ABSTRACT
This chapter provides evidence on how the adoption of secessionism by the main Catalan regionalist parties can be linked to a “populist drift” in their discourses that have also affected their mobilization strategies and institutional practices. It analyzes the linkages between Catalan secessionism and the populist discourse and provides a proper examination of its quite successful mobilization efforts and new institutional practices. Catalonia is a Spanish region with high levels of self-government and a particular party system structured around the socio-economic and centre-periphery divides. The chapter highlights the links between the main grievances, the core arguments behind the discourse of the Catalan secessionist parties and groups, and their mobilization efforts. Catalan political parties and secessionist groups have also tried to transform electoral competition into a broader campaign for independence. The potential illiberal threat is not present in the real day-to-day life of the Catalan regional institutions.
