in 1975 and the restoration of democracy by 1978, Catalonia regained its autonomous status and became one of the autonomous communities within Spain. The Catalan conservative nationalist leader Jordi Pujol came to power in the first regional elections in 1980 and his two-party coalition, Convergence and Unity (CiU), won successive regional elections by absolute majority for 19 years and ruled the autonomous government for 23 consecutive years. CiU's hegemony was in spite of the major cities (including Barcelona's) having been controlled by its main rival party, PSC. It was also in spite of what has been defined as the "dual vote". This refers to the fact that elections results in Catalonia consistently vary depending on the elections type. Thus, elections for the Catalan regional Parliament have been historically won by the conservative nationalist CiU (this trend keeps in place, even though CiU lost the absolute majority in recent times). However, the social democrat non-nationalist PSC-PSOE has been, and continues to be, the winner of elections for the Spanish Parliament. This has been explained because of the abstention to the regional elections of those voters less concerned with identity questions, and the correspondent high turn out amongst more locally motivated nationalist voters. In addition to this, studies have shown that a number of voters consciously swing their votes from CiU to PSOE, depending on the type of election Following the 1996 national elections in Spain, Pujol surprised many by lending CiU's support in the Cortes Generales to the minority government of the People's Party (Partido Popular, PP). After having served more than 15 years ruling the autonomous community of Catalonia led by Jordi Pujol, CiU had become eroded while the Socialists' Party of Catalonia (PSC-PSOE), a sister-party of Spain's main social democrat party (Spanish Socialist Workers' Party, PSOE), began to enjoy electoral popularity also in the Catalan elections context. This trend culminated in the 2003 elections which saw CiU ousted from the government for the first time in 20 years by means of a tripartite left-wing coalition. When it comes to the nationalist question, one of the 'fault-lines' in contemporary Catalan politics arises from the fact that Barcelona, with its strong metropolitan economy, continues to attract migrants from all over the world. This contemporary layer of immigration is prone to speak Spanish over Catalan and adds to second and third generation Catalans whose families arrived from other parts of Spain during