liberal Convergència decided to reinvent itself, won’t have its own parliamentary group in the Spanish Senate. This is the first time that the former Convergència party won’t have its own group in the High Chamber since democracy was restored in Spain, in 1977. The four members in the Senate’s Bureau from the Conservative People’s Party (PP) voted against the PDC’s proposal to add two senators from left-wing pro-independence ERC to their four, two from the Canarian Coalition (CC) and two from Basque nationalists Bildu, as the regulation foresees a minimum of 10 senators in order to have their own group. The Spanish Socialist Party (PSOE) abstained from the vote and the other member in the Senate’s Bureau, representing the Basque Nationalist Party (PNB) voted in favour. 

The Catalan Democratic Party (PDC), the new political force which has emerged after former governing liberal Convergència decided to reinvent itself, will be led by former Catalan President Artur Mas. “This is a new party because we want a new country”, stated Mas in a press conference on Saturday, after winning the primary election for the PDC’s leadership with 95.07% of votes. The Catalan Government’s spokeswoman, Neus Munté, was designated PDC’s vice president and Marta Pascal and David Bonvehí will be the party’s general coordinators. Pascal insisted that the PDC “has to be a political reference point for the new state” and admitted that a unilateral referendum on independence “is a real option”.

The Spanish Ministry for Home Affairs warned this Thursday that it is highly probable that the new ‘Catalan Democratic Party’, the name chosen for the reinvented liberal ‘Convergència’ (CDC), won’t be registered in the party register. Thus, the Ministry have the same view as that of ‘Democràtes de Catalunya’, the party which split from former CDC partners Christian Democrats ‘Unió’ who consider the name ‘Catalan Democratic Party’ too similar to their own. The Ministry pointed out that there was a previous attempt to register a party with a similar name in 2015 and that it was rejected for the same reasons. Therefore, “the precedent shows that this name can’t be registered”, the Ministry stated. 

Liberal ‘Convergència’ (CDC) will be from now on named the ‘Catalan Democratic Party’. This is what 871 people voted for at this weekend’s 18^th Congress of the party, while 657 opted for the other final option, the ‘Catalan National Party’. The aim of the Congress was to reinvent CDC, which ruled in Catalonia together with Christian Democrats ‘Unió’ for nearly 30 years, and adapt the party to “the new challenges ahead”. The ‘Catalan Democratic Party’ is defined as a pro-independence party instead of sovereigntist, which CDC used to be. Catalan President, Carles Puigdemont, celebrated that the new party “is at the Government’s, Parliament’s and Catalan society’s disposal” to help him achieve the task which he was entrusted with, that is to say putting Catalonia at the gates of independence.

Liberal Convergència (CDC), run for the last Spanish Elections under the name ‘Democràcia i Llibertat’ (‘Democracy and Freedom’) and secured 8 MPs in the 350-seat Spanish Parliament. Thisat was the first time that CDC raun for the Spanish Elections without Christian Democrat ‘Unió’, after their 40 years-long coalition split up over differences on Catalonia’s pro-independence process. This time around, Convergència has decided to run under theirhis original name and present themselves as a guarantor that Catalonia’s push for independence staysed “united” and “strong”.  “Our trajectory supports us”, stated  CDC’s candidate for the Spanish Elections, former Catalan Government’s spokesman Frances Homs, ion an article published by CNA.

The Catalan Socialist Party (PSC) obtained 7 MPs in the last Spanish Elections, half of what they obtained in 2011. Although their partner in Spain, the Spanish Socialist Party (PSOE) was the second force in the 350-seat Spanish Parliament, PSC suffered a huge decline in Catalonia, mainly due to its refusal to hold a referendum on independence and also because it is regarded as a party from the ‘establishment’ in comparison to new forces such as Spanish Unionist ‘Ciutadans’ and Alternative Left ‘Podemos’. To try to reverse this negative trend, PSC decided to change its lead candidate for the upcoming Spanish Elections, to be held on the 26^th of June. Former Spanish Minister for Defence, Carme Chacón, was replaced by Meritxell Batet, who has insisted on reforming the Spanish Constitution in order to solve the political problem between Catalonia and Spain.

Alternative left coalition ‘En Comú Podem’ won the last Spanish Elections in Catalonia, obtaining 12 MPs in the 350-seat Spanish Parliament. Despite having repeatedly insisted on their aim to keep Catalonia within the Spanish State, their partner in Spain ‘Podemos’ is the only Spanish party which has openly supported holding a referendum on independence in Catalonia. ‘En Comú Podem’, which have been accused by some parties of being “too ambiguous” on this matter, call for turning Spain into a “plurinational state” with “differentiated solutions for Catalonia, the Basque Country and Galicia”, one of their candidates, Xavier Domènech, told the CNA. ‘En Comú Podem’ gathers together members from Catalan Green-Socialist party ICV, the Catalan branch of the Spanish party ‘Podemos’ and representatives from the 'En Comú' candidacies, which won significant mayoralties in the last local elections, for example that of Barcelona, with social activist and now Barcelona mayor Ada Colau as its strongest asset