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Almost four months after regional elections, Catalonia still has no government, and there is no end in sight in the stand-off over Catalan independence. Astrid Barrio and Bonnie N. Field write that there remain major international and judicial impediments to forming a new government, as well as notable splits in opinion within the pro-independence movement on the best strategy to pursue. And with political actors reaching an impasse, street protests and direct action initiatives have started to fill the vacuum.

Following the Catalan independence referendum on 1 October, there are now concerns over what might happen next. Bonnie N. Field and Astrid Barrio write that a potential declaration of independence by the Catalan government could further escalate tensions and prompt an even more severe clash with the Spanish authorities. Yet without a change of leadership in either Madrid or Catalonia, calls for dialogue to find a consensual resolution to the crisis are likely to fall on deaf ears.

Pablo Iglesias reasserted his leadership over Podemos in a vote in early February, following a period of tension within the party between Iglesias and Iñigo Errejón. Juan Rodríguez-Teruel, Astrid Barrio and Oscar Barberà track the party’s development, writing that the schism between Iglesias and Errejón reflects just one of the fault-lines over Podemos’ development. They highlight the role of new organisations in the Spanish regions and suggest that much of Podemos’ future will depend on whether it can maintain this regional support while strengthening its own left vote across the country.