The Catalan government said it had earned the right to independence from Spain after results showed 90% of those who voted were in favor of a split.
But amid an unexpectedly harsh response from Spanish police to the vote, which was declared illegal by Spain`s top court, turnout was under 50%.
Some 844 people were injured as riot police raided polling stations Sunday, dragged away voters and fired rubber bullets during clashes -- scenes that reverberated across Europe.
"Today, on this day of hope and also suffering, citizens of Catalonia have won the right to have an independent state," said Carles Puigdemont, the region`s president.
The Catalan government blamed Madrid for a heavy-handed police operation and called on the European Union to respond. "I want to make clear that all responsibility, all violence acts, repression is exclusively on the government of Rajoy, " the region`s Minister of Foreign Affairs Raül Romeva said. "Today Europe has to choose, shame or dignity. Violence or democracy, this is our demand. With this demand, we begin to work for a response to these circumstances. The absence of a response would suppose a lack and loss of credibility to the EU and its institutions." Spain`s Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said that the vote was illegitimate. "At this point, I can tell you very clearly: Today a self-determination referendum in Catalonia didn`t happen," he said in a televised speechCatalan nationalists argue the region is a separate nation with its own history, culture and language, and that it should have increased fiscal independence.Catalonia`s separatist government pushed forward with the vote despite opposition from Madrid and a ruling from the country`s top court declaring it illegal.Catalan authorities say that 400 polling stations were closed as a result of the police crackdownUK says that referendum is a matter for Spanish governmentVideo footage showed national riot police raiding polling stations, clashing with votersCatalonia`s top official called it a "shameful page" in Spain`s historyFC Barcelona played a tense football match at empty stadium`);$vidEndSlate.removeClass(`video__end-slate--inactive`).addClass(`video__end-slate--active`);}};CNN.autoPlayVideoExist === true) ? true : false;var configObj = {thumb: `none`,video: `world/2017/10/01/catalonia-spain-independence-referendum-vote-zw-orig.cnn`,width: `100%`,height: `100%`,section: `international`,profile: `expansion`,network: `cnn`,markupId: `body-text_20`,adsection: `const-article-inpage`,frameWidth: `100%`,frameHeight: `100%`,posterImageOverride: {"mini":{"height":124,"width":220,"type":"jpg","uri":"//i2.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/171001092936-11-catalonia-referendum-1001-small-169.jpg"},"xsmall":{"height":173,"width":307,"type":"jpg","uri":"//i2.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/171001092936-11-catalonia-referendum-1001-medium-plus-169.jpg"},"small":{"height":259,"width":460,"type":"jpg","uri":"//i2.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/171001092936-11-catalonia-referendum-1001-large-169.jpg"},"medium":{"height":438,"width":780,"type":"jpg","uri":"//i2.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/171001092936-11-catalonia-referendum-1001-exlarge-169.jpg"},"large":{"height":619,"width":1100,"type":"jpg","uri":"//i2.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/171001092936-11-catalonia-referendum-1001-super-169.jpg"},"full16x9":{"height":900,"width":1600,"type":"jpg","uri":"//i2.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/171001092936-11-catalonia-referendum-1001-full-169.jpg"},"mini1x1":{"height":120,"width":120,"type":"jpg","uri":"//i2.com/cnnnext/dam/assets/171001092936-11-catalonia-referendum-1001-small-11.jpg"}}},autoStartVideo = false,callbackObj,containerEl,currentVideoCollection = [],currentVideoCollectionId = ``,isLivePlayer = false,moveToNextTimeout,mutePlayerEnabled = false,nextVideoId = ``,nextVideoUrl = ``,turnOnFlashMessaging = false,videoPinner,videoEndSlateImpl;if (CNN.autoPlayVideoExist === false) {autoStartVideo = false;if (autoStartVideo === true) {if (turnOnFlashMessaging === true) {autoStartVideo = false;containerEl = jQuery(document.showFlashSlate(containerEl);} else {CNN.autoPlayVideoExist = true;}}}configObj.autostart = autoStartVideo;CNN.markupId, autoStartVideo, isLivePlayer, mutePlayerEnabled);CNN.setFirstVideoInCollection(currentVideoCollection, configObj.markupId);videoEndSlateImpl = new CNN.VideoEndSlate(`body-text_20`);/*** Finds the next video ID and URL in the current collection, if available.* @param currentVideoId The video that is currently playing* @param containerId The parent container Id of the video element*/function findNextVideo(currentVideoId) {var i,vidObj;if (currentVideoId && jQuery.isArray(currentVideoCollection) && currentVideoCollection.length > 0) {for (i = 0; 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Catalan govt: `Democracy won`
Catalan`s government said that despite the attempts at voter suppression, "today democracy won."
"It has been a long day, a day of emotions, a hard day, of material damages and personal injuries," government spokesperson Jordi Turull said
Of 2.2 million ballots counted so far, about 90% were in favor of independence, Turull said in a news conference shortly after midnight. Some 15,000 votes are still pending, Turull said.
Turnout in Catalonia, which has 5.3 million total eligible voters, would have been higher if not for suppression at the polls by Spanish national police, Turull said. Up to 770,000 votes were lost as a result of the polling station crackdowns, the Catalan government estimated.
Spain`s national government in Madrid has ardently resisted separation.
In the runup to the vote, national authorities seized ballot papers, voter lists and campaign material. Thousands of extra national police were sent to the region and high-ranking Catalan officials involved in organizing the referendum were arrested.
Regional officials said 400 polling stations were closed as a result of the police crackdown. The Spanish Interior Ministry said 92 of about 2,300 polling stations were closed.
Independence `red line for the Spanish right`
Pablo Guillen Alvarez, an economist and associate professor at the University of Sydney, told CNN that the violent scenes could lead to more support for Catalan independence.
While sympathy in the press and on social media lies with the Catalans, hard-right supporters of the Spanish government put Madrid under a lot of pressure to show strength, he said.
"The Catalan question has been boiling for 150-200 years. It`s a no-go, red line for the Spanish right.
"(The government) reacted in only way that they could have."
International response
The UK`s Foreign Ministry said the referendum was a matter for the Spanish government and its people.
"We want to see Spanish law and the Spanish constitution respected and the rule of law upheld. Spain is a close ally and a good friend, whose strength and unity matters to us," it said in a statement.
Charles Michel, Belgium`s Prime Minister, said that violence was never the answer and called for political dialogue.
Scotland`s First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, whose party strongly advocates Scottish independence said that people should be allowed to vote peacefully.
How we got here
The vote risks plunging the country into one of its worst political crises since the end of Gen. Francisco Franco`s dictatorship in 1975.
A wealthy region in Spain`s northeast, Catalonia has its own regional government, the Generalitat, and has considerable powers of self-governance, including on issues of healthcare, education and tax collection.
The long-running dispute goes back to the brutal years under Franco, whose dictatorial regime repressed Catalonia`s earlier limited autonomy. It wasn`t until 1979, four years after his death, that the region gained full autonomy.
In 2006, the Spanish government backed Catalonia`s calls for greater powers granting nation status and financial control to the region. Four years later, that status was rescinded by the Constitutional Court, which ruled that while Catalan is a "nationality," Catalonia is not a nation itself.
Catalonia`s campaign to break away has been gaining momentum since 2010, when Spain`s economy plunged during the financial crisis. Catalonia held a symbolic poll in 2014, in which 80% of voters backed complete secession -- but only 32% of the electorate turned out.
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