Cataluña turns out to vote

THE people of Cataluña turned out in force on Sunday morning (September 27) to vote in regional elections which nationalist parties hope will set them on their way to independence.

All eyes were set on the northern region as the 5,510,798 people eligible to vote in the elections prepared to decide the future of Cataluña, which separatist parties hope will secure them enough seats in parliament to declare independence from Spain within 18 months.

At 1pm, 35.12 per cent of those eligible to vote had visited one of the 2,697 poling stations which opened across Cataluña at 7am, almost 6 per cent more than at the same time on the day of the last elections in 2012, showing just how important the current vote is to the region and its people.

In spite of all at stake, no incidents of note were reported during the morning apart from queues at poling stations due to the increased number of people turning out to vote.