Separatists win regional election in Catalonia

[NewsCaster]

Lluis Gene / AFP - Getty ImagesCurrent President of Catalonia and leader of the CiU (Catalan Convergence and Unity) party Artur Mas casts his ballot for regional elections in Barcelona on Sunday. By ReutersUPDATED at 7:50 p.m. ET: BARCELONA, Spain -- Separatists in Spain's Catalonia won regional elections on Sunday but failed to  get the resounding mandate they need to push convincingly for a referendum on  independence.

Catalan President Artur Mas, who has implemented unpopular  spending cuts in an economic crisis, had called an early election to test  support for his new drive for independence for Catalonia, a wealthy region in  northeastern Spain.


Voters handed almost two thirds of the 135-seat  local parliament to four different Catalan separatist parties that all want to  hold a referendum on secession from Spain.

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