Junts per Catalunya

Together for Catalonia (, Junts) is a Catalan political party established in July 2020 by former Catalan president Carles Puigdemont, announced on 2 July as a result of the foundering of negotiations with the Catalan European Democratic Party (PDeCAT) over the re-organization of the post-convergent political space under the "Together for Catalonia" umbrella. The party's founding congress took place between 25 July and 3 October, after being launched on 18 July with the public presentation of its imagery and corporate identity by Elsa Artadi and Marta Madrenas. The new Together for Catalonia was formed by the merger of the National Call for the Republic (CNxR), the Action for the Republic (AxR), The Greens–Green Alternative (EV–AV) and splinter elements from the PDeCAT such as Independence Rally (RI.cat), but it also aims at the eventual incorporation of members from the Democrats of Catalonia (DC) and the Popular Unity Candidacy (CUP) parties. The party is to co-exist with the old Together for Catalonia alliance as a result of the Puigdemont–PDeCAT clash over the trademark's property rights, with those of the party having been taken over by the former but the latter still retaining the rights over the electoral coalition and the public funding. History The political space of the former Convergence and Union had been left fractured and disorganized after the dissolution of the federation between Democratic Convergence of Catalonia (CDC) and Democratic Union of Catalonia (UDC) in 2015, the former's refoundation into the Catalan European Democratic Party (PDeCAT) in 2016 and the latter's dissolution due to bankruptcy in 2017. The PDeCAT, comprising the bulk of the so-called "post-convergent space", had joined into the Together for Catalonia (JxCat) electoral alliance ahead of the 2017 Catalan regional election, called during the enforcement of direct rule over Catalonia and the forced dismissal of Catalan president Carles Puigdemont, who had chosen to self-exile himself in Belgium to escape from the Spanish judiciary. The alliance's success in the election resulted in an increase of influence for Puigdemont within both the PDeCAT and the pro-Catalan independence camp, but his establishment of the National Call for the Republic (CNxR) as a rallying force for pro-independence parties would not achieve the expected results.