The free fall of (almost) all the independence movement

BarcelonaThe two million pro-independence votes in the 2017 elections (and the 1-O referendum) marked a historic milestone that defines an era that has already been surpassed. The Process is over and, while the main actors try to catch their breath – and put an end to the consequences of state repression – the movement is clearly in free fall. Last year's elections were the most convincing demonstration: in the Catalan elections, 700,000 votes were lost compared to 2017 (and almost 100,000 compared to those of 2021, in the midst of a pandemic) and in the European elections, 1 million votes compared to the new weeks that represent those of 2019.

In an interview on RAC1, the president of the ANC, Lluís Llach, He acknowledged that the number of members of the entity has fallen to 30,000, when it had more than 40,000 until recently. Although the Assembly does not make its membership data public, it has done so on specific occasions in the past and we know that in 2022 it had 45,000 (at least that is what the ANC itself reported). The entity has therefore lost one in three members in recent years, and its mobilizations have also been losing attendance. We also do not know exactly how many members the Council of the Republic has lost, which already has a new president. While they were growing, there was a counter on their website that reached over 100,000 members (a one-time contribution of 10 euros was required). Internally, it is assumed that this number has been falling, especially that of active members: 8,000 have voted in this week's elections when in 2021 more than 22,000 did so.

The opacity of membership data is also a common characteristic of parties, but internal votes give the possibility of updating the figure from time to time. We know that the CUP has about 2,200 members and that at some point in the recent past it had reported about 3,000; that ERC has lost 1,500 members since 2019 up to 8,300 (despite everything, it is still the pro-independence party with the most members) and that Junts is the party that, without making a fuss, is best avoiding the general burning: it has about 6,500 members, the same as in 2021. Aliança Catalana is in a moment opposite to the rest, the joy is still too early to know how far it will go.

The exception that confirms the rule

And then there is Òmnium Cultural. The entity chaired by Xavier Antich has lost 5,000 members in the last two years, but the net gain in the years of the Process far exceeds the results of all the other actors combined. In 2010, heading towards its 50th anniversary, Òmnium had 24,000 members, which doubled in 2015, six in 2018 and eight in 2019. 181,000 members is the figure that managed to maintain the danger that the language managed to maintain until 2022. Catalan.

Details of the week

After 700 years, the Poor Clare nuns have said goodbye to the Monastery of Pedralbes at a final reception for Saint Eulalia. The mayor of Barcelona, ​​​​Jaume Collboni, was present, as well as the leader of ERC, Oriol Junqueras, who have not yet decided whether they will share government in the city. At one point during the reception, one was on the right and the other on the left, and with a clear path to cross, but... they passed each other. Did they not see each other?

Denuclearize Catalonia. There are few things that unite Junts and ERC, but this concept was part of the last electoral programme of both. This is probably why it has been little understood that both pro-independence parties have abstained in Congress and have allowed the approval of the PP proposal to extend the useful life of nuclear power plants. A vote that, in any case, is not binding on the Spanish government.