Poll predicts no winner in Catalan elections

The latest polls ahead of next week’s Catalan election show an inconclusive result between candidates supporting and opposing independence, raising the likelihood of a prolonged political crisis for Spain and its region.

All polls published yesterday – the final day when Spain’s electoral law allows surveying ahead of the 21 December vote – predict parties in both camps to fall short of a majority in the regional parliament.

A Metroscopia poll said pro-secessionist parties would get 63 of the 135 parliamentary seats – one to three more seats than the so-called constitutionalist parties, those that want to preserve Spain’s territorial unity.

Neither camp would achieve the 68 majority of seats needed to rule, leaving a smaller left antiestablishment party with the key to the future Catalan governance. The poll comes with Spain’s security forces having reinforced the borders to prevent a possible return by ousted pro-independence leader Carles Puigdemont.