Catalonia election poll suggests separatists will retain majority

Catalan Socialist party finishes first as secessionists win more than half the vote on turnout of only 53%

Catalan pro-independence parties have increased their parliamentary majority following a regional election in which the unionist Socialists took the largest share of the vote and the far-right Vox party outperformed its conservative rivals to win its first seats in the northeastern Spanish region.

Sunday's election was overshadowed by the Covid pandemic and dominated by the continuing debate over independence that has shaped and divided Catalan politics for the past decade.