Catalans take step towards break-up vote Catalonia has delivered a sweeping mandate to political parties pledging to hold a referendum on independence in elections that place the northern Spanish region on a collision course with Madrid. In a result likely to heap uncertainty on the government of Mariano Rajoy, Spain's prime minister, as he considers requesting a European bail-out, political parties favouring an independence vote won a majority in the Catalan regional parliament, according to exit polls conducted by regional state television. However, the ruling Convergència i Unió lost seats, while more radical pro-independence parties gained ground, with Esquerra Republicana, a left-wing separatist party becoming the second largest party in the Catalan parliament for the first time. In a vote billed as "the most decisive elections in the history of Catalonia" by Artur Mas, the region's president, exit polls indicated a pro-referendum bloc winning up to 95 of the Catalan parliament's 135 seats. The CiU party slipped from 62 to 54-57 seats, while the ER rose from 10 to as high as 23, and the green ICV held on to 10. The CUP, a new independence party, was forecast to win up to 5 seats. Spain's ruling Popular Party was set to retain its 18 seats, while the socialist party looked likely to suffer a collapse, dropping from 28 to as low as 16. Ciutadans, an anti-separatist party, rose from 3 to 6 seats. Following weeks of intense debate about Catalonia's future relationship with Spain, projected turn-out was a record 67.7 per cent, the highest for a Catalan regional election in nearly 30 years. Spain's central government has said any move to push ahead with a referendum on independence for Catalonia, which has an economy the size of Portugal's and makes up about a fifth of Spanish output, would be illegal and against the Spanish constitution. "What is at stake is much more than election results; what is at stake is our future, our ability to live harmoniously together," said Alicia Sánchez-Camacho, leader of Mr Rajoy's Popular Party in Catalonia ahead of the vote. The Catalan president, whose demands that Catalonia is granted greater control over its tax revenues were rejected by Mr Rajoy earlier this year, has maintained that he will ignore any attempts by Madrid to block independence. Catalonia has built up a debt pile of €42bn, the largest of all of Spain's 17 regions, and is currently locked out of international capital markets. Earlier this year the region was forced to request an emergency €5bn credit line from Spain's central government to avoid defaulting on payments. The Catalan vote came as Spain's central government rejected an offer by Eta, the armed Basque separatist group, to disband in return for prisoner transfers and an arms handover. "The only statement we expect and demand is for its unconditional dissolution," said Jorge Fernandez Diaz, Spain's interior minister, said after Eta released the offer through a Basque newspaper. They know we have not negotiated and won't negotiate at all with a terrorist organisation. Earlier on Sunday in Catalonia, Maria Villalba, a 68-year-old art gallery owner had just voted for CiU, the Mr Mas's party. Since the march, I've seen more and more heated discussions between customers looking at the headlines in the papers.