Catalonia votes for independence from Spain

The unofficial poll organised by the Catalonia’s local government was rejected by Madrid and does not oblige Spanish lawmakers to act.

But the results of the poll demonstrate an overwhelming support for independence from the north-east region of Spain, which includes Barcelona. The autonomous region has its own language and has long campaigned for independence from Spain.

After Scotland’s independence referendum in September, in which the country narrowly voted to stay within the UK, some 2.25 million Catalans turned out to cast their ballots on Sunday, said organisers. This makes up over a third of the region’s total population.

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Voters were asked two questions – whether they want a Catalan state, and whether that state should be independent. The preliminary results early on Monday showed that 80.72 per cent of those voters supported the independence of Catalonia while 14.65 per cent voted against independence.

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said the vote would have no effect and urged the region to return to “sanity”. But Artur Mas, head of Catalonia’s regional government said the vote was a success, and, making reference to Scotland and Quebec, called for Mr Rajoy to hold a binding referendum that would allow Catalans to decide their future.

Catalonia adopted a charter in 2006 giving it “nation” status, but this was overruled by the country’s Constitutional Court in 2010.

Independence supporters hope that a strong vote of support will put more pressure on the central government to open negotiations over more tax and political autonomy, ultimately leading to a full independence referendum.