Ripoll, Spain, July 4 (AFP/APP):In a modest town in the Spanish region of Catalonia, a group of cyclists excitedly gathered for photos with Silvia Orriols, whose ultra-nationalist, anti-Islam separatist party is on the rise.
         “Silvia, we’re with you!” one supporter exclaimed alongside Orriols, who posed smiling under the midday sun next to the town hall in Ripoll.
         Once unknown outside the town, Orriols burst onto the scene in 2023 when her recently founded Alianca Catalana (Catalan Alliance) party won the mayoralty following municipal elections.
         A year later, Alianca Catalana’s populist and anti-immigration message saw it enter the regional parliament with two seats, pstart Catalan ultra-nationalism polarises Spanish town
Ripoll, Spain, July 4 (AFP/APP):In a modest town in the Spanish region of Catalonia, a group of cyclists excitedly gathered for photos with Silvia Orriols, whose ultra-nationalist, anti-Islam separatist party is on the rise.
“Silvia, we’re with you!” one supporter exclaimed alongside Orriols, who posed smiling under the midday sun next to the town hall in Ripoll.
Once unknown outside the town, Orriols burst onto the scene in 2023 when her recently founded Alianca Catalana (Catalan Alliance) party won the mayoralty following municipal elections.
A year later, Alianca Catalana’s populist and anti-immigration message saw it enter the regional parliament with two seats, riding a wave of far-right gains across Europe and beyond.
“We are not far right, or of the left, or of the right. We are Catalan nationalists,” the former administrative employee, 40, told AFP from her office in Ripoll town hall.
The small municipality of 10,700 souls grabbed international attention in 2017 because it was there that jihadist attackers who killed 16 people in Barcelona and nearby Cambrils, mostly youngsters of Moroccan origin, grew up.
“I am Islamophobic in the sense that the progress Islam is making on our continent scares me, and I’m here to try to stop it,” added Orriols.
Had it not been for the 2017 attacks, the mother of five children with medieval Catalan names admitted she would not have entered politics.
Her message has caught on among part of the electorate of the wealthy northeastern region experiencing a demographic boom, with foreigners making up 18 percent of its population.
“We Catalans are first: those who have been here all our lives, our fathers and grandfathers,” said Montse, a 59-year-old nurse who had just grabbed a photo with Orriols.
“If an immigrant comes and can integrate, great. But I think this mass we’re receiving is terrible,” added Montse, who declined to give her surname.a wave of far-right gains across Europe and beyond.
         “We are not far right, or of the left, or of the right. We are Catalan nationalists,” the former administrative employee, 40, told AFP from her office in Ripoll town hall.
         The small municipality of 10,700 souls grabbed international attention in 2017 because it was there that jihadist attackers who killed 16 people in Barcelona and nearby Cambrils, mostly youngsters of Moroccan origin, grew up.
         “I am Islamophobic in the sense that the progress Islam is making on our continent scares me, and I’m here to try to stop it,” added Orriols.
         Had it not been for the 2017 attacks, the mother of five children with medieval Catalan names admitted she would not have entered politics.
         Her message has caught on among part of the electorate of the wealthy northeastern region experiencing a demographic boom, with foreigners making up 18 percent of its population.
         “We Catalans are first: those who have been here all our lives, our fathers and grandfathers,” said Montse, a 59-year-old nurse who had just grabbed a photo with Orriols.
         “If an immigrant comes and can integrate, great. But I think this mass we’re receiving is terrible,” added Montse, who declined to give her surname.
