Platform for Catalonia

Platform for Catalonia (Catalan: Plataforma per Catalunya, PxC) was a far-right political party rooted in Catalonia, Spain, which centred its political agenda around controlling immigration and was opposed to Catalan independence. It was strongly anti-Islamic, and was widely considered a racist, xenophobic far-right political force.[14][15][16][17] Its leader was Josep Anglada, town councillor in Vic.

Platform for Catalonia
Plataforma per Catalunya
LeaderAugust Armengol Rofes
FounderJosep Anglada
Founded5 April 2002
Dissolved16 February 2019
Merged intoVox
Headquarters10 Jacint Verdaguer St. 08500 Vic, Barcelona
IdeologyEuroscepticism[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10]
Spanish unionism[11]
Populism[12]
Anti-Islam[13]
Political positionFar-right
Website
www.plataforma.cat

PxC had 8 local representatives, often in cities with tensions between locals and immigrants. They have not had any representatives at provincial, regional or national level. In 2014, the faction of PxC supporting Catalan independence splintered to form a new far-right pro-independence party "Som Catalans" (We are Catalans).[18][19] PxC merged with the Spanish nationalist party VOX in February 2019.[20]

Ideology

The party employed anti-Muslim rhetoric, and has been considered to have had a "counter-jihad agenda".[21] In 2011 the PxC were investigated after ordering a "Night of the Long Knives" against Muslim clerics in Catalonia.[22] The party leader was also investigated for calling for the expulsion of all Muslims from Spain.[23]

The PxC councillor in Salt, Girona, voted against criminalising homophobia in the city in 2013.[24]

The PxC took a stance against the enquiry for the political future of Catalonia of 2014, also known as 9-N, which the party considered an illegal attempt of secession of the autonomous community with respect to the rest of Spain.[25]

International relations

At their 2008 Congress, the PxC invited the Vlaams Belang of Belgium and the Lega Nord of Italy to attend.[26] In 2012, a senior PxC member congratulated the Golden Dawn of Greece on their general election results.[27] In 2010 the party signed a friendship agreement with the Freedom Party of Austria in order to counter the "Islamisation of Europe."[21]

History
PxC results in the Catalan parliamentary election, 2010. Areas of highest support in red and lowest in blue.

Anglada started the party on 15 January 2001 as the Plataforma Vigatana (Platform for Vic).[28] The PxC entered their first municipal elections in 2003, winning one seat in five respective cities. Cervera in Lleida province gave the largest percentage to the party, at 9.2%.[29]

In the 2010 Catalan parliamentary election they received 2.4% of votes, falling 15,000 votes short of entering Parliament.

In the 2011 local elections, PxC got 65,905 votes, and grew from 17 to 67 councillors. Two were elected in Hospitalet de Llobregat, Catalonia's second-largest city. Three were elected in Santa Coloma de Gramenet, which along with the two in Hospitalet constitute the PxC's first representation in Greater Barcelona. Mataró, in Barcelona province, had the highest percentage voting for the party (10.49%, 3 seats). In Vic, the PxC grew from four to five councillors, making them the city's second-largest party after Convergence and Union.[30]

In 2014, the members of the party supportive of the Catalan independence movement left to found their own political party: Som Catalans ("We are Catalans").[31]

On 16 February 2019, the PxC was absorbed into Vox.[32]

Attempts at national expansion

Parties affiliated with the PxC were set up in other regions of Spain, however they have not obtained any electoral success. The Platform for Madrid (Spanish: Plataforma por Madrid, PxM) cut off its links to Anglada's party in March 2006.[33]

In 2012, Anglada announced the launch of the Platform for Freedom (Spanish: Plataforma por la Libertad, PxL) an expansion of the party into the rest of Spain.[34] Anglada and the PxL have protested against the construction of mosques in Spain.[35] Plataforma por la Libertad was refounded in 2013 as the Party for Freedom.[36][37]

Electoral performance

Parliament of Catalonia
Date Votes Seats Status Size
#  % ±pp # ±
2010 75,134 2.40% +2.40 No Seats 8
2012 60,107 1.65% –0.75 No Seats 8

References
  1. Josep Anglada, la sonrisa de la extrema derecha. Público, 14 de enero de 2010.
  2. ¿Podría ser la decisión en Vic una primera victoria de la extrema derecha? Archived January 20, 2010, at the Wayback Machine. Informativos Telecinco, 15 de enero de 2010.
  3. Josep Anglada, el ultraderechista que crece en Vic Archived September 24, 2015, at the Wayback Machine. El Plural, 24 de enero de 2010.
  4. Cónclave ultraderechista para lanzar la campaña del xenófobo Anglada. El Mundo, 13 de marzo de 2010.
  5. La ultraderecha capitaliza el rechazo a una mezquita en Premià del Mar. ABC, 18 de mayo de 2002.
  6. El ultraderechista Anglada propone prohibir el velo musulmán en Vic. El País, 24 de enero de 2007.
  7. La extrema derecha busca un nuevo Sáenz de Ynestrillas para aglutinar el voto 'ultra'. El Confidencial, 3 de junio de 2008.
  8. El ultraderechista Partit per Catalunya decide presentarse a las elecciones al Parlament Archived 2010-02-16 at the Wayback Machine. La Vanguardia, 13 de febrero de 2010.
  9. Plataforma per Catalunya invita a la ultraderecha flamenca y a la Liga Norte italiana en su congreso. Europaress, 17 de noviembre de 2007.
  10. La ultradreta se n’aprofita Archived January 17, 2010, at the Wayback Machine. Avui, 14 de enero de 2010.
  11. "Plataforma per Catalunya se posiciona claramente contra la independencia: "Nos sentimos españoles y nos sentimos catalanes"". Archived from the original on 2014-09-05. Retrieved 2014-09-05.
  12. Anglada: "Being populist and identitarian is being honestly democratic" Archived 2011-10-03 at the Wayback Machine Minuto Digital (Spanish)
  13. Anglada: "We don't want Muslims, neither in Catalonia nor in Spain" Archived 2011-09-17 at the Wayback Machine - Pxcatalunya.com
  14. 27-M.- El partido xenófobo Plataforma per Catalunya triplica el número de concejales, Europa Press, 28 May 2007.(Spanish)
  15. PSC y CiU descartan cualquier tipo de acuerdo con la xenófoba Plataforma per Catalunya Archived 2008-01-30 at archive.today,La Vanguardia, 28 May 2007 (Spanish).
  16. CiU salva el presupuesto en Vic gracias a la abstención de un grupo xenófobo, El País, 3 March 2005 (Spanish).
  17. Un manifiesto alerta del racismo de Plataforma per Catalunya, El Periodico de Catalunya, 24 May 2007 (Spanish).
  18. "Una vigatana lidera un nou partit xenòfob que té la independència com a esquer". El9nou.cat. 7 July 2014.
  19. Carranco, Rebeca; Mumbrú, Jordi (9 July 2014). "La ultraderecha se descara en Cataluña ante el auge del soberanismo". El País.
  20. "La ultraderechista Plataforma per Catalunya cesa su actividad para adherirse a Vox". www.publico.es. Retrieved 2019-05-20.
  21. Hannus, Martha (2012). Counterjihadrörelsen– en del av den antimuslimska miljön (in Swedish). Expo Research. p. 57.
  22. "El fiscal investiga a PxC por instar en la web a una "noche de cuchillos largos"". El País. 25 August 2011.
  23. "Spain: July-December, 2010 International Religious Freedom Report". US Department of State. 13 September 2011.
  24. "El ayuntamiento de Salt sancionará las conductas homófobas". Cascaraamarga.es.
  25. BARCELONA, EL PERIÓDICO / (2014-11-09). "Plataforma per Catalunya denuncia en la Ciutat de la Justícia 1.317 locales en los que se vota". elperiodico (in Spanish). Retrieved 2022-10-27.
  26. "Plataforma per Catalunya invita a la ultraderecha flamenca y a la Liga Norte italiana en su congreso". M.europapress.es. Europa Press. 17 November 2008.
  27. "Alba Daurada inflama les passions de PxC". NacióDigital.cat.
  28. "¿Es este hombre un peligro?". Elmundo.es.
  29. "ELECCIONES 25 M 2003". Elmundo.es.
  30. "Plataforma per Catalunya recibe 66.000 votos y pasa de 17 a 67 concejales". Vozbcn.com. 22 May 2011.
  31. Osona.com. "Una vigatana lidera un nou partit xenòfob, ara amb connotacions independentistes". www.naciodigital.cat (in Catalan). Retrieved 2022-10-27.
  32. Faus, Joan (16 February 2019). "Vox s'empassa Plataforma per Catalunya". El País.
  34. "Anglada crea Plataforma por la Libertad (PxL) para extenderse por España". Elmundo.es.
  35. "Anglada: 'No queremos una mezquita ni en Torrejón ni en ningún sitio'". Elmundo.es.
  36. "¿Qué es el Partido por la Libertad? - Periódico Diagonal". Diagonalperiodico.net. Retrieved 31 January 2018.
  37. "Registro de partidos políticos". Sede.mir.gob.es.
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