Catalonia voters head to the polls today to decide whether to return their separatist politicians to power or install a pro-unity government.
The outcome could be a hung parliament, where no single party has a majority.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
According to Spain's El Pais newpaper, the “cliffhanger” election is “likely to be followed by a period of intense political jockeying”. The BBC agrees, saying there seems “little prospect that the election will solve the region's political crisis”.
According to The Local, the risk is that “no one will come forward to support a winner, opening the way to lengthy negotiations, followed by deadlock”.
Quartz Media says a stalemate could mean continuing turmoil. Some analysts are betting on another election early next year.
Two leaders are vying to become Catalonia’s next president: Carles Puigdemont, who is fighting the race from Brussels where he fled following the independence vote, and Oriol Junqueras, his former vice president, who remained in Spain and has spent six weeks in prison.
-
Magazine solutions - January 23, 2026Puzzle and Quizzes Magazine solutions - January 23, 2026
-
Scott Adams: The cartoonist who mocked corporate lifeFeature His popular comic strip ‘Dilbert’ was dropped following anti-Black remarks
-
The 8 best animated family movies of all timethe week recomends The best kids’ movies can make anything from the apocalypse to alien invasions seem like good, wholesome fun
-
Israel retrieves final hostage’s body from GazaSpeed Read The 24-year-old police officer was killed during the initial Hamas attack
-
China’s Xi targets top general in growing purgeSpeed Read Zhang Youxia is being investigated over ‘grave violations’ of the law
-
Panama and Canada are negotiating over a crucial copper mineIn the Spotlight Panama is set to make a final decision on the mine this summer
-
Why Greenland’s natural resources are nearly impossible to mineThe Explainer The country’s natural landscape makes the task extremely difficult
-
Iran cuts internet as protests escalateSpeed Reada Government buildings across the country have been set on fire
-
US nabs ‘shadow’ tanker claimed by RussiaSpeed Read The ship was one of two vessels seized by the US military
-
How Bulgaria’s government fell amid mass protestsThe Explainer The country’s prime minister resigned as part of the fallout
-
Femicide: Italy’s newest crimeThe Explainer Landmark law to criminalise murder of a woman as an ‘act of hatred’ or ‘subjugation’ but critics say Italy is still deeply patriarchal
