Catalan Alliance's Rise Fuels Anti-Muslim Fears Before Spain Vote

A far-right party that frames Islam and migration as threats to Catalonia is on course to become the region's second-biggest political force after the Socialists by the 2028 regional election, according to polls cited by Al Jazeera. The surge comes as Spain heads toward a snap national election in November.

What is Catalan Alliance and how fast is it growing?

Alianca Catalana, or Catalan Alliance (AC), has risen in polls across a region with the largest Muslim population in Spain, Al Jazeera reported. The party backs Catalan independence and has pulled support from the two secessionist parties that led the failed 2017 breakaway bid, Together for Catalonia and Catalan Republican Left.

Why does the party target Islam and migration?

AC calls for a crackdown on migration and presents Islam as a threat to society, according to Al Jazeera's reporting. The party's rise mirrors gains by far-right movements elsewhere in Europe, including in Germany, Italy and France.

Eduard Lopez, a businessman from Molins de Rei near Barcelona, told Al Jazeera the appeal is straightforward. "There are too many migrants around now and Islam is a threat," he said, adding that older independence parties "failed to do what they said they would."

How are Muslim communities responding?

The party's growth has alarmed Muslims in a country that had seemed welcoming, Al Jazeera reported. Soukayna El Abdi, president of the Young Moroccans of Ripoll, said the shift caught her community off guard. "This has surprised all of us," El Abdi said. "Most people come to integrate, to work and live among others. The rise of [Catalan] Alliance is about unfounded hate. They spread lots of things about our community which are not true."

What role does Ripoll play in the party's rise?

Catalan Alliance began in Ripoll, a small town near the French border, according to Al Jazeera. Ripoll was the base for a cell that plotted the 2017 Barcelona attack, which killed 16 people and was claimed by ISIL. AC leader Silvia Orriols also serves as the town's mayor.

How does this fit into Spain's broader political shift?

National polls show the conservative People's Party and the far-right Vox gaining support ahead of November's vote, Al Jazeera reported. The Catalan Alliance's rise reflects a broader rightward shift in Spain, the eurozone's fourth-largest economy.

By the numbers

• A fifth of Spain's population of nearly 50 million was born outside the country, per the Spanish National Statistics Institute (INE), as cited by Al Jazeera.
• Colombians, Venezuelans and Moroccans are the three largest foreign-born groups in Spain, according to INE data relayed by Al Jazeera.
• The 2017 Barcelona attack tied to Ripoll killed 16 people, Al Jazeera reported.

Almost a decade after Catalonia's failed independence bid, anti-migration and anti-Muslim sentiment has replaced secession as the main driver of voter behavior in the region, according to Al Jazeera's reporting. The November election will test whether that shift extends to the national level.