Catalonia Goes Back to Square One

After Thursday's election in Catalonia, the long-simmering dispute between the region and the government of Spain is about where it was to begin with. Pro-independence parties won a slender majority in parliament, with slightly less than half the popular vote. Neither side in this quarrel can legitimately claim a mandate for anything.

Nonetheless, the vote was a setback for Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy. If he was counting on support for the separatists to subside, he has been disappointed. Meanwhile, Carles Puigdemont -- author of the region's unlawful declaration of independence, self-exiled in Brussels and facing charges in Spain -- is undiminished as the movement's champion.