"We would have preferred a referendum like in Quebec and Scotland, but the only course left to us was to organize these elections," said Artur Mas, president of the regional government of Catalonia. So, he said, the election that was held Sunday in Spain's richest province should be seen as a referendum on independence — and he won it.
It was not a big win: the pro-independence parties needed 68 seats for a majority in the 135-seat regional parliament, and they got 72. But it was a win nevertheless, and Mas says he will unilaterally declare Catalonia independent in the next 18 months on the strength of this vote.
Catalonia could certainly make it as an independent country: It's about the same size as Switzerland, with about the same population (7.5 million). But there is doubt about whether Spain would agree to a friendly divorce — and even greater doubt about whether a majority of Catalonia's voters would actually vote "yes" if there were a real referendum on independence.