Photo: Collected
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez's Socialists are hoping to show Catalonia has moved past its independence fixation by winning Sunday's (12 May) regional vote and defeating separatist leader Carles Puigdemont.
Polls opened at 9:00 am (0700 GMT), with voters casting their ballots to elect 135 lawmakers in the Catalan parliament in this wealthy northeastern region of some eight million people.
Surveys suggest Sanchez's Socialists are set to win the most votes, ahead of Puigdemont's hardline separatist JxCat and its rival ERC, led by current regional leader Pere Aragones. Polls close at 8:00 pm with results due out several hours later.
"My sense today is that we are entering a new important stage in Catalonia," said Salvador Illa, head of the Catalan Socialist party on casting his ballot.
On the streets, voters agreed the election would likely change the leadership of the region, which has been dominated by separatists for the past decade.
"I'm sure the Socialists will win and that will change the ruling majority. But I don't think the situation will change much really," said Xavier Cusi, 51, who works in banking.
And 31-year-old Ainhoa Matos, who works in the insurance industry, told AFP she hoped the outcome would give a greater voice to those who weren't pro-independence.
"The independence issue has calmed down a lot so people are less on edge," she said.
"People like me who are not pro-independence have not had enough of a voice or representation so I hope that can change."
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