Republican Left of Catalonia

A pro-Catalan independence, social democratic political party in the Spanish autonomous community of Catalonia, with a presence also in Valencia, the Balearic Islands and the French department of Pyrénées-Orientales (Northern Catalonia). It is also the main sponsor of the movement for independence from France and Spain in the territories known as Catalan Countries, focusing in recent years on the creation of a Catalan Republic in Catalonia-proper.

ERC members sit in the unicameral Catalan Parliament, which exercises devolved powers within Spain. The party also contests and wins elections for seats in both houses of the Spanish Cortes Generales (the national parliament), as well as the European Parliament, where it sits as a member of the European Free Alliance. In 2022, ERC had 9,047 members. It is headquartered in Barcelona. Currently, its president is Oriol Junqueras and its secretary-general is Elisenda Alamany.

ERC was founded almost 100 years ago, and has counted amongst its leaders Francesc Macià, Lluís Companys and Josep Tarradellas. ERC played an important role in Catalan and Spanish politics during the Second Republic, the Spanish Civil War, as part of the anti-Francoist resistance, and in Spain's transition to democracy. After a difficult period in the 1980s, it recovered a key electoral position during the 2000s, becoming a coalition partner in various Catalan governments. In 2021, an ERC member won the presidency of Catalonia for the first time since 1980, with the appointment of lawyer Pere Aragonès as President of the Generalitat de Catalunya.

The party has been described historically as social democratic and more recently as democratic socialist. ERC is a strong supporter of Catalan independence, as well as being regionalist, Catalan nationalist, eco-nationalist, and left-wing nationalist. Additionally, it advocates for republicanism and regionalism, and has a federalist faction. It is a catch-all/big tent party in nature, and is generally positioned as centre-left to left-wing.

ERC is also considered to be feminist, pro-immigration, pro-LGBTQIA+ rights, environmentalist, municipalist, pro-European, anti-racist, anti-colonialist and anti-fascist.

President: Francesc Macià (22 February 1931 – 25 December 1933), Lluís Companys (25 December 1933 – 6 October 1934), Carles Pi i Sunyer (6 October 1934 – 11 May 1936), Lluís Companys (11 May 1936 – 15 October 1940), Heribert Barrera (15 December 1991 – 10 July 1995), Jaume Campabadal (10 July 1995 – 24 November 1996), Jordi Carbonell (24 November 1996 – 4 July 2004), Josep-Lluís Carod-Rovira (4 July 2004 – 7 June 2008), Joan Puigcercós (7 June 2008 – 17 September 2011), Oriol Junqueras (17 September 2011 – Incumbent)