The CUP suffered a very severe setback in these elections. The anti-capitalist formation lost five of the nine deputies it obtained in the 2021 elections, and also lost a good part of the prominence and relevance that it held during the last five years in Catalan politics. The Popular Unitat Candidacy is thus facing a profound review.
They even lost their representative from the Tarragona district, from the district of Laia Estrada itself, number one on their list. Furthermore, the debacle of the independence bloc also leaves the four anti-system deputies facing a long journey through the desert. The emergence of Aliança Catalana did nothing other than rub a lot of salt into the wound.
In her appearance, the CUP candidate did not want to enter into considerations about the role that anti-capitalists will play in the new political scenario. This question will be elucidated in a deep examination. “We are fully aware that we have lost votes and support. The four deputies now put ourselves at the disposal of the country to reverse this situation.” Estrada also recognized that the results were not good, quite the opposite, and attributed them mainly to “the Spanishization” that he understands marked this electoral campaign and also to “the reactionary wave that Catalonia is going through.” “We all have to address these problems.”
These extremes would also explain, the candidate stressed, the loss of the absolute majority of the independence bloc. Estrada urged the pro-independence and left-wing forces to mobilize to “stop the extreme right,” regardless of the “flag” it flies. Estrada also wanted to highlight that Aliança Catalana uses the estelada to hide its fascist approaches.
The truth is that people smelled it, the hit. And shortly after the closing of the polling stations, the cutting of Barcelona’s Casp Street at the height of the party’s headquarters seemed exaggerated. The air was very thick. The militants approached the picnic tables arranged here with very worried expressions. The first exit polls already predicted that the CUP results would not be what the party expected, at least what it intended a couple of weeks ago. In the afternoon Estrada had already expressed his concern about the decline in participation. The counting of the votes, however, confirmed the worst omens.
“After these elections we have a Parliament that is more right-wing and more Spanishist than ever,” added the number one on the CUP list. In her opinion, this new context greatly reduces the social and national aspirations of the entire Catalan society. The formation goes from having nine deputies that allowed it to be the fifth force in the Parliament in 2021 to four, which places them in seventh position, the penultimate, only ahead of Aliança Catalana.
