Catalonia referendum: Opinion poll gives slight lead to anti-independence parties

Political parties opposing a split by Catalonia from Spain had a small lead in an opinion poll published on Sunday, the first since Madrid called a regional election to try to resolve the crisis over Catalan demands for independence.

The poll of 1,000 people by Sigma Dos for newspaper El Mundo, which opposes independence for the wealthy northern region, showed anti-independence parties winning 43.4 percent support and pro-independence parties 42.5 percent.

Catalans will vote for a new regional parliament on Dec. 21. Spain’s central government called the election on Friday, when it also sacked the regional president Carles Puigdemont and dismissed his government.

It had said it would return the autonomous region to direct control after the Catalan parliament passed a unilateral declaration of independence on Friday in a vote that was boycotted by three national parties.

The Catalan government — which is still claiming to hold power — says it was given a mandate to secede from Spain in an unofficial referendum held on Oct. 1.

The ballot was declared illegal by Spain’s Constitutional Court and has been largely discredited because turnout was only an unverified 43 percent as most opponents of independence stayed at home.

Sunday’s opinion poll was taken from Monday to Thursday, …read more