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| - Catalonia voted Sunday in a close election overshadowed by the pandemic and which Madrid hopes will unseat the region's ruling separatists more than three years after a failed bid to break away from Spain. The vote in the wealthy northeastern region could see a high level of abstentions as Spain battles a third wave of coronavirus infections. While some 5.5 million people are eligible to vote, polls suggested a lower turnout than the roughly 80 percent who voted at the last regional election in December 2017. To decrease the risk of contagion, regional authorities set up polling station in spacious venues such as around FC Barcelona's football stadium and the bullring in the port city of Tarragona. "It's obvious that it's not the best moment to hold an election," Sergi Lopes, 40, told AFP at a polling station in Barcelona. "But when you take the metro to go to work every day, you are also being exposed." The regional government tried to postpone the elections until the end of May because of the pandemic but the courts blocked that move. Voting started at 9:00 am (0800 GMT) and is due to close at 8:00 pm (1900 GMT), with the final hour of voting reserved for people infected with Covid-19 or undergoing quarantine. During this time polling staff will wear gloves, facial screens and protective gowns. Turnout stood at 22.8 percent at 1:00 pm, according to the Catalan regional government, compared to 34.7 percent recording at the same time during the previous election in December 2017. But Bernat Sole, Catalonia's government official in charge of the election, said he expected participation to pick up in the afternoon, as the first three hours were reserved for voting by people more at risk of catching the virus. Results are expected around midnight. While more than 40 percent of the 82,000 people assigned to help staff polling stations on the day had asked to be recused, all polling stations were operating normally as of noon, said the Catalan government. Voters entered one by one to avoid crowding, forcing people to stand in lines outside under intermittent rain. "It's raining, there are queues, we are getting wet... it's not well organised," said Josep Maria Prats, a 59-year-old health worker as he waited to vote in Barcelona. Polls had suggested the Socialists -- who govern at the national level -- were neck-and-neck with the two pro-independence parties that have governed Catalonia together for the past five years. Spain's Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez is hoping this election, the fifth in a decade, will end their rule. He took part in several rallies to support the Socialists' top candidate, former health minister Salvador Illa who gained a high-profile for his handling of the coronavirus crisis. Even if Illa's Socialist Party of Catalonia (PSC) was to come out on top, polls suggest separatist parties together could once again manage a ruling majority, despite deep divisions since the failed 2017 independence bid. If that happened, it would be a repeat of the last election in December 2017 when the stridently pro-unity Ciudadanos won the most seats but was unable to form a government. The main question then is which of Catalonia's two main separatist parties will come out stronger -- the hardline JxC -- "Together for Catalonia" -- or the more moderate ERC. In the previous election in December 2017, JxC was ahead, forming a 70-seat coalition with ERC. Should the tables be turned in ERC's favour, it would likely ease tensions and help the tentative reconciliation Sanchez's government has sought to broker since coming to power. Sanchez came to lead Spain's government in 2018 thanks in part to support from Catalan separatists and his minority government relies on them to pass legislation. "An ERC executive would maintain the current ambiguous approach of criticising Madrid rhetorically but not adopting any unilateral measures," said Antonio Barroso, an analyst at political consultancy Teneo. "In contrast, a government headed by JxC would probably lead to a more confrontational stance." dbh/ds/jj
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