A new poll carried out across Spain has found growth in support for holding a referendum on the question of Catalan independence - with a considerable rise in support for a referendum among Spanish citizens outside Catalonia.
The poll, prepared by GESOP for the pro-unionist newspaper El Periódico, finds that in the Spanish state as a whole, the percentage in favour of a referendum to solve the current political crisis has reached 46.9%, a rise of 7.2% since the question was asked by the same poll in February 2017, while those who support a reform of the Spanish constitution now amount to 47.6% of the total, 3.2% more than in 2017.
There has also been a slight rise since the last poll in the number of citizens of Catalonia itself who support such a vote - although this is nothing new, as polls over the past six years have consistently found that the vast majority of Catalans back their own "right to decide" their political future through a vote. In this case, the latest GESOP poll records that 80% of Catalans are in favour of such a referendum on the independence of Catalonia, 1.3% more than in the same poll last year, while 72.9% see a federal reform of the Spanish constitution as being necessary.
The survey also finds that in the case that a Spanish national election were held at present, the Citizens (Cs) party would win with 28% of votes and 100-144 seats in the 350-member Spanish Congress. This would be a massive upsurge in parliamentary strength, since Cs currently have just 32 seats. The currently governing Popular Party (PP) would finish in second place, with 21% of the vote and 79-82 deputies (currently 137). In third place would be the Socialists (PSOE) with 20.5% of votes and an estimated 75-79 seats (now they have 85), and fourth among the large Spanish parties would be the left-wing Unidos Podemos and its regional variants, with 18.1% of votes and 55-59 seats (currently 71).
Among the Catalan parties in such an election, Catalan Republican Left (ERC) would increase its support from its current 9 seats to 10 or 11, while the Catalan Democratic European Party (PDeCAT) might lose a little support, although could retain its current level of 8 MPs in Madrid.
La Razón: 48% of Catalans would repeat the 1st October referendum
Another survey published on Sunday, by the conservative La Razón, infers that 53.3% of Catalans are against independence and 51.9% believe that Catalan regional elections should not be repeated in Catalonia. However, the survey also finds that 48.3% of voters say they would once more take part in a referendum like that of the 1st October.
In that survey of a sample of a thousand Catalans, the majority (53.3%) consider that president Carles Puigdemont does not have a legitimate right to the post and 67.7% want him to be returned to Spain, according to the newspaper.