Separatist parties looked set to jointly win a majority of seats in Catalonia's regional parliament, an opinion poll published by TV3 showed as polling stations closed on Sunday.
The leftist Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya would get 36-38 seats in the 135-seat assembly, while the centre-rights Junts would get between 30 and 33, the opinion poll showed.
The survey was conducted by GAD3 through 8,000 phone calls throughout the campaign, with the number of calls intensifying as the campaign got closer to election day.
The Socialist party was seen getting more votes than any other party, but behind ERC in terms of seats.
The goal of separatists is to not only maintain their slim majority of the Catalan parliament based in Barcelona, but also to try to break the 50 per cent barrier of the popular vote for the first time.
The wealthy region, with its own language spoken alongside Spanish, has been the source of Spain’s biggest political crisis in decades since separatist leaders failed in a 2017 secession bid in defiance of court warnings that it was unconstitutional.
Several of those leaders ended up in prison, while others fled to other European countries.
With Spain still suffering from a post-Christmas spike in coronavirus infections, the vote was held under strict health regulations.
Voters had to wear face masks, use the hand disinfectant provided at polling stations, and remain at least 1.5 metres apart while queuing.
