Polls close in crucial Catalan election

BARCELONA: Polls closed in a crucial election in Catalonia on Thursday that could decide the future of the wealthy Spanish region's independence movement, AFP reporters at the scene said.

Voters who arrived just before the polls closed were still allowed to cast their ballot.

Turnout was exceptionally high, official data showed.

The election was held just two months after a failed secession bid in Catalonia, which triggered the country's worst crisis in decades.

The vote pitted leaders of the region's separatist movement against parties that want to remain in Spain.