Catalans Overwhelmingly Vote for Independence in 'Consultative' Poll

Regional president of Catalonia Artur Mas (L) shows his ballot to the media prior to voting for the non binding `referendum` for independence at the Scola Pia de Balmes in Tarragona, Catalonia, Spain, 09 November 2014. Photo by EPA/BGNES

About 81 percent of Catalonia's voters have supported independence form Spain in a non-binding vote held in Spain's wealthiest region Sunday.

The event was however also marked by a low turnout, with nearly a third (32.8% or about 2.04 million) of those eligible to vote having cast a ballot.

This is below the two previous votes held over the past years, with a 2006 referendum on Catalonia's Estatut (status within Spain) and the 2012 early regional elections registering an activity of 48.85 and 67.76 percent respectively.

Every Catalan aged at least 16 was able to go to the polls.

The straw poll known in Spanish media outlets as the "9-N" follows a decision of the country's Constitutional Court to prohibit an independence referendum which Catalan President Artur Mas had vowed to carry out the same day.

After the judiciary's move to declare it "unconstitutional", Barcelona was determined to go on with "another type" of a poll describing it as having a "consultative" nature.

The question citizens had to respond to had two parts: "Do you want Catalonia to be a country?" and, if yes, "Do you want Catalonia to be an independent country?"

Mas said after first results were announced the outcome had gone beyond regional authorities' expectations. He later stated a "definite consultation" should now be held in the region.

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy on the other hand said the vote had been "anti-democratic", the daily El Pais reports.

Madrid's top court has currently imposed only a temporary ban on the referendum and is set to announce its final stance early next year.

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