Nationalists and independentistas lose space but not weight in Congress: in their hands a PSOE-Sumar government

The Catalan sovereignists leave 9 deputies and the CUP disappears, while Bildu gives the 'sorpasso' to the PNV by remaining in Navarra

MADRID, 24 Jul. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The nationalist and pro-independence parties of Catalonia, the Basque Country and Galicia will have less representation in the Congress of Deputies in the new legislature after losing nine seats (from 35 to 26), although they will continue to be essential for the left to remain in the Moncloa Palace, as PSOE and Sumar depend on their support in the investiture to revalidate the coalition government of the last four years of Pedro Sánchez with Unidas Podemos.

After these elections, ERC will cease to be the pro-independence force with the most seats, having tied 7, compared to the 13 it obtained in 2019, with Junts per Catalunya (JxCat).

What Esquerra does follow is as the first pro-independence force in votes in Catalonia, with 462,000 (412,000 less), compared to Junts' 392,000, which leaves a deputy and 137,000 votes on the road.

In this way, the Catalan separatists see their presence in the Lower House reduced, since the 23 deputies in 2019 now go to 14. Among them, two from the CUP are left behind, which leaves Congress after breaking into the previous general elections for the first time.

And the loss of votes and seats is therefore reflected in the percentage of support for the three parties in favor of the independence of Catalonia, which fell from 42.6% in 2019 to 27.1%.

In the Basque Country, the PNV drops from 6 to 5 deputies with 275,000 votes, while EH Bildu increases by one, from 4 to 5 and 274,000 votes, which by adding the one it manages to retain in Navarra allows it to give it the 'sorpasso', as it already did in the 2011 general elections.

For the PNV, which does exceed the nationalist formation by some 100,000 votes, the electoral cost is around 103,000 fewer votes in Euskadi, where the polls have provided 53,000 more supports for Bildu, who in Navarra also receives 2,000 more ballots.

Both in Catalonia and in the Basque Country, the circumstance occurs that the PSOE snatches the first position from the nationalists, since the PNV and Esquerra were victorious in November 2019.

And in Galicia, the Galician Nationalist Bloc (BNG) raised 31,000 votes, to 151,000, although the improvement did not translate into greater parliamentary representation and would continue with a deputy in Madrid.

With these results, the Catalan, Basque and Galician nationalists and independentistas fell back in seats, a number that had not stopped increasing since 2016, when they achieved 24. The ground of nationalism was touched in 2008, the year in which they did not exceed 22.

Despite the decline in seats, the nationalist and pro-independence parties have the key so that PSOE (122 seats) and Sumar (31) can reissue the coalition government, as the absolute majority in Congress is set at 176 deputies. If ERC, Junts, Bildu, PNV and BNG are incorporated, the investiture could have 179 supporters.

This is the evolution of the main nationalist and pro-independence formations in Congress over the last 30 years: