MADRID – A Catalan government opinion poll indicates people in the northeastern region are evenly divided over the question of independence from Spain, less than a year before the region's planned secession.
The Opinion Studies Center poll released Friday said 45.1 percent of those quizzed oppose independence while 44.9 percent favored it. The remainder did not know or did not answer. The center's last poll in July showed pro-independents ahead by 47.7 percent against 42.4 percent.
Catalonia, whose capital is Barcelona, represents a fifth of Spain's €1.1-trillion-euro ($1.2 trillion) GDP. Its pro-independence regional government says it will begin breaking away from Spain in 2017, although the national government rules this out.
The survey interviewed 1,500 people in person Oct. 17-Nov. 3 and has a margin of error of 2.5 percent.
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