By Joan Faus
BARCELONA, Sept 23 (Reuters) - Almost a decade after Catalonia's failed independence bid, a growing number of voters are shifting their focus from secession to issues such as immigration and crime, fuelling the rise of the far-right separatist Aliança Catalana.
The party, which draws much of its support from working- and middle-class voters in rural areas outside Barcelona, has surged in the polls and now trails only Spain's ruling Socialists ahead of Catalonia's next election in 2028.
While Aliança says it would seek to break away from Madrid unilaterally if it won power in the wealthy northeastern region, its message is focused far more on curbing immigration and improving public safety.
Its growing influence is reshaping Catalan politics. Earlier this month, riot police prevented violent clashes between Aliança supporters and left-wing separatists in Barcelona, overshadowing Catalonia's September 11 national day celebrations, which have historically drawn large pro-independence crowds.
The episode highlighted divisions within the separatist movement, potentially complicating efforts to form a coalition to unseat the region's ruling Socialist Party. Traditional pro-independence parties have ruled out governing agreements with Aliança.
As its support has grown, other separatist parties have adopted more conservative positions, including lobbying Madrid to let the region restrict migration.
The party's appeal cuts across Catalonia's traditional political divides. Much of its support comes from voters who previously backed the separatist centre-right Junts or the far-right, staunchly anti-independence Vox, according to a Catalan government survey published in July.
STRAIGHT-TALKING LEADER
Aliança's rise has been driven largely by its outspoken leader, Silvia Orriols, 41, who studied to become a librarian and comes from a middle-class farming family.
Orriols told Reuters her party was tapping into frustration with established politicians and concerns that immigration was diluting Catalan identity.
"People have regained hope and drive to fight for the restoration of the Catalan state, to implement policies aimed at preserving our identity," said Orriols, who frequently invokes Catalonia's history in her speeches.
She said far-right Alternative for Germany's victory in Saxony-Anhalt state earlier this month showed that "Europe is awakening".
"We Europeans are shielding ourselves in order to survive," she said.
Aliança rose to prominence in 2023 after Orriols won a local election in Ripoll. Her anti-Muslim message gained traction in the mountainous town where most of the Moroccan-born perpetrators of the 2017 Barcelona terror attacks had lived.
The party entered Catalonia's parliament a year later with two seats. Since then, it has grown from 3.8% to 16.7% of voter intentions for the next regional election, according to a poll published by El Mundo newspaper this month. It was 2.6 percentage points ahead of fellow separatist party ERC.
Eloi Radovan, whose family traditionally backed left-wing pro-independence parties like ERC, is among those who have shifted their support to Aliança.
"I feel betrayed," said Radovan, 19, referring to how parties like ERC and Junts failed to follow through on the 2017 referendum in which Catalans voted in favour of independence. He also criticised their cooperation with Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez.
He supports Aliança's call for a total ban on migration because, he said, "Catalonia is increasingly becoming less Catalan".
Junts is seeking to counter Aliança's appeal by presenting itself as a more pragmatic centrist alternative while offering its own proposals on migration and security. Two senior Junts officials told Reuters they viewed Aliança's plans as unrealistic and discriminatory.
CHANGING CONCERNS
The party's gains have coincided with shifting priorities among Catalan voters.
Affordable housing, migration and crime topped the list of concerns in the July survey. Two years earlier, political dissatisfaction and Catalonia's relationship with the rest of Spain ranked highest.
"The (2017) independence push was driven by economic anxiety, whereas Aliança responds to demographic anxiety," said historian Joan Esculies.
Aliança's rise is "an expression of frustration at the lack of a viable path towards independence and a cry born of fear as new waves of immigration pose a greater threat to (Catalan) language," he said.
Yet support for independence has remained resilient despite divisions within the movement and the loss of the regional presidency in 2024 after a decade in power. The July survey showed 45% backing independence, down from a peak of 49% in 2017.
Critics say Aliança is exploiting those frustrations rather than offering solutions.
The party offers no real solutions and other separatists must combat its "xenophobic, racist discourse of exclusion," said left-wing separatist Hug Lucchetti, 45, during this month's protests.
"The independence movement is alive," he said. "New ranks of activists continue to emerge."
(Reporting by Joan Faus, Editing by Aislinn Laing, Charlie Devereux and Ros Russell)
