Catalan referendum: “90% back breaking with Spain”

According to regional officials, the preliminary results of a contentious referendum in Catalonia show that 90% of the voters favor the region’s independence from Spain even as Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy dismissed the “illegal” vote as a “mockery of democracy.”

About 2.2 million Catalans voted in the referendum, defying a violent police crackdown that left more than 800 people injured in clashes, writes Reuters. Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont said that the vote has set the stage for a unilateral declaration of independence as he called on the E.U. to no longer turn a blind eye on the political crisis.

The referendum has thrown the complicated ties between Spain and the region of Catalonia further into a state of a quandary, notes the BBC. Amid deepening rifts, the two sides are set to hold talks on Monday to decide the region’s future.