The Catalan elections on December 21 were meant to mark the end of Spain’s constitutional crisis. After an unofficial referendum; the arrest of prominent pro-independence figures; and the suspension of Catalonia’s government, Spanish prime minister Mariano Rajoy called the elections in the hope of securing a unionist majority. Yet the results saw pro-independence parties maintain a narrow majority, winning 47.5 percent of votes and 51 percent of seats. The election also saw the general weakening of left-wing forces and the rise of Ciudadanos, a neoliberal and Spanish-unionist force, as the biggest single party.

The 79 percent turnout in last Thursday’s vote indicated how important the election was for Catalonia’s future. Yet the result seems to offer fresh deadlock between the two rival camps, and an enduring battle over the constitutional question. Why did Rajoy’s gambit fail? Why did the recent turmoil have so little effect on the overall support for independence? What explains the dramatic shifts of support within each camp? What kind of voters sided with Ciudadanos? And what significance does the Catalan crisis have for the Spanish left as a whole?

David Broder spoke to Steven Forti, co-editor of the recent book El proceso separatista en Cataluña, about the meaning of the election and the way forward for the region.