I took a walk this morning around some of the voting stations – schools and civic centres which are used for elections. It was a quiet morning, sunny and warm but autumnal. People were steadily drifting in and out of the stations, arriving on crutches and in wheel-chairs, accompanied by dogs and children. As is normal for Granollers people were dressed conservatively, in mainly blacks and blues

There are no banners proclaiming POLLING STATION. No political workers handing out leaflets outside the gates. Noone asking ‘who did you vote for’.
No cars driving around covered in banners and shouting through a megaphone ‘Have you voted?’
It was all quiet and discreet. There was a policeman outside one of the colleges but I didn’t see any others except a police car in the Porxada.

It’s rude to ask people what they voted, isn’t it?  My mother refused to tell me for many years who she voted for – though later when she began to support the Scottish Nationalists she was happy to talk about it. But I have asked several people today who they voted for as it is interesting in this election. Many were floating voters, wanting to really think about it before deciding

Older people often opt for Artur Mas. The one 18 year old I asked went for the Iniciativa-Greens in this his first election. And many other friends were strongly pulled towards the CUP. 
Who are they?
It is a fairly new party; left-wing, pro-independence, ecological, and committed to a more thoughtful democratic process. They are already represented at the municipal level – four towns have CUP mayors. But this is the first time they have stood for parliament.  They have promised that, if elected, their candidates would only serve one term, earn no more than 1600€ a month, and would base their decisions on the opinions expressed by local assemblies. They also promised not to request any loans from banks, so as to avoid being influenced by financial groups and economic élites.

So, that is my research for today. I am looking forward to sitting up tonight and watching the results. It is something I used to do with my mother when I was young and I remember election nights in 1966 and 1970 with us both sitting up into the early hours, unable to stop watching.