Catalonia to test Spanish unity with separatist vote

Convergencia i Unio (CIU) party's candidate Artur Mas for Catalunya's regional government gestures during a meeting in Barcelona November 23, 2012. Catalunya regional elections shall be held on November 25. REUTERS/Albert Gea

BARCELONA, Spain (Reuters) - Spain's Catalonia region, fed up with the tax demands of cash-strapped Madrid, was expected to elect on Sunday a separatist government that will try to hold a referendum on independence.

Pro-independence flags, a star against red and yellow stripes, hung on balconies in Catalonia's capital, Barcelona, as people cast ballots in a vote that could plunge Spain into a constitutional crisis even as it struggles to avoid an international bailout.