The Junts pel Si alliance backed by President Artur Mas and an anti-capitalist party CUP, which also backs independence, won 49.8 percent of the vote in Sunday’s ballot, according to an exit poll published by the regional government’s television station, TV3. Junts pel Si is on track to win as many as 66 representatives in the 135-seat assembly and CUP was projected to win at least another 11.
While Catalonia’s 5.5 million eligible voters are officially choosing lawmakers for the regional assembly, Mas has billed the election as a test of the popular will to remain part of the Spanish state. The separatists are challenging Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy’s authority as he prepares to seek re-election in Spanish general elections due in December.
While the legal barriers to a breakaway remain high, the campaign risks seeing Catalonia excluded from the European Union and its single currency, roiling the market for Spain’s 1 trillion euros ($1.1 trillion) of sovereign debt, Bloomberg reported.
The ballot comes as Spain is recovering from its worst recession in a generation and battling to stabilize its public debt. Catalonia, which makes up almost 20 percent of the country’s economy, is a net contributor to Spain’s tax system, helping to finance poorer territories such as Andalusia.
Mas and his main separatist ally Oriol Junqueras want to use their majority in the regional assembly to force the government in Madrid to negotiate a timetable for completing secession within 18 months. Rajoy says their plan is unconstitutional and has refused to discuss it.