The Popular Unity Candidacy (, CUP) is a left-wing to far-left pro-Catalan independence political party active primarily in Catalonia, where it has political representation, but also in other autonomous communities in Spain it considers to be part of the Catalan Countries. The CUP traditionally has focused on municipal politics, and is made up of a series of autonomous candidatures that run in local elections. Its presence is strongest within the borders of Catalonia.
In 2012, the CUP decided for the first time to run for Catalan parliamentary elections, gaining 3 MPs out of 135. In the 2015 elections they obtained 10 MPs.
Organisation
The CUP is made up of autonomous local assemblies representing towns or neighbourhoods. These assemblies may have some ideological differences, but their common ground is independence for the Catalan Countries and clear left-wing politics, often in the form of anti-capitalism, socialism, and eco-socialism.
The different local candidatures are coordinated through the Municipal Assembly of the Independentist Left (AMEI in Catalan) where the details regarding their party platform are discussed. On both the local and national level, decisions are made in assembly according to the principles of deliberative democracy.
The highly decentralised nature of this party stems from a belief in municipalism. The CUP consider municipal government "the only institutions within the reach of the general populace". The importance given to municipal assemblies is also meant to avoid the hierarchical organisation of most traditional political parties.
Ideology
The CUP website describes the entity as "an assembly-based political organisation spread throughout the Catalan Countries that works for a country that's independent, socialist, environmentally sustainable and free from the domination of the patriarchy".
The party defends the unity of the Catalan-speaking areas, or Catalan Countries, which they believe should be allowed to constitute an independent republic, according to the principles of self-determination. The CUP is also strongly in favor of the Catalan language, which should be the "preferential and common language" of the areas where it is traditionally spoken. Still, the 2012 CUP program refers to the advantages of multilingualism and encourages debate on the status that an independent Catalonia would grant to French and Spanish.
The CUP criticises the current political system in place in Spain and France, and defend an alternative brand of participative democracy. It has proposed, for example, that the general public be allowed to vote on important issues in referendums, and have suggested the creation of representative recall (), which would allow the general public to remove elected officials from office before their term expires. As part of its belief in municipalism, it also has defended the creation of an Assembly of Councillors (), made up of municipal councillors, as a national representative body.
The party broadly refers to its economic model as socialist. Its political programme calls for a "planned economy based on solidarity, aimed towards fulfilling the needs of the people", and defends the nationalisation of public utilities as well as transport and communication networks. It also calls for a nationalisation of all banks receiving government bailouts and considers the public debt "illegitimate". It also calls for an end to nuclear energy, with the use of sustainable energy in its stead. It also calls for a ban on GMOs and the creation of an "ecological economy". The CUP believes in full civic rights for all inhabitants of the Catalan Countries, including migrants. It also calls for voting rights for everyone over 16 years of age as well as an end to discrimination against women and LGBT people.
In an interview with Jacobin magazine, Boaz Vilallonga described the ideology of the CUP as having a "libertarian socialist and even anarcho-syndicalist character".
Representation
Since 2003, the presence of the CUP in Catalan municipal politics has increased steadily.
2003–11 municipal elections
In 2003, the CUP ran alone in 10 municipalities in Catalonia, winning four council seats in three towns. In 8 more municipalities, the CUP ran as part of local coalitions.
From 2007–2011, the CUP held a total of 26 council seats in 17 different municipalities in Catalonia; these were obtained either under the CUP name alone or in coalition with local political parties. In the 2007 municipal elections, the CUP obtained 18,000 votes, or about 0.65% of the votes cast.