Catalonia votes in election that may push region from Spain

Catalans began voting on Sunday in an election that may determine whether the region pushes ahead with its campaign to break away from Spain and create a new European state.

While the 5.5 million eligible voters are officially choosing lawmakers for the 135-seat regional assembly, their president, Artur Mas, has formed a pro-independence alliance with his traditional rivals within the separatist camp in a bid to win a clear mandate for secession.

Polling stations opened at 9am and voting will continue will until 8pm. Exit polls are due to be released shortly after the polls close and turnout could be the key deciding factor.

Anti-independence groups like prime minister Mariano Rajoy’s People’s Party are betting there is a silent majority who’ve dodged the debate until now but want to remain part of Spain.

Supporters of the separatist movement have been far more conspicuous in the run up to the vote. “You need to vote to put an end to this mess,” Mr Rajoy told supporters at his final election rally Friday. “They want you to stay at home, like this has nothing to do with you, but it has a lot to do with you. If you stay quiet, they’ll win.”

The regional government reported voter participation rising to 63 per cent at 6pm, local time, up from 56 per cent at the same point in 2012.

So far, opinion polls have shown separatists in the lead, but the legal barriers to a breakaway remain high. The campaign risks seeing Catalonia excluded from the European Union and the single currency.

Catalans living in the US, Mexico, Chile and part of China won’t be able to to take part in the elections because their ballot papers didn’t arrive on time and the electoral watchdog refused to extend the deadline, Meritxell Borras, the Catalan government’s institutional relations chief, said Saturday.

A poll published by Cadena Ser radio station on Monday showed Mr Mas’s alliance, known as Junts pel Si, is set to win as many as 65 seats, three short of a majority. The anti-capitalist group CUP, which supports independence but refused to join Junts, was projected to win at least nine seats.

The Catalan challenge comes as Spain is recovering from its worst recession in a generation and is battling to stabilise its public debt, which is close to 100 per cent of its annual output. Catalonia, which accounts for almost 20 per cent of the country’s economy, is a net contributor to Spain’s tax system, helping to finance poorer territories such as Andalusia.

The arguments about whether to abandon Spain after, by some counts, some 500 years has opened rifts between Catalans as emotions rise in the run up to the vote.

“This is dividing Catalans, it’s poison,” said Miquel Izar, an 81-year-old history professor walking near Catalonia Square in downtown Barcelona.

“I know families that no longer speak because of this.”

Bloomberg