Illa: "I will stand to be invested. Change has come to Catalonia to stay".

Barcelona"I will stand to be invested [president]. Change has come to Catalonia to stay, it is unstoppable", stated the candidate of the Catalan Socialist Party (PSC), Salvador Illa. Despite the fact that the pro-independence bloc has exceeded 50% of the votes, the socialist has won the elections to the Parliament of Catalonia with 97% of the votes counted: 633,351 votes and 33 seats, the same as ERC and much higher than the 17 it had in 2017. Illa has assured that this is a "very clear victory", "shared" with the Spanish president and "friend", Pedro Sánchez, despite the "exceptional circumstances" in which they took place due to the pandemic. "Catalonia has given a lesson in maturity," he said, referring to the election day been held in the middle of the pandemic.

With the candidacy of Illa, the PSC has won back the red belt of the metropolitan area and regained hegemony in the metropolitan area of Barcelona, where abstention levels stood above 50% in most cities. "This result means that we are turning the page, that we are changing to meet again, listen to each other, look at each other and move forward together. There is a widespread feeling of reunion, of the Catalans with ourselves and of the Catalans with the rest of Spaniards. As I said at the beginning of the pandemic, if you provided the votes, we would provide the change. Catalonia is back tonight, Catalonia wants Spain, Spain wants Catalonia and the rest of Europe. The ballot boxes have said so today", said Illa.

The socialist also gave special thanks to the PSC leaders Miquel Iceta and Eva Granados, to his family for their support, and dedicated his victory to the mountaineer Sergi Mingote, who died while trying to climb K2. Previously, the Spanish Territorial Policy Minister Miquel Iceta spoke, who described Illa's candidacy as a success, and recalled that the socialists had not achieved a victory like this since Pasqual Maragall's time as a candidate.