• New study says voter perception of Catalanismo as left-wing is distorted •
A new study of voter perceptions in Spain’s northeast region of Catalonia shows that Catalan voter preferences in recent elections have become skewed by a stereotype increasingly shared among Catalans that identifies Catalan nationalism with left-wing ideology, regardless of political parties’ actual ideological stance on political and economic issues.
According to the new study, ¿O catalanistas o fachas? (literally, “Catalanists or fascists?”), today’s prevailing perception among Catalan voters identifying Catalanismo as left-of-center is a near-complete inverse of the perception held for most of the past 25 years, when Catalan nationalism was seen as rightist and associated with the Convergència Democràtica de Catalunya party (CDC), led for decades by former regional president Jordi Pujol and his successor, Artur Mas.
Today, while the CDC shares virtually the same ideology on most issues as the centre-right Ciudadanos party, voters’ perceptions are so skewed as to now identify the CDC as being left-of-center and Ciudadanos more right-of-center than reality actually warrants. Similarly, the erstwhile left-wing standard bearing Catalan Socialist Party (PSC) is today seen as centrist and leaning to the right because of its position against Catalan independence, while Spain’s anti-austerity Podemos party is seen as only slightly to the left of the CDC’s pro-independence Junts Pel Sí coalition.
► Read More in Spanish at La Vanguardia and Crónica Global …
► Read the Full Study in Spanish from the Univ of Barcelona’s ICPS …
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