Preliminary results in Catalonia show 90% in favour of independence in a vote opposed by Spain, a Catalan official said.
Catalan regional government spokesman Jordi Turull told reporters that 90% of the 2.26 million Catalans who voted on Sunday chose the 'yes' side in favour of independence.
He said nearly 8% of voters rejected independence and the rest of the ballots were blank or void. He said 15,000 votes were still being counted.
Turull said the number of ballots didn't include those confiscated by Spanish police during violent raids on Sunday that aimed to stop the vote.
At least 844 people and 33 police were injured.
Spanish riot police violently crack down on #CatalanReferendum voters, leaving 465 injured. Find out more here ➡️https://t.co/ZVVr3e04hF. pic.twitter.com/KazXuUt6cD
— Catalan News (@catalannews) October 1, 2017
The region has 5.3 million voters.