Although the mantra is recurrent by the separatists of Catalonia over a vast majority of Catalans want independence, the truth is that reality is not as the account. The results of the polls and the data of the last Center of Opinion Studies (CEO) of the Generalitat not specifically these desires.
While
it is true that for the first time an independence party -ERC- had won
the general elections in the last elections of April 28, the votes to
the independence parties only obtained 39% of the support. That is, four
out of ten votes of the voting population went to the separatist
parties -ERC, JxCAT, mainly-. On the other hand, the constitutionalist
parties – PP, PSC and Citizens, mainly – obtained 43% of the total
issued in Catalonia. The remaining 17.4% includes an In Common Podem
(supporters of a self-determination referendum but without clear
positioning on independence) and minority parties that do not rule on
this issue.
Likewise, the CEO’s last barometer, known as the Catalan
CIS, which came out in July, leaves unfavorable conclusions for
separatists.
Catalan independence movement is in the minority among
the Catalans themselves. According to the survey, 48.3% of Catalans
reject that Catalonia becomes an independent state, while 44% support,
5.5% do not know and 2.1% do not answer.
It is the second time since
June 2017 that a CEO survey indicates that there are more Catalans
against independence than in favor, and they have reversed the positions
regarding the last barometer of March 2019: then 48.4% supported
independence and 44.1% rejected it.
In addition, in recent months
there are fewer Catalans. Those who believe themselves as Spanish as
Catalans have gone from 32.9% to 41.2%, which is 8.3 points more.
Conversely, those who saw more Catalan than the Spanish have been
reduced since May 2018 by 5.4 points, from 22.8% to 17.4%. And those who
only declare themselves as Catalans sink from 28.1% to 20.1%, an
eight-point decline. That is, that Catalans who do not recognize even a
pinch of Spaniards have been reduced by almost 30% since the president
of Carles Puigdemont acceded to office.
How many separatists are there in Catalonia? Less than 44%
