ABSTRACT

This chapter analyses the factors behind the increasing support for secession in Catalonia, focuses on political actors' and citizens' actions over the last years. It focuses on some of the peculiarities of the Catalan party system that are crucial to understanding what occurred thereafter. The Catalan party system is characterised by being structured in a bimodal axis of competition, including the classic ideological dimension as well as a centreperiphery dimension, commonly known as the Catalanist Spanishness debate or the Catalan Spanish nationalist debate. These two dimensions, together with a liberal electoral system, have led to the articulation of a highly pluralist and fragmented party system. The second party in importance has traditionally been the Partit dels Socialistes de Catalunya (PSC), a centre-left and pro-federalist party, federated with the Partido Socialista Obrero Espaol (PSOE), with which it shares a parliamentary group in the Spanish Parliament.