Catalan election on February 14 formally called but delay not ruled out

Catalans have been formally called to vote in an early election on February 14. After the disqualification of President Quim Torra in September, the Parliament has been unable to find a replacement for him in two months, as lawmakers agreed not to attempt to, and on Tuesday the official DOGC gazette published a decree automatically calling a vote after the deadline for appointing a new chief expired.

Parliament speaker Roger Torrent formally confirmed on Monday that no candidate for president has been put forward and dissolved the chamber. Subsequently, interim president Pere Aragonès signed the decree confirming the snap election later in the evening.

The electoral campaign will officially begin on January 29 and end on February 12 – as usual 135 MPs will be elected two days later, of which 85 will belong to the Barcelona constituency, 17 to Girona, 15 to Lleida, and 18 to Tarragona.

The motion published by DOGC establishes that the pandemic could delay the election. Indeed, a cross-party meeting agreed on Monday that the date would be pushed back if there is “very limited social activity or a total lockdown” at the time. The political forces running also found agreed to set January 15 as the deadline to decide whether to delay the vote or not.