Catalan voters headed to the polls on Sunday for an election that will test the strength of the Spanish region’s pro-independence movement, but in an era dominated by the coronavirus crisis rather than separatist sentiment, Reuters reports.
A steady trickle of mask-wearing voters turned up at polling stations that were replete with pandemic precautions: Temperatures taken on arrival, election workers in protective suits or visors, separate entrances and exits, hand gel on tap and floor markings to ensure social distancing.
Whether the election is won by the separatist parties now in power in Catalonia or the Socialists who lead Spain’s central government, it is unlikely to lead to any repeat of the chaotic, short-lived declaration of independence in late 2017.
But it will still be an important signal of the separatists’ appeal and could affect the political trajectory of the pro-independence movement for years to come.
Opinion polls have pointed to a low physical turnout, with voters worried about the risk of contagion at polling stations.
