big tent A big tent party, or catch-all party, is a term used in reference to a political party's policy of permitting or encouraging a broad spectrum of views among its members. This is in contrast to other kinds of parties, which defend a determined i ...

Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a '' nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the no ...

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independe ...

civil society Civil society can be understood as the "third sector" of society, distinct from government and business, and including the family and the private sphere.Together for Catalonia (JxCat) alliance—such as Quim Torra or

Jordi Sànchez Jordi () is the Catalan form of the ancient Greek name Georgios. Jordi is a popular name in Catalonia and is also given in the Netherlands and in Spanish-, English- and German-speaking countries. Jordi may also refer to: * Sant Jordi – patron ...

—as well as prominent members of the

Catalan European Democratic Party The Catalan European Democratic Party ( ca, Partit Demòcrata Europeu Català, PDeCAT, sometimes stylized as PDECat), initially branded as the Catalan Democratic Party ( ca, Partit Demòcrata Català, PDC), is a liberal political party in Spain ...

(PDeCAT), among others: former Catalan president

Carles Puigdemont Carles Puigdemont i Casamajó (; born 29 December 1962) is a Catalan politician and journalist from Spain. Since 2019 he has served as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP). A former mayor of Girona, Puigdemont served as President of Catalo ...

, former regional ministers

Josep Rull Josep Rull i Andreu (born 2 September 1968) is a Spanish politician from Catalonia. He served as the Counselor of Territory and Sustainability of Catalonia at the Government of Carles Puigdemont between 2016 and 2017, when Spanish Rajoy's Gov ...

,

Jordi Turull Jordi Turull i Negre (born 6 September 1966) is a Spanish politician associated with Together for Catalonia. Since March 2018 he has been in pre-trial custody by order of the Supreme Court of Spain and accused of sedition and rebellion. On 10 Jul ...

and Laura Borràs or party vice-president

Míriam Nogueras Míriam Nogueras i Camero (born 11 May 1980) is a Catalan businesswoman and politician who serves as Member of the Congress of Deputies of Spain. Early life Nogueras was born on 11 May 1980 in Dosrius, Catalonia. She is currently studying f ...

. The party was merged into Puigdemont's new Together for Catalonia (Junts) on 19 July, after negotiations with the PDeCAT to form a joint list ahead of the

next Catalan regional election Next may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film * ''Next'' (1990 film), an animated short about William Shakespeare * ''Next'' (2007 film), a sci-fi film starring Nicolas Cage * '' Next: A Primer on Urban Painting'', a 2005 documentary film Lit ...

foundered as a result of the latter's refusal to dissolve itself within JxCat. Overall, the Crida has been pointed out as unsuccessful in its main goal of uniting all pro-independence parties under its umbrella, with the party not having been fielded on its own to contest any single election, but its establishment and permanent stress on the PDeCAT has been said to help hasten the latter's internal crisis.

History

The Crida was established as a political platform on 16 July 2018, with

Carles Puigdemont Carles Puigdemont i Casamajó (; born 29 December 1962) is a Catalan politician and journalist from Spain. Since 2019 he has served as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP). A former mayor of Girona, Puigdemont served as President of Catalo ...

, Quim Torra and

Jordi Sànchez Jordi () is the Catalan form of the ancient Greek name Georgios. Jordi is a popular name in Catalonia and is also given in the Netherlands and in Spanish-, English- and German-speaking countries. Jordi may also refer to: * Sant Jordi – patron ...

being the driving force behind its establishment. On 8 January 2019 it was registered as a political party in the

interior ministry An interior ministry (sometimes called a ministry of internal affairs or ministry of home affairs) is a government department that is responsible for internal affairs. Lists of current ministries of internal affairs Named "ministry" * Ministr ...

, and on 26 January it held its constituent congress. Ahead of the

April 2019 Spanish general election The April 2019 Spanish general election was held on Sunday, 28 April 2019, to elect the 13th Cortes Generales of the Kingdom of Spain. All 350 seats in the Congress of Deputies were up for election, as well as 208 of 266 seats in the Senate. Fol ...

, party members voted against running on their own and in favour of joining a "unitary candidacy" of pro-independence parties together with the

Catalan European Democratic Party The Catalan European Democratic Party ( ca, Partit Demòcrata Europeu Català, PDeCAT, sometimes stylized as PDECat), initially branded as the Catalan Democratic Party ( ca, Partit Demòcrata Català, PDC), is a liberal political party in Spain ...

(PDeCAT). Failure in negotiations between both the PDeCAT and

Republican Left of Catalonia The Republican Left of Catalonia ( ca, Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya, ERC; ; generically branded as ) is a pro-Catalan independence, social-democratic political party in the Spanish autonomous community of Catalonia, with a presence also ...

(ERC) for such a list ultimately ended in the Crida declaring that they would not contest the general election nor would formally supporting any candidacy, though it supported the participation of several of its members in the Together for Catalonia (JxCat) alliance. After the

November 2019 Spanish general election The November 2019 Spanish general election was held on Sunday, 10 November 2019, to elect the 14th Cortes Generales of the Kingdom of Spain. All 350 seats in the Congress of Deputies were up for election, as well as 208 of 265 seats in the Senate. ...

, the party intended to stage a refoundation of the post-

Democratic Convergence of Catalonia The Democratic Convergence of Catalonia ( ca, Convergència Democràtica de Catalunya; , CDC), frequently shortened as Convergence ( ca, Convergència; ) was a Catalan nationalist, liberal political party in Catalonia (Spain), currently still exis ...

political space, bringing together the three political entities resulting from CDC's demise—the PDeCAT, JxCat and itself—either as a joint entity or in the form of a coalition, The CNxR did not rule out running on its own in an eventual election if an agreement with the PDeCAT was not possible, as it ruled out dissolving itself into a mere continuation of CDC's legacy. Negotiations stalled as a result of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

and resumed in June 2020. On 8 July 2020, it was proposed that the party be merged and subsequently dissolved into

Carles Puigdemont Carles Puigdemont i Casamajó (; born 29 December 1962) is a Catalan politician and journalist from Spain. Since 2019 he has served as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP). A former mayor of Girona, Puigdemont served as President of Catalo ...

's upcoming party—a new Together for Catalonia—on 25 July. As the Crida before it, the new Together for Catalonia party—whose establishment was unveiled on 2 July 2020—aimed at reorganizing the post-CDC space and bring together supporters of unilateral independence ahead of the

next Catalan regional election Next may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film * ''Next'' (1990 film), an animated short about William Shakespeare * ''Next'' (2007 film), a sci-fi film starring Nicolas Cage * '' Next: A Primer on Urban Painting'', a 2005 documentary film Lit ...

, but unlike the CNxR it was to break all ties with the PDeCAT, after negotiations failed between the former and the latter to merge themselves into a new political force under the umbrella of JxCat (whose naming rights belonged to the PDeCAT). The Crida held a vote among its members from 16 to 18 July to decide on its ultimate fate, including a proposal providing for its transformation into a foundation and

think tank A think tank, or policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-govern ...

within Puigdemont's new party, with over 95% of party members approving of the merger.

Ideology

With an ambition to unite social conservatives and

left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy. Left-wing politics typically involve a concern for those in soci ...

supporters of Catalan independence, the party is a big tent and mass movement organisation with the main ideology of supporting

Catalan independence The Catalan independence movement ( ca, independentisme català; Spanish: ''independentismo catalán'') is a social and political movement (with roots in Catalan nationalism) which seeks the independence of Catalonia from Spain. The beginning ...

and the establishment of a new

Catalan Republic Catalan Republic or Catalan State refers to Catalonia at various times when it was proclaimed either an independent republic or as a republic within a Spanish federal republic: * Catalan Republic (1641), a proclaimed independent state under French ...

. It aims at serving as the umbrella for a single Catalan independence list, establishing a structure that mirrors the

Scottish National Party The Scottish National Party (SNP; sco, Scots National Pairty, gd, Pàrtaidh Nàiseanta na h-Alba ) is a Scottish nationalist and social democratic political party in Scotland. The SNP supports and campaigns for Scottish independence from th ...

, while some analysts have described it as " convergent

peronism Peronism, also called justicialism,. The Justicialist Party is the main Peronist party in Argentina, it derives its name from the concept of social justice., name=, group= is an Argentine political movement based on the ideas and legacy of A ...

" and as a mixture of

Chantal Mouffe Chantal Mouffe (; born 17 June 1943) is a Belgian political theorist, formerly teaching at University of Westminster. She is best known for her contribution to the development—jointly with Ernesto Laclau, with whom she co-authored her most f ...

's " populist moment and a reminiscence of the CDC's political project in the 1980s and 1990s which endep up identifying

Jordi Pujol Jordi Pujol Soley (, born 9 June 1930) is a Catalan politician who was the leader of the party Convergència Democràtica de Catalunya (CDC) from 1974 to 2003, and President of the Generalitat de Catalunya from 1980 to 2003. Early life Pujol was ...

as the bulwark of

Catalan nationalism Catalan nationalism is the ideology asserting that the Catalans are a distinct nation. Intellectually, modern Catalan nationalism can be said to have commenced as a political philosophy in the unsuccessful attempts to establish a federal state ...

. Former Catalan minister Ferran Mascarell argued that it intended to "trascend" political parties, whereas Together for Catalonia's spokesperson Gemma Geis claimed that it was "a tool" comprising "individual adhesions" and "not a political structure with party representative quotas". Internally, the party is said to possess three main ideological currents: left-wing,

social democracy Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote s ...

and

liberalism Liberalism is a Political philosophy, political and moral philosophy based on the Individual rights, rights of the individual, liberty, consent of the governed, political equality and equality before the law."political rationalism, hostilit ...

. Other pro-independence political parties, such as

Republican Left of Catalonia The Republican Left of Catalonia ( ca, Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya, ERC; ; generically branded as ) is a pro-Catalan independence, social-democratic political party in the Spanish autonomous community of Catalonia, with a presence also ...

(ERC) and the

Popular Unity Candidacy The Popular Unity Candidacy ( ca, Candidatura d'Unitat Popular, , CUP) is a left-wing to far-left pro- Catalan independence political party active primarily in Catalonia, where it has political representation, but also in other autonomous communit ...

(CUP), have repeatedly ruled out joining the CNxR, perceiving it as an hostile movement ultimately seeking to dilute them into Puigdemont's personal political project. Puigdemont's original party, the

Catalan European Democratic Party The Catalan European Democratic Party ( ca, Partit Demòcrata Europeu Català, PDeCAT, sometimes stylized as PDECat), initially branded as the Catalan Democratic Party ( ca, Partit Demòcrata Català, PDC), is a liberal political party in Spain ...

(PDeCAT)—direct successor to the late CDC—was also resistant to dilute itself into the CNxR, despite the joint participation of PDeCAT and Crida members in the JxCat alliance contesting the 2019 two Spanish general elections,

local elections In many parts of the world, local elections take place to select office-holders in local government, such as mayors and councillors. Elections to positions within a city or town are often known as "municipal elections". Their form and conduct v ...

and that year's

European Parliament election Elections to the European Parliament take place every five years by universal adult suffrage; with more than 400 million people eligible to vote, they are considered the second largest democratic elections in the world after India's. Unti ...

.

References

External links

* * *{{Instagram 2018 establishments in Catalonia Catalan nationalist parties Political parties established in 2018 Political parties in Catalonia