Catalan vote pressures Spain ahead of general election

Catalan pro-independence supporters celebrate as they wave European and Catalan flags following the closing of polling stations during Catalan regional election on September 27, 2015 in Barcelona. AFP photo

Catalan separatists dealt a bitter blow to Spain's government by winning control of their regional parliament, sparking uncertainty and political manoeuvring Sept. 28, three months ahead of a general election.

The pro-independence movement in Spain's richest region claimed victory in the crucial election which they vowed would lead to them declaring independence within two years despite Madrid's fierce opposition.
 
As the separatists celebrated in Barcelona to disco music and cries of "Independence!", rivals lined up to seize the initiative from the ruling Popular Party (PP) which took a battering in the vote, losing eight of its seats.
 
Regional president Artur Mas and his Together For Yes alliance won enough seats in the regional parliament to make an absolute majority if they team up with a radical left-wing group, the CUP.
 
But the two groups fell short of a majority of votes -- with a combined 1.9 million out of four million ballots cast.
 
That prompted Mas's opponents to dismiss as a failure his efforts to make the vote an indirect "plebiscite" on independence.
 
Pablo Casado, spokesman for Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy's PP, vowed the government would "continue to defend the unity of Spain".
         
The other big contenders in December's general election moved quickly to position themselves on the potentially destabilising issue of Catalan independence.
 
The leader of the main opposition Socialists, Pedro Sanchez, called on the region to "heal its wounds" and denounced what he called the "intransigence" of the PP in the dispute.
 
He congratulated the party that came second in the Catalan vote, the new centrist group Ciudadanos, hailing their shared support for...

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