Puigdemont hails defeat for Spain: Catalonia polls
Catalonia's ousted leader Carles Puigdemont has declared that the Spanish state has been "defeated" after proseparatist parties gained a majority in the region's dramatic elections.
As the final results came in Puigdemont, who is currently exiled in Brussels, said: "The Spanish state has been defeated and Rajoy has received a slap in the face from Catalonia." He hailed the result as a victory for the "Catalan republic", the BBC reported.
Millions headed to the polls in Thursday's crucial vote on the regional parliament, which was called by Madrid after it declared October's Catalan independence referendum illegal. Turnout was more than 80 per cent, a record for a Catalan regional election.
Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy deposed Catalonia's regional government after it made an illegal declaration of independence following the referendum in October.
Rajoy now faces the prospect of further confrontation with a separatist coalition once again in power in Barcelona. His conservative Popular Party (PP) recorded its worst-ever result in the vote. With nearly all votes counted, the pro-independence parties Together for Catalonia (JxCat), Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC) and Popular Unity (CUP) were on course to win a total of 70 seats in total, giving them a majority in the new parliament. An anti-independence party Citizens (Cs) had 25.3 per cent of the vote, winning 37 seats in the 135-seat chamber.