| Description | Left to far-left, Catalan independence party begun as a platform for coordinating the candidacies of the radical leftist independence movement in Catalonia. Party is active in the "Catalan Countries" (Països Catalans), which are those territories where the Catalan language is spoken, including Andorra, the Balearic Islands, the Valencian Community, and parts of Aragon and Murcia. Party identifies itself as both 'municipalist' (focused on development of the cities) and 'pancatalanist,' a form of 'romantic nationalism' supporting a more aggressive, expansionist Catalan independence movement which seeks to separate then unify a number of regions and provinces in Spain into a 'greater Catalonia." Party is led by its spokesman, Catalan ethnologist and sociologist Carles Riera i Albert. Riera founded the platform Popular Unity Candidacy–Constituent Call (Candidatura d'Unitat Popular–Crida Constituent) on September 27, 2015 which succeeded in picking up 10 seats in the 135-member Parliament of Catalonia, the highest number of seats ever obtained in the Catalonia Parliament by CUP [Candidatura d'Unitat Popular (CUP)]. |
