Democratic Union of Catalonia

By June 2015 tensions within the two parties forming the Convergence and Union federation had reached an all-time high in June 2015 due to differences between the positions of the UDC leadership and the Democratic Convergence (CDC) leader Artur Mas over the sovereignty process. CDC was in favour of outright independence even if it meant breaking the established Spanish legality, while UDC was against doing it without the acceptance of the Spanish government.

As a result, a referendum of UDC members was held on 14 June 2015, asking whether UDC should commit itself to continue with the process but with certain conditions, including not violating the legality in force through unilateral independence declarations or starting constituent processes at the margin of legal norms.[2][3] Such a position, supported by UDC leaders and contrary to the signed agreements between CDC, ERC and sovereignty entities, was approved by UDC members with an adjusted 50.9%.[4] After this, meetings between UDC and CDC leaders led to an ultimatum from CDC to UDC for the latter to decide within "two or three days" whether it committed itself to the independence plan.[5]

On 17 June, after a meeting of the UDC leadership, it was announced that UDC was withdrawing all three of its members from the Government of the Generalitat of Catalonia, although they agreed to maintain parliamentary stability until the end of the legislature.[6] That same day at night, the CDC National Executive Committee met and in a press conference the next day confirmed that UDC and CDC would not stand together in the 2015 regional election, and that the political project of the CiU federation was over, spelling the end of 37 years of cooperation between both parties as Convergence and Union.[7][8]

Later in July 2015, a pro-independence faction of the UDC broke away to found the Democrats of Catalonia. In the 2015 Catalan parliamentary election the UDC lost all 13 of its seats.

On 24 March 2017, UDC was dissolved by its last secretary general, Ramon Espalader, because of several electoral defeats and economic debts.[9][10] Some of its former members, including Espalader, founded a new catalanist political party called Units per Avançar,[11] which eventually made an electoral pact with the Socialists' Party of Catalonia in order to seek the 2017 Catalan regional election.[12]