President of the Generalitat of Catalonia Artur Mas has announced he will quit as the pro-independence head of the Spanish region, to avoid triggering new elections.
Disagreements between secessionist parties, which gained a majority in last year’s regional polls, have blocked the formation of a Catalan government.
Catalonia’s acting leader said he supported the mayor of the Girona region, Carles Puigdemont, as his replacement.
Artur Mas i Gavarró has been in power since 2010.
In September elections, Artur Mas’ Junts pel Si (Together for Yes) alliance won 62 of the 135 seats in the Catalan assembly.
However, a small anti-capitalist and pro-independence party, the CUP (Popular Unity Candidacy), which holds 10 seats, has refused to support Artur Mas as leader.
“I am stepping aside and will not be standing as a Junts pel Si candidate for the re-election of president of the regional government,” Artur Mas told a news conference in Barcelona.
Nationally, Spain faces weeks of political uncertainty after an inconclusive general election on 20 December.
In November 2015, the Catalan parliament voted to start the secession process – a move declared unconstitutional by Spain’s conservative Popular Party (PP), which ran the country before last month’s election.
Catalonia is a highly industrialized and populous region in Spain’s north-east that accounts for about a fifth of the country’s economic output.
Both the PP and the Socialists (PSOE), who came first and second respectively in Spain’s general election, oppose Catalan secession.
Spain’s government has vowed to block plans by parties in Catalonia to hold a referendum on independence on November 9, 2014.
“The poll will not be held,” Justice Minister Alberto Ruiz-Gallardon told journalists moments after Catalonia’s President, Artur Mas, announced a deal.
Artur Mas said agreement had been reached on the date and on two questions.
Spain’s government has vowed to block plans by parties in Catalonia to hold a referendum on independence on November 9, 2014
Voters would be asked if they wanted Catalonia to be a state and if they wanted it to be an independent state.
Artur Mas announced that an agreement had been reached in principle and had still to be approved formally by the parties internally.
Both Spain’s ruling conservatives, the Popular Party of PM Mariano Rajoy, and the Socialist opposition have long made clear they oppose a referendum.
Catalonia is one of Spain’s most developed regions, with a population of 7.5 million.
The region already has a wide degree of autonomy but the recent economic crisis has fuelled Catalan nationalism.
Opinion polls suggest Catalans are evenly split over independence.
The EU and NATO have warned that Catalonia would be excluded if it broke away from Spain.
Voters in Spanish region of Catalonia have given a majority to parties seeking Catalan independence.
However, Catalan President Artur Mas, who called the early election and pushed for independence, lost seats.
His centre-right CiU remains the largest bloc, winning 50 seats out of 135, down from 62 last time.
The left-wing separatist ERC won 21 seats. However, despite their combined majority, the parties may be unable to work together.
Both the CiU and ERC want to hold a referendum on independence from Spain.
Artur Mas said he would consult the people on independence within the next four years.
“I am happy with tonight’s results, but not as happy as I could have been,” he said.
Artur Mas called early elections after a funding row with the central government in Madrid.
It has accused him of trying to exploit the economic crisis, saying Catalan nationalists were looking for excuses after nearly running out of money.
Voters in Spanish region of Catalonia have given a majority to parties seeking Catalan independence
Artur Mas says the wealthy and influential north-eastern region gets a raw funding deal from the central government. His centre-right Catalan nationalist coalition (CiU) argues a Catalan state would fare better as a member of the EU than a province of Spain.
The European flag was prominent at Artur Mas’s campaign rallies, and he says an independent Catalonia would quickly gain membership of the 27-member bloc.
However, the Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya (ERC), the Republican Left party, has more than doubled its previous share of seats – up from 10 in 2010 to 21 this time.
That has been seen partly as a reaction to Artur Mas’s resort to austerity measures to fight Catalonia’s debt.
CiU and the ERC have very different views of how to address the economic crisis.
The result may actually mean a referendum on independence from Spain is therefore less likely, because the political process has become even more complicated.
It was already far from straightforward.
A referendum would be illegal under the current Spanish constitution, and Spain’s ruling Popular Party is likely to block any attempts for constitutional change.
Other parties, such as the Ciutadans, the Popular Party of Catalonia and the Socialist Party of Catalonia are all opposed to Catalonia’s independence bid.
Catalonia, one of the most important regions of Spain, is holding key regional elections, after a campaign that has focused on the issue of independence.
Catalan nationalists want to hold a referendum on whether the region should break away from the rest of Spain.
Polls suggest Catalan nationalist parties are set to do well.
Catalan President Artur Mas called early elections amid a funding row with the central government; it says he is trying to exploit the economic crisis.
Madrid says Catalan nationalists are looking for excuses having nearly run out of money, and having run up a big debt.
Polls close at 20:00 local time.
Artur Mas says the wealthy and influential north-eastern region gets a raw funding deal from the central government and his centre-right Catalan Nationalist Coalition (CiU) will be hoping for a majority in the regional parliament.
His party argues a Catalan state would fare better as a member of the EU than a province of Spain.
The European flag has been prominent at his campaign rallies, and he says an independent Catalonia would quickly gain membership of the 27-member bloc.
Catalonia is holding key regional elections after a campaign that has focused on the issue of independence
The CiU ousted the Socialist party in elections in November 2010.
With 135 parliamentary seats available, Artur Mas knows that if he is to pursue his dream of an independent Catalonia, he will need a clear mandate from voters.
If not, Artur Mas will have to rely on the support of smaller pro-independence parties, our correspondent says.
Even then, the road to independence is far from straightforward.
A referendum would be illegal under the current Spanish constitution, and Spain’s ruling Popular Party is likely to block any attempts for constitutional change.
Other parties, such as the nationalist Ciutadans, the Popular Party of Catalonia the Socialist Party of Catalonia are all opposed to Catalonia’s independence bid.
The Catalan vote comes as the Basque separatist movement Eta indicates it is ready to disarm, disband and enter talks with the French and Spanish governments.
About 1.5 million people have taken part in Catalonia’s annual independence rally in Barcelona, police say.
Tens of thousands of people poured into the city waving the region’s independence flag and brandishing the colors red and yellow.
This year’s march, which aimed to be the biggest ever, was also a protest against the Spanish government’s tax laws.
Catalonia wants Madrid to review its tax agreement and provide a bailout.
The size of the turnout for the rally, which is held annually on 11 September to mark the Siege of Barcelona 300 years ago, forced organizers to change its route.
About 1.5 million people have taken part in Catalonia's annual independence rally in Barcelona
The Catalan government believes it is owed money by the central government because it says it pays a disproportionate level of taxes to Madrid in relation to the funding it receives.
The far north-east region, which has claimed independence from Spain for centuries, has demanded a bailout from Madrid of 5 billion euros.
Economists have warned that the Catalan government has barely enough money to pay its public sector workers.
As a nation, Spain’s struggling economy has declined for three consecutive quarters as it continues to suffer from the effects of its property bust caused by the financial crisis.
Catalonia is Spain’s wealthiest region and represents a fifth of the Spanish economy.
It has to take out 13 billion euros in loans this year to refinance maturing debt, on top of funding its deficit for the current year.
Other regions have appealed to the government for bailouts. The latest, Andalusia, asked for an immediate injection of 1 billion euros last week.
Valencia and Murcia have also requested bailouts in recent weeks.
Spanish region of Catalonia has asked for a bailout of 5 billion euros ($6.3 billion) from the central government.
This summer, an 18 billion-euro public fund was set up by Madrid to aid its 17 autonomous regions, which are in deep debt.
Catalonia represents one-fifth of the Spanish economy.
It comes as official figures showed that Spain’s economy contracted further in the second quarter.
The economy shrunk by 0.4% between April and June after a 0.3% drop in the previous three months, the Instituto Nacional de Estadistica said.
Spanish region of Catalonia has asked for a bailout of 5 billion euros from the central government
The nation’s struggling economy has now declined for three straight quarters. On an annual basis, Spain’s economy contracted by 1.3% in the second quarter.
Speculation has persisted that the country will have to request a full financial rescue.
In June, Spain requested 100 billion euros ($122 billion) of loans from the eurozone’s bailout fund to help support its banks, which are struggling with bad debts from loans made in the property sector.
Despite this, the official figures show that Spain grew during 2011 as a whole despite earlier statements that it had shrunk for the year. But the economy contracted in 2010 more than had been stated.
The European Central Bank has said it will come up with ways to help eurozone countries, leading to raised hopes that it will buy Spanish debt to push down the cost of borrowing.
Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has said he will do “what was best for the Spanish people” and is considering all options regarding a bailout, which has helped calm markets.
On Tuesday, the interest that Spain pays to borrow for three months fell to 0.946%, from 2.434% at a similar auction in July. Six-month debt dropped to 2.026%, from 3.691%, at the sale.
But the rate of interest Spain pays on longer-term borrowing has remained high because of investor concerns, making it difficult for the nation to service its debts.
Last month, Madrid announced additional spending cuts and tax rises worth 65 billion euros.
Meanwhile, the so-called troika – the International Monetary Fund, the ECB and the European Commission – are in Lisbon to monitor the progress that Portugal is making on its commitments under its bailout.
Last week, official figures indicated that the government would probably miss its target of deficit target unless it found ways to tighten the budget further.
This comes after the troika visited Greece last week.
Greece’s continued access to the bailout packages depends on a favorable report from the troika.
Athens is trying to finalize a package of 11.5 billion euros of spending cuts over the next two years to qualify for the next 33.5 billion-euro installment of its second 130 billion-euro bailout.
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