A SMALL town has taken a symbolic step towards Catalan independence by securing an overwhelming victory in the first referendum over secession.
Voters in Arenys de Munt, near Barcelona, this weekend defied a judicial order that had outlawed the holding of the poll.
More than 96 per cent of votes cast – 2,569 of 2,671 – went in favour of Catalan independence within the European Union.
On Sunday, the day of the vote, a Catalan association of municipalities announced that 60 villages and small towns would hold similar referendums later this year, with the potential to prompt political confrontation with the national government.
The pro-independence result comes as a ruling is expected from Spain's Constitutional Court on the legality of a statute that gave Catalonia enhanced tax-raising, administrative, legal and linguistic powers in 2006.
Votes in Arenys de Munt were cast amid tension in the town of 8,000 people after a far-right group held a rally against the referendum that threatened to disrupt voting.
Hundreds of riot police were called in to separate supporters of Spain's Falange Española, the political party of the Franco dictatorship, who raised fascist salutes, from flag-waving republican Catalans.
Under the Franco dictatorship, the Catalan language was, until the 1970s, excluded from the state education system and all other official and public use. It was prohibited to give children Catalan names.
Spain's defence minister, Carmen Chacon, herself a Catalan, tried to ease tensions, saying: "Catalonia is not about the extremes – it is neither pro-independence nor far right."
Spain's conservative opposition has urged prime minister José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero to intervene to prevent further holding of referendums. Under the Spanish constitution, only the state has the right to hold such votes.
But a privately run self-determination organisation that had won support from the mayor and the majority of the local councilors got round the court ruling by holding the poll in a parish building.
"The referendum is the fiesta of democracy. We have complied with the court ruling, which said the referendum could not be held in a municipality building, such as the town hall," said Carles Mora, the mayor of Arenys de Munt.
Barcelona's socialist mayor, Jordi Hereu, played down the results of the non-binding referendum and the prospect of further independence polls in Catalan municipalities.
He said attention given to the poll was "exaggerated", adding: "It will lead nowhere."
Some analysts attributed the high turnout to provocation from court rulings that banned the poll but allowed the far-right rally to proceed.
The referendum comes after the chairman of Barcelona Football Club, Joan Laporta, led a march in Barcelona on 11 September, Catalonia's national day, under the slogan: "We are a nation, and we want a free state."
The resurgence of in the independence campaign comes after a survey published by the Catalan government in July showed that the number of citizens in favour of independence has grown from 13.6 per cent in July 2005 to 19 per cent this year.
