Catalan separatists seen keeping absolute majority - preliminary results

Pro-independence parties in Catalonia appear to be on track to keeping an absolute majority of seats in regional elections, according to preliminary results based on 30 percent of the votes published by the regional government.

This seemed to confirm an earlier exit poll. It was however unclear yet if final results would match the initial data.

The separatist parties were seen getting some 71 seats in the 135-seat assembly, the preliminary data showed.

Opinion polls before the vote had shown separatists and unionists running neck-and-neck in the wealthy Spanish region.

An exit poll after voting closed showed the pro-independence parties in a position to keep their absolute majority of seats. 

If confirmed, the projection will open a new, uncertain chapter in Spain's worst political crisis in decades and cast serious doubts over Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy's capacity to draw a line the crisis, which has damaged Spain's economy and prompted a business exodus from Catalonia. 

The election has become a de facto referendum on how support for the independence movement has fared since the regional government was sacked by Rajoy following an Oct. 1 illegal referendum on...