Catalonia remains the only autonomous community in Spain that still does not have its own electoral law. For 45 years, the allocation of parliamentary seats has been based on outdated census data from 1979. Recently, a group of Catalans living abroad launched a new attempt to change this situation. They submitted an initiative that once again raises the issue of fair representation and voting rights for those who left the region long ago.
The main goal of the initiative is to make voting easier for Catalans living abroad. For them, participating in elections now turns into a complex and exhausting quest. The proposal suggests creating a separate electoral district for the diaspora, as well as introducing electronic voting and a dedicated electoral commission, similar to the systems in France and the United Kingdom. In the most recent elections, out of nearly 300,000 eligible Catalan voters living abroad, only a handful cast their ballots — turnout did not exceed 7%.
However, the issue is not limited to technical matters. Creating a separate district for the diaspora inevitably affects the balance of power among the provinces. If new seats are granted to Catalans abroad, it will require reassessing the distribution of seats between Barcelona, Girona, Tarragona, and Lleida. This has always sparked debates among parties, as changing the number of deputies can influence the region’s political landscape.
The academic community has long discussed the need to update the rules. Some experts believe that at least part of the reform—such as introducing electronic voting and creating a dedicated electoral commission—could be implemented without changing the principles of seat allocation. However, political parties, especially smaller ones, are wary that any changes may affect their positions. They also recall the experience of the early 2000s, when the features of the system meant that the winner by votes did not always secure a majority of seats.
According to current regulations, there is one deputy for every 50,000 residents, and the Parliament of Catalonia has a total of 135 seats. The question of whether to increase the overall number of deputies or redistribute the existing ones remains open. Some suggest that a separate constituency for the diaspora could receive at least five seats, but this would cause dissatisfaction in other regions, especially those already feeling underrepresented.
The initiative is only beginning its journey: if parliament gives it the green light and the necessary number of signatures can be collected, the final decision will still rest with the politicians. Questions remain unanswered about how exactly the system will change, how many seats the new constituency will receive, and whether the parties will be able to reach an agreement. One thing is clear—the debate over the future of Catalonia’s electoral system has moved to the forefront again, and this time it is being driven by the Catalans living abroad.
