| Catalan Alliance | |
| Native Name: | Aliança Catalana |
| Leader: | Sílvia Orriols |
| Split: | National Front of Catalonia |
| Headquarters: | C/ Sant Jaume 5, Ripoll |
| Position: | Far-right |
| Colors: | Dark blue |
| Slogan: | "Salvem Catalunya" ("Let's save Catalonia") |
| Seats1 Title: | Parliament of Catalonia |
| Seats2 Title: | Mayors |
| Seats3 Title: | Local government |
| Seats4 Title: | County councilors |
| Country: | Spain |
| State: | Catalonia |
Catalan Alliance (Catalan; Valencian: Aliança Catalana) is a far-right political party in Catalonia. It is a Catalan pro-independence, and nationalist party, and also opposes illegal immigration.[1] It is currently the governing party of the municipality of Ripoll.[2] At the 2024 Catalan regional election, the party entered the Parliament of Catalonia for the first time, with two seats.
The party was founded in 2020 by Ripoll Councilor Sílvia Orriols, who left the National Front of Catalonia (FNC) due to her opposition to moderating the party's stance on immigration. All FNC members in Ripoll joined Orriols in forming the Catalan Alliance.[3]
In May 2023, the party won the municipal elections in Ripoll, receiving the most votes in the town and obtaining six councilors. On 12 June, the other political forces in the municipality of Ripoll tried to make a pact to prevent Catalan Alliance from governing the municipality,[4] but Together for Catalonia (Junts) ultimately did not participate in the agreement and Orriols was invested as mayor on 17 June 2023.[5]
In the other two municipalities where the party ran, they obtained two more councilors, one in Manlleu and another in Ribera d'Ondara. In the latter municipality, the party's representative, Albert Puig, became mayor in 2024 following a no-confidence motion against the minority government of Francesc Sabanés of the Socialists' Party of Catalonia (PSC). Elisabet Jové of the Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC) became the new mayor, but she stepped down shortly after assuming the role due to maternity leave, handing the mayoralty to Puig.[6] Puig will hold the position for four months, until Jové returns from maternity leave, and governs with the support of councilors elected under the ERC banner. After the agreement between Catalan Alliance and the ERC was announced, ERC leadership severed all ties with the Ribera d'Ondara branch of the party.[7]
On 25 March 2024, Orriols confirmed that Catalan Alliance would be presenting a list for the 2024 Catalan regional election, with Orriols as the lead candidate. Ahead of the elections, PSC, ERC, Junts, Comuns Sumar, and Popular Unity Candidacy (CUP) announced that they would not enter into any coalition agreement with Catalan Alliance or Vox.[8] The party would ultimately win two seats in the election, entering the Parliament of Catalonia for the first time as the smallest party. The party would win Ripoll and the surrounding municipalities of Les Llosses, Campdevànol, and Gombrèn, all of which border Ripoll.[9] In Ribera d'Ondara, Catalan Alliance would finish second behind Junts.[10]
Catalan Alliance is far-right, opposing immigration to Catalonia as well as promoting anti-Muslim rhetoric, with party leader Sílvia Orriols stating that Muslims "do not integrate in our country but rather they attack our rights and freedoms".[11] [12] Orriols claims that Islam is incompatible with western values and has called for the closure of mosques and bans on the burqa in public.[13] In relation to the Israel-Gaza war, the party's leader Sílvia Orriols has strongly supported Israel.[14] [15]
The party has criticized bilingualism in Catalonia, with prominent member claiming that immigrants in Catalonia learn Spanish rather than Catalan,[16] and has called to make Spanish language education optional in Catalan schools.[17] At the same time, Catalan Alliance has called for the protection and promotion of the Aranese dialect of the Occitan language in Val d'Aran in its 2024 election platform.[18] In the past, the party has called for "expelling" the Spanish and French states from Catalonia,[19] with its leader Sílvia Orriols repeatedly talking about liberating Catalonia from "the Franco-Spanish yoke".
In economics, Catalan Alliance is liberal-conservative in outlook, calling for slightly lower taxes for the low and medium class, dismantle social benefits and lump payments for migrants, and adopting a pro local Small and Medium Enterprise rhetoric.[20] [21] At the same time, the party advocates protectionism for Catalan companies, and wishes for less integration between the Catalan and Spanish economies. The party is also against austerity.
| Parliament of Catalonia | |||||||
| Election | Leading candidate | Votes | % | Seats | +/– | Government | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Sílvia Orriols | 118,302 | 3.79 (#8) | 2 | |||