It is reckless to compare any two different elections, even if they are held consecutively. On December 20 we won’t be voting on the future of the Catalan government; it remains to be seen what the turnout will be, plus the voters’ behaviour will be so different that Podemos’ electoral brand name in Catalonia actually stands a chance of being the most voted party, only two months after its utter fiasco on September 27.
What is at stake is the next Spanish government and, above all, the end of bipartisan politics, a stage that Catalonia moved past ages ago. There is only one element in common between the upcoming Spanish elections and Catalonia’s recent polls: once again, expats will struggle to cast their ballot.
On September 27 this anomaly (I’d rather not call it sabotage) actually suited the unionist camp and, therefore, they played it down. But suddenly everyone in Spain is complaining about it and El País has printed an editorial calling it “shocking”. What is truly shocking is for democracy’s spirit to be so selective.
