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Regional election kicks off in Spanish region of Catalonia

Over 5.5 mln people have the right to take part in the election

MADRID, May 12. /TASS/. A regional election has kicked off in Spain’s Autonomous Community of Catalonia.

Polling stations opened at 9:00 a.m. local time (7:00 a.m. GMT) and will close at 8:00 p.m. (6:00 p.m. GMT).

Over 5.5 mln people have the right to take part in the election where 135 seats in the regional parliament are up for grabs.

The vote was initially scheduled for 2025 but the regional president of Catalonia, Pere Aragones, announced an early election after parliament members had refused to approve a draft budget submitted by the government. One of the reasons was that not a single political force had been able to secure a majority in parliament in the 2021 election.

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