Socialists' Party of Catalonia

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The Socialists' Party of Catalonia (Catalan: Partit dels Socialistes de Catalunya, PSC–PSOE) is a social democratic political party in Catalonia, Spain, resulting from the merger of three parties: the Socialist Party of Catalonia–Regrouping, led by Josep Pallach i Carolà, the Socialist Party of Catalonia–Congress, and the Catalan Federation of the PSOE. It is the Catalan instance of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE), and its Aranese section is Unity of Aran. The party had also been allied with federalist and republican political platform Citizens for Change (Ciutadans pel Canvi) until the 2010 election. PSC–PSOE has its power base in the Barcelona metropolitan area and the comarques of Tarragonès, Montsià, and Val d'Aran.

Socialists' Party of Catalonia
Partit dels Socialistes de Catalunya
First SecretarySalvador Illa
PresidentMiquel Iceta
Vice PresidentNúria Marín
Founded16 July 1978 (1978-07-16)
Merger of
  • Socialist Party of Catalonia–Congress
  • Socialist Party of Catalonia–Regrouping
  • Catalan Federation of the PSOE
Headquartersc/ Nicaragua, 75–77
08029 Barcelona
NewspaperEndavant Digital
Youth wingSocialist Youth of Catalonia
Membership (2023) 12,000
Ideology
  • Social democracy
  • Federalism
  • Catalanism
Political positionCentre-left
National affiliationSpanish Socialist Workers' Party
European affiliationProgressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats
Congress of Deputies
19 / 48
(Catalan seats)
Spanish Senate
15 / 24
(Catalan seats)
Parliament of Catalonia
41 / 135
European Parliament
(Spanish seats)
2 / 59
Mayors
130 / 947
Local government
1,453 / 9,139
County councils
8 / 40
County councilors
198 / 1,028
Website
www.socialistes.cat

Party leaders

First Secretaries

  • Joan Reventós, 1978–1983
  • Raimon Obiols, 1983–1996
  • Narcís Serra, 1996–2000
  • José Montilla, 2000–2011
  • Pere Navarro, 2011–2014
  • Miquel Iceta, 2014–2021
  • Salvador Illa, 2021–present

Presidents

  • Joan Reventós, 1983–1996
  • Raimon Obiols, 1996–2000
  • Pasqual Maragall, 2000–2007
  • José Montilla, 2007–2008 (acting)
  • Isidre Molas, 2008–2011
  • Àngel Ros, 2014–2019
  • Núria Marín, 2019–2021
  • Miquel Iceta, 2021–present

Political positions

Economic and social issues

Environment

The party advocates for the preservation of the natural environment by implementing sustainable development strategies that promote economic advancement and the welfare of everyone.

Market Economy

The Socialists' Party of Catalonia promotes "individual initiative, entrepreneurial freedom, and innovation within the context of a socially accountable market."

Foreign policy

European Union

The PSC promotes the European Union and its expansion to the Mediterranean. They believe in a reform policy in the goal to achieve an inclusive and cohesive society.

National identity and the territorial question

The PSC is considered to be a catalanist party and as such it defends the nature of Catalonia as a nation, and uses the word "country" to refer to Catalonia in public regularly. However, the PSC is openly against Catalan independence and proposes a federalist solution to the Catalan territorial question, seeking to build a federal Spanish State with guaranteed recognition for the nationhood of Catalonia, further devolution to the Catalan Government and the official recognition of Spanish multilingualism. They largely adhere to the territorial project of their associate, the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party, but they are considered to be the most federalist and peripheral nationalist in their political space. Because of this position they are considered to occupy a central position in Catalan politics which allow them to form coalitions with both openly pro-independence parties such as ERC or Junts and more hardline pro-Spanish parties like the PP.

Despite this, the PSC, given its origins as a big-tent merger of all Catalan social-democrats, has a diversity of opinions when it comes to the Catalan national question, with some sectors being considered more overtly Catalan nationalist and some others more clearly Spanish unionist but always within the framework of catalanism and Spanish federalism that the party advocates for.

Language policy

The Socialists' Party of Catalonia advocates for a Catalan-favoring language policy and the promotion of the usage of the Catalan language. As such, they are in favor of Catalan immersion in schools, a Catalan-dominated linguistic landscape and the bettering of knowledge and public usage of the Catalan language. The first Minister for Linguistic Policy of the history of the Catalan Government was nominated by the party, albeit following an agreement with the Republican Left of Catalonia. They mainly use Catalan in their messaging and governments that they participate in or lead usually pass pro-Catalan language legislation. Despite this, they have a large Spanish-speaking voting base and therefore the Spanish language is also used by the party in political rallies. Given this dualism they are considered to be less committed to the language question than pro-independence parties or parties like Catalunya en Comú.

Electoral performance

Parliament of Catalonia

Parliament of Catalonia
Election Leading candidate Votes % Seats Gov.
1980 Joan Reventós 606,717 22.4 (#2)
33 / 135
1984 Raimon Obiols 866,281 30.1 (#2)
41 / 135
1988 802,828 29.8 (#2)
42 / 135
1992 728,311 27.5 (#2)
40 / 135
1995 Joaquim Nadal 802,252 24.9 (#2)
34 / 135
1999 Pasqual Maragall 1,183,299 37.9 (#1)
52 / 135
2003 1,031,454 31.2 (#1)
42 / 135
2006 José Montilla 796,173 26.8 (#2)
37 / 135
2010 575,233 18.4 (#2)
28 / 135
2012 Pere Navarro 524,707 14.4 (#2)
20 / 135
2015 Miquel Iceta 523,283 12.7 (#3)
16 / 135
2017 606,659 13.9 (#4)
17 / 135
2021 Salvador Illa 654,766 23.0 (#1)
33 / 135
2024 882,589 28.0 (#1)
42 / 135

Cortes Generales

Cortes Generales
Election Catalonia
Congress Senate
Votes % Seats Seats
1979 875,529 29.7 (#1)
17 / 47
6 / 16
1982 1,575,601 45.8 (#1)
25 / 47
9 / 16
1986 1,299,733 41.0 (#1)
21 / 47
8 / 16
1989 1,123,975 35.6 (#1)
20 / 46
6 / 16
1993 1,277,838 34.9 (#1)
18 / 47
6 / 16
1996 1,531,143 39.4 (#1)
19 / 46
8 / 16
2000 1,150,533 34.1 (#1)
17 / 46
7 / 16
2004 1,586,748 39.5 (#1)
21 / 47
8 / 16
2008 1,689,911 45.4 (#1)
25 / 47
8 / 16
2011 922,547 26.7 (#2)
14 / 47
6 / 16
2015 590,274 15.7 (#3)
8 / 47
0 / 16
2016 559,870 16.1 (#3)
7 / 47
0 / 16
Apr. 2019 962,257 23.2 (#2)
12 / 48
3 / 16
Nov. 2019 794,666 20.5 (#2)
12 / 48
2 / 16
2023 1,221,335 34.5 (#1)
19 / 48
12 / 16

European Parliament

European Parliament
Election Catalonia
Votes %
1987 1,116,348 36.8 (#1)
1989 865,506 36.4 (#1)
1994 721,374 28.2 (#2)
1999 997,311 34.6 (#1)
2004 907,121 42.9 (#1)
2009 708,888 36.0 (#1)
2014 359,214 14.3 (#3)
2019 756,231 22.1 (#2)
2024 734,741 30.6 (#1)

See also

wikipedia, wiki, encyclopedia, book, library, article, read, free download, Information about Socialists' Party of Catalonia, What is Socialists' Party of Catalonia? What does Socialists' Party of Catalonia mean?