Catalonia election: What has happened to the independence movement in Spain's Catalonia region?

But why has support for independence taken a hit in Catalonia and what does the election result mean for the autonomous region?

What happened in the Catalonia election?

The Catalan Socialist Party (PSC), under former Spanish health minister Salvador Illa, took 42 seats, with 99 per cent of the votes counted.

The second biggest party was the Together for Catalonia (JxCat) party of the former regional president Carles Puigdemont, with 35 seats, overtaking Catalan Republican Left (ERC), which previously held a minority government. However, the result means nationalist parties no longer control the regional parliament in Catalonia.

The snap election was held after the ERC’s minority government failed to gather enough support to pass the region's annual budget. Mr Illa declared the result to be "a new era for Catalonia".

How strong has Catalonia’s independence movement been?

The movement for independence in Catalonia has been strong – and emotive.

In 2017, the Catalan government said it would hold a referendum asking voters: "Do you want Catalonia to become an independent state in the form of a republic?" However, Spain said doing so was illegal and vowed to block it.

However, the vote went ahead and the Catalan regional parliament held a secret ballot to approve a resolution declaring independence from Spain. Article 155 of the Spanish constitution was triggered by the Spanish government; the Catalan government was dismissed and direct rule was imposed from the central government in Madrid.

A year later, 12 of the independence leaders were tried by the Supreme Court of Spain, triggering protests. Over five nights, hundreds of thousands of people were involved in clashes on the streets of Barcelona.

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Is there still support for independence?

Yes, but not as high as before. According to the Catalan government's statistics institute, support for Catalonian independence has fallen to 42 per cent, from 49 per cent in 2017.

What other regions around the world have an independence movement?

Apart from Scotland, which held its last independence referendum in 2014, there are a number of other separatist movements around the world.

Catalonian independence supporters travelled to Scotland to help campaign for the Yes movement.

In Quebec, Canada, there has been a recent small resurgence in interest for independence, after the last vote in 1995, saw the remain campaign win by a tiny margin. Since then, support for full independence had waned in favour of more devolution. However, under Paul St Pierre Plamondon, the new leader of separatist party, Parti Quebecois, the movement has regained some ground.

In Belgium, where there has long been a hypothetical discussion over separating the Flemish-speaking and Dutch-speaking parts of the country, support for separatism has seen an unexpected rise.

The far-right Vlaams Belang party, which wants to turn Flanders into a fully independent, breakaway state, is taking political ground in the region and could perform well at the Belgian elections next month.