Rufián and Orriols, the two most highly rated politicians in Catalonia

BarcelonaIf there is a trend that the ARA survey confirms, it is that Gabriel Rufián is a politician highly valued by voters. Specifically, according to the poll commissioned by this newspaper, the ERC spokesperson in Madrid is the one who gets the best score and, in fact, the only one who passes (5). He is followed by the leader of Aliança Catalana, Sílvia Orriols, who gets a 4.2. The valuation of the far-right leader confirms the rise that all polls have shown in recent months. Both leaders are ahead of the president of the Generalitat and leader of the PSC, Salvador Illa, who gets a 4.1. With this data in hand, a first conclusion can be drawn: that one of the people, Gabriel Rufián, who has positioned himself as the battering ram against the far-right, is the best-valued leader, but that the leader who is the face, precisely, of the Catalan far-right is just behind.

the republican leader and Irene Montero in Barcelona to defend a left-wing frontthe republican leader and Irene Montero in Barcelona to defend a left-wing front. A proposal that the ERC leadership does not share and which has generated a distancing between Junqueras and Rufián.

Behind Junqueras is the leader of the Comuns in Parliament, Jéssica Albiach, with a 3.5, and in sixth position, the spokesperson for Junts in Madrid, Míriam Nogueras, with a 3.3. In fact, the Junts leader gets a better score than her party's leader, Carles Puigdemont, second to last in the ranking with a 2.8. The very negative scores given to him by voters of the Spanish nationalist parties always cause him to lose many positions in the ranking, although he continues to be the preferred politician for Junts supporters, who give him an average of 7.4, while, for example, Nogueras receives a 6.9.

Pilar Castillejo, a CUP deputy, is in seventh position (3.2), although only half the population knows her, and she is ahead of the leader of the PP, Alejandro Fernández (3), and the leader of Vox, Ignacio Garriga, who closes the classification with a 2.8. Orriols and Rufián are the best-rated among their electorate (8.5 and 8, respectively), followed by Carles Puigdemont (7.4) and Salvador Illa (7.3). Pilar Castillejo (4.9), Ignacio Garriga (5.7), and Jéssica Albiach (5.9) are the ones who get the lowest score among their voters.

Young people, on average, are the ones who value politicians the most. Rufián is the one who receives the best score in all age groups, especially among the youngest (a 5.5 between 18 and 24 years old). Orriols is the second best-rated leader in all groups except those over 55 years old, where she yields the second position to Illa.

Who should be president of the Generalitat?

The assessment received by the different political leaders is similar to the preferences of the respondents regarding who should be the next president of the Generalitat. 19% choose Rufián and 15% choose Orriols. The current head of the executive, Salvador Illa, is in third position (14%). He is followed at some distance by the leader of Vox, Ignacio Garriga (8%), ahead of Carles Puigdemont (7%). The big drop for Junts shown by the survey —in fact, it is behind Vox— justifies Puigdemont losing so many positions. Alejandro Fernández (6%) and Oriol Junqueras (5%) come next. 18% of respondents prefer not to choose among any of the country's main politicians and opt to reply that they would prefer the president to be someone else.

Of the politicians who were important during the Procés, Rufián is also the one who stands out the most. The republican politician has reinvented himself in recent years, putting independence in the background of his discourse to become one of the benchmarks of the state-wide left.

The left-wing front

Gabriel Rufián heads the ranking of the best-valued leaders, and his star proposal also has a fairly relevant quorum among left-wing voters. The Comuns electorate is the one that gives him the most massive support (85%), followed by ERC (76%) —although the party leadership opposes it—, that of the PSC (66%) and that of the CUP (61%). Precisely, Comuns is trying to build a broad candidacy in the State with formations such as Sumar, Izquierda Unida and also Más Madrid. All of them have opened the doors to Rufián to join their proposal —he also wants to include the sovereigntist parties—. Podemos is not in this proposal, for now, although it has approached Rufián.

However, does this left-wing front have the same validation among all those surveyed? 42% do not commit and say they are neither for nor against the proposal. In contrast, 40% endorse it but 18% reject it.