Just under a quarter of Catalans want Spain split, says newspaper poll

Barely a quarter of Catalans want to continue with a plan to claim independence from Spain after regional elections next month, according to a poll published in El Pais newspaper today.

A Catalan independence referendum on 1 October – labelled as illegal by central government in Madrid – plunged Spain into its worst political crisis in decades.

It eased after the sacking of the secessionist Catalan authorities by the Madrid government elicited little resistance.

But uncertainty could return if the pro-independence camp wins in the 21 December vote.

Just 24% of those polled by Metroscopia said they would like to continue with the independence process after the elections, whereas 71% said they would prefer politicians to find an agreement based on Catalonia staying part of Spain.

Pro-independence parties may fail to retain an absolute majority of seats in the Catalan parliament in next month's election, the first part of the poll published on Sunday showed.

However, the survey's margin of error at 2.4% and the fact support was evenly split between the two sides makes reading conclusions from polls difficult.

The telephone poll surveyed 1,800 Catalans between 20-22 November.

Failure to capture a majority in the regional parliament would be a heavy blow for Catalan separatists who have billed the election as a plebiscite on Madrid's decision to impose direct rule on the region last month.

The October referendum produced a large majority in favour of independence, but turnout was only 43% because many who opposed the breakaway did not vote.

Catalan separatist parties are forecast to win 46% of the vote, down slightly from 47.7% in a previous election in 2015.

Unionist parties combined would account for another 46% of votes, up from less than 40% last time, according to the Metroscopia poll.

Turnout for the election, which former Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont said on Saturday would be the most important in the region's history, is predicted to reach a record 80%.