Catalan Elections see Left Nationalist make gains.

The result of the Parliamentary Elections saw the main Catalan Party  CiU lose  12 seats but before Unionist and the Guardian  claim this a setback for Separatists. They had better look at the other "Nationalist Parties all on  the Left who won 37 a gain of 13 easily given the pro-independence referendum Parties a clear majority.

 Summary of the 25 November 2012 Parliament of Catalonia elections results
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Party		Popular vote			Seats
		Votes	%	+/–	Seats	+/–
	Convergence and Union Convergència i Unió - CiU	1,112,341	30.68	-7.75	50	-12
	Republican Left of Catalonia Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya - ERC	496,292	13.68	+6.68	21	+11
	Socialists of Catalonia Party Partit dels Socialistes de Catalunya - PSC	523,333	14.43	-3.95	20	-8
	People's Party of Catalonia Partit Popular Català - PPC	471,197	12.99	+0.62	19	+1
	Initiative for Catalonia Greens - United and Alternative Left Iniciativa per Catalunya Verds - Esquerra Unida i Alternativa - ICV-EUiA	358,857	9.89	+2.52	13	+3
	Citizens – Party of the Citizenry Ciutadans – Parti de la Ciutadania - C's	274,925	7.58	+4.19	9	+6
	Popular Unity Candidates Candidatures d'Unitat Popular - CUP	126,219	3.48	N/A	3	N/A
	Catalan Solidarity for Independence Solidaritat Catalana per la Independencia - SI	46,608	1.28	-2.01	0	-4
	Other parties
Blank votes		52,899	1.45	-1.46
Valid votes		3,572,319	97.67	+1.29
Invalid votes		85,131	2.33	-1.29
Totals and voter turnout		3,657,450	69.56	+10.78	135	—
Electorate		'	'

Indeed a quick analyst seems to show  adrift from the moderate Convergence and Union
Convergència i Unió - CiU which up to now have ben content with the status Quo  towards Parties that want Independence.

Indeed with CiU needing coalition partners  and the Republican Lft of CataloniaEsquerra Republicana de Catalunya - ERC doing so well they will probably enter into a coalition with the aim of calling  an Independence referendum 

The Unionist Parties  saw the Socialist PSC  lose 8 seats  the Conservative PPC lose 8 and the Spanish Unionist Party Citizens – Party of the CitizenryCiutadans – Parti de la Ciutadania - C's gain 6.

So the election largely saw  a swing to left wing parties on the Nationalist Side and right wing Parties on the Unionist side .

So whilst there was no real gain in the Pro-Nationalist camp ( I make it one)  there is a clear mandate for an independence referendum.

With the Basque country seeing a similar swing from the establishment  Parties that claim to be Nationalist but were content with the Status Quo . There are now three regions of Europe , The Basque Country , Catalonia and Scotland  and (maybe Flanders)  seeking to hold referendums in the next 5 years. We are now heading for a new Period of National Independence Movements  . How far behind will Wales allow itself to be.