HEAVY TURNOUT AS CATALANS VOTE IN REGIONAL ELECTION.

Secessionists near an absolute majority

BARCELONA, SPAIN • Catalans turned out in record numbers Thursday to vote in key elections they hope will offer a solution to the independence crisis, amid heavy security and searing tensions over the secessionist project.

Preliminary results indicated that more than 82 per cent of Catalonia’s 5.5 million voters had cast ballots in the snap poll, aiming to restore an autonomous government after almost two months of direct rule by Madrid.

Out in force too were Catalan and national police, some 17,000 of whom were deployed to guard polling stations and state buildings. The vote was monitored by an extraordinary contingent of 55,000 observers, as both sides tried to guard against the possibility of fraud or voter intimidation that could swing the knife-edge race.

As the first votes were counted, an election day poll indicated that pro-independence forces could pull off the narrowest of victories.

The phone survey conducted for the newspaper La Vanguardia indicated that Ciudadanos, the centreright unionist party, would become the single largest party, with between 34 and 37 seats. Overall, secessionists were predicted to take 67 to 71 seats — 68 is needed for an absolute majority.

With memories of the police violence on referendum day still fresh, there had been fears that the vote could lead to confrontations. But in the end these proved unfounded.

Casting his vote in the Infant Jesus school in the Gracia neighbourhood of Barcelona, Artur Mas, the former Catalan president, hailed the air of calm.

“Always when the people want to vote, it should be done without repression, in a peaceful way,” said Mas, who as Carles Puigdemont’s predecessor began the independence drive.

But the anger at the Spanish government felt by many independence supporters was still palpable. Laura Iniesta, a 62-year-old artist voting in Gracia, said she was voting to reinstall Puigdemont as president, complaining that Madrid had “no right” to remove Catalonia’s elected leader.

“We feel very attacked by the Spanish state,” Iniesta said, accusing the “ever more fascist” government of Mariano Rajoy of choosing force over dialogue. “I was here (on Oct. 1), I saw them hitting people,” she said. “I forgive them for it, but I will never forget it.”

Anti-independence sentiment is also strong. At the Cal Maiol school in the Sants neighbourhood of the city, Carlos Gonzales, a 64-year-old painter, said he was voting for PSC, the left-wing, pro-union party, in order to halt the secessionist project that he felt was bringing Catalonia to its knees.

“Right now it’s a disaster, so many businesses have gone. If it continues this way, we will end up in ruin,” he explained.