Mas Times Catalan Election to Limit the Impact of Podemos

Catalan President Artur Mas’s decision to call a regional ballot for just weeks before Spain’s national election may help him limit the impact of Podemos, the anti-austerity party threatening to transform the country’s political map.

While Podemos is running in first place in Catalan polls for a national election, the group is only sixth when voters are asked about their preferences for a regional ballot. By going to the polls on Sept. 27, Mas may get his mandate to seek independence from Spain before Podemos can consolidate its support at the regional level, said Lluis Orriols i Galve, a political scientist at Madrid’s Carlos III University.