Catalan Regional President Carles Puigdemont (C) is flanked by members of his government as he makes an statement at Generalitat Palace in Barcelona, Spain, October 1, 2017. Catalan Goverment/Jordi Bedmar Pascual/Handout via REUTERS
BARCELONA (Reuters) - Catalonia's regional leader opened the door to a unilateral declaration of independence from Spain on Sunday after voters defied a violent police crackdown and, according to regional officials, voted 90 percent in favour of breaking away.
Despite Spanish police using batons and rubber bullets to disrupt the banned referendum, which was declared unconstitutional by Madrid, the Catalan government said 2.26 million people had cast ballots, a turnout of about 42 percent.
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