Yzabelle Bostyn
A NEW poll has shown that if a new Catalan independence referendum was held today, the region would REMAIN part of Spain by a comfortable margin.
Next Sunday, May 12, Catalans will take to the polls to decide who should be the next president of the Generalitat (regional government) for the next four years.
Recently, the political climate in Catalunya has been tense, with talks around the amnesty for independence leaders, a shaky Pedro Sanchez in charge of the central government and little support for MEP Carles Puigedemont’s bid for candidacy.
Now, a survey has shown 60.4% of Catalans are in favour of an independence referendum.
Photo: Cordon Press
Commissioned by 20minutos with the Instituto DYM, the research revealed that despite this, only 36.9% were in favour of Catalan independence.
Another controversial topic has been the amnesty law, which gave amnesty to the 400 people who took part in November 2014’s symbolic independence referendum.
Over 55% of Catalans are in favour of the amnesty, while 58% back the pardon given to politicians who took part in the ‘process’.
However, 58% supported the proposal to ‘reform’ the Catalan financial system, giving the Generalitat full control over their finances and tax income.
Meanwhile, only 49% of those surveyed wanted immigration powers to be handed over to the regional government.
Some 45% were in favour of the Spanish constitution, while only a third wanted public education to be given in Castilian Spanish instead of Catalan.
For Catalans, the most important question of all is the region’s financial control (14.8%), followed by independence (14.5%), the referendum (13.2%) and the constitution (12.5%).
