Catalan Alliance

Catalan Alliance (Aliança Catalana) is a far-right  political party in Catalonia. It is a Catalan pro-independence, and nationalist party, and also opposes illegal immigration. It is currently the governing party of the municipality of Ripoll. At the 2024 Catalan regional election, the party entered the Parliament of Catalonia for the first time, with two seats.

History
The party was founded in 2020 by Ripoll Councilor Sílvia Orriols, who left the National Front of Catalonia (FNC) due to her opposition to moderating the party's stance on immigration. All FNC members in Ripoll joined Orriols in forming the Catalan Alliance.

In May 2023, the party won the municipal elections in Ripoll, receiving the most votes in the town and obtaining six councilors. On 12 June, the other political forces in the municipality of Ripoll tried to make a pact to prevent Catalan Alliance from governing the municipality, but Together for Catalonia (Junts) ultimately did not participate in the agreement and Orriols was invested as mayor on 17 June 2023.

In the other two municipalities where the party ran, they obtained two more councilors, one in Manlleu and another in Ribera d'Ondara. In the latter municipality, the party's representative, Albert Puig, became mayor in 2024 following a no-confidence motion against the minority government of Francesc Sabanés of the Socialists' Party of Catalonia (PSC). Elisabet Jové of the Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC) became the new mayor, but she stepped down shortly after assuming the role due to maternity leave, handing the mayoralty to Puig. Puig will hold the position for four months, until Jové returns from maternity leave, and governs with the support of councilors elected under the ERC banner. After the agreement between Catalan Alliance and the ERC was announced, ERC leadership severed all ties with the Ribera d'Ondara branch of the party.

On 25 March 2024, Orriols confirmed that Catalan Alliance would be presenting a list for the 2024 Catalan regional election, with Orriols as the lead candidate. Ahead of the elections, PSC, ERC, Junts, Comuns Sumar, and Popular Unity Candidacy (CUP) announced that they would not enter into any coalition agreement with Catalan Alliance or Vox. The party would ultimately win two seats in the election, entering the Parliament of Catalonia for the first time as the smallest party. The party would win Ripoll and the surrounding municipalities of Les Llosses, Campdevànol, and Gombrèn, all of which border Ripoll. In Ribera d'Ondara, Catalan Alliance would finish second behind Junts.

Ideology
Catalan Alliance is far-right, opposing immigration to Catalonia as well as promoting a fear of Muslims and Islamic culture, with party leader Sílvia Orriols stating in a debate before the municipal elections in Ripoll that she did not want "Martí to be scared to go to the park because he would meet a group of Moroccan Muslims." Orriols claims that Islam is incompatible with western values such as LGBT rights and women's rights, and has called for the closure of mosques and bans on the burqa in public. Catalan Alliance is also against people from other parts of Spain, specially Andalusia moving to Catalonia and not willing to learn catalan nor appreciate catalan culture, claiming that they create their own communities in areas such as Nou Barris and Salt, and do not integrate. In relation to the Israel-Gaza war, Catalan Alliance is in favour of Israel's right to self defence, but does not universally support the brutal crackdown on the Gaza Strip, unlike other right-leaning parties in Spain like the People's Party and Vox.

In terms of other social policies, the party leans towards the left of the political spectrum, supporting the rights of women and the LGBT community, with Orriols displaying the LGBT flag from the Ripoll town hall during International LGBT Pride Day. The party is also strongly in favour of abortion rights. Some members of the party also support assisted dying. Catalan Alliance is sharply critical of "cancel culture".

The party has criticized bilingualism in Catalonia, with prominent member Jordi Aragonès claiming that immigrants in Catalonia learn Spanish rather than Catalan, and has called to make Spanish language education optional in Catalan schools. At the same time, Catalan Alliance has called for the protection and promotion of the Aranese dialect of the Occitan language in Val d'Aran in its 2024 election platform. In the past, the party has called for "expelling" the Spanish and French states from Catalonia, with its leader Sílvia Orriols repeatedly talking about liberating Catalonia from "the Franco-Spanish yoke".

In economics, Catalan Alliance is liberal-conservative in outlook, calling for slightly lower taxes for the low and medium class, dismantle social benefits and lump payments for migrants, and adopting a pro local Small and Medium Enterprise rhetoric. At the same time, the party advocates protectionism for Catalan companies, and wishes for less integration between the Catalan and Spanish economies. The party is also against austerity.