Catalonia's pro-independence parties seen losing majority in election: poll

[December 04, 2017]    NMADRID (Reuters) - Catalonia's pro-independence parties were seen losing their parliamentary majority in the regional election on Dec. 21, an official poll showed on Monday.

Protesters hold the lights of their mobile phones as they wave Estelada flags during a demonstration called by pro-independence associations asking for the release of jailed Catalan activists and leaders, in Barcelona, Spain. REUTERS/Albert Gea

Pro-indepence party Junts per Catalunya was seen winning 25-26 seats, ERC another 32 seats and extreme-left party CUP 9 seats, according to the poll carried out by Sociological Research Centre (CIS).

That would give the pro-independence camp just 67 seats in the 135-seat regional parliament, stripping them of the previous slim majority.

The government's People's Party (PP) would win just 7 seats while the Socialists would take 21 and the market friendly Ciudadanos 31-32 seats, the poll showed. CatComu-Podem, the Catalan arm of the anti-austerity Podemos party, could win 9 seats, according to the survey.

(Reporting by Emma Pinedo; Writing by Paul Day)

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