BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Elections in Spain’s wealthy northeastern region of Catalonia closed Sunday as more than 5.7 million voters cast ballots in a contest that will have implications for all of Spanish politics.
The vote will measure the strength of Catalan separatists and the success of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s policies.
Thousands of voters may have had difficulty reaching their polling stations after the Catalan commuter train was forced to shut down several railway lines after officials allegedly stole copper cables from a train facility near Barcelona.
Turnout was 45% as of 6 p.m. local time (1600 GMT), roughly the same as the last election in 2021, when health restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic were still in place.
Separatists have held the regional government in Barcelona for more than a decade. But polls and a national election in July show support for secession has fallen somewhat since former regional president Carles Puigdemont led an illegal – and futile – secession attempt in 2017.
Puigdemont is a fugitive from Spanish law, having fled the country days after his failed secession attempt. However, this does not stop him from running in this election as he is campaigning from the south of France. He said he would return to Spain when newly elected MPs meet to elect a regional president sometime after the election.
Until then, Puigdemont hopes to be free of any legal problems after the Spanish parliament gave final approval to a controversial amnesty for him and hundreds of other separatists.
The amnesty is part of Sánchez’s intensive efforts to ease tensions in Catalonia, which have included pardoning jailed senior separatists. If voters do not confirm this by supporting his Socialist Party, it would be a blow to the leader, who leads a minority coalition in Madrid.
Sánchez campaigned alongside Salvador Illa, the Socialist candidate. Illa won the most votes in a 2021 regional election but failed to stop separatist Pere Aragonès from forming a government.
The election will see a battle within the separatist camp between Puigdemont’s conservative Together party and Aragonès’ Republican Left of Catalonia.
A rising, far-right pro-secession party called the Catalan Alliance, which rails against both unauthorized immigration and the Spanish state, is hoping for parliamentary representation.
A total of nine parties are running and no one is expected to win anywhere near enough votes to secure an absolute majority of 68 seats in parliament. Therefore, business execution will be crucial.
A record drought, not independence, is currently Catalans’ biggest concern, according to the latest survey by the Catalan Opinion Office. About 70% of potential voters say public service management, the economy and climate change will influence their voting decision, while 30% say the issue of independence is still their priority.
The opinion office said 50% of Catalans were against independence while 42% were in favor, meaning support for it had fallen to 2012 levels. When Puigdemont left in 2017, 49% were in favor of independence and 43% against.
