Feature: Catalans vote in high-stakes poll amid riven public mood

BARCELONA, Dec.21 (Xinhua) -- A record-high number of Catalan voters Thursday cast ballots in a tightly-contested election to have their say over the region's future, nearly three months after a foiled secession attempt.

About 5.5 million Catalans are eligible to vote in the 2,680 polling stations across the region from 09:00 local time (0800 GMT) to 20:00 (1900 GMT).

Xinhua correspondents saw long queues at polling stations in Barcelona in the morning.

Opinion polls showed that the turnout would hit a record-high of 87.3 percent, according to local newspaper El Periodico.

Unlike the illegal Oct. 1 referendum which saw beefed-up security measures and sporadic clashes between police and protesters, the regional election, the first of its kind held on a weekday, is panning out peacefully.

There is a clear demarcation in the vote between parties in favor of keeping the unity of Spain, including Ciudadanos, Peoples Party and the Socialist Party (PSC), and those in favor of the independence of Catalonia. including Ezquerra Republicana (ERC), Junts per Cat and CUP, with only the left-wing En Comu-Podem sitting on the fence.

Surveys carried out before the poll showed ballots casting for pro-unity parties are set to tie with those going to pro-secession parties, but neither bloc is tipped to gain a majority.

The center-right constitutionalist party Ciudadanos and left-wing separatists Ezquerra Republicana look likely to gain the most votes.

Nuria, 22, who works in the tourism sector, told Xinhua that she will vote for Ciadadanos, because pro-secession forces "have messed with us and we have fewer profits."

Her friend Maria, 25, however, said she backed pro-secession CUP.

While social fracture has been hitting the headlines for months, the two young ladies said diverging political views have little sway over their friendship. "We do not talk about it (politics)," said Maria.

The secession bid has taken a toll on Catalonia's economy. According to data released Monday by the College of Mercantile Registers of Spain, 3,096 companies have left the region due to political uncertainty following the Oct. 1 referendum.

Catalan economy, the one-time bellwether of Spain, is projected to grow by 1.7 percent in 2018, lagging behind the average growth rate of 2.3 percent, according to a report of Savings Banks Foundation, a non-profit Spanish institution.

But headstrong secessionists seemed to turn a blind eye to the fallout. Aurora, a 50-year-old ERC supporter, said "Catalonia is seen by many people from outside as a 'candy'. If some leave, others will come. There is no problem with that."

"And the economy, we are so fed up with everything that I think it cannot be worse than it is," she argued.

For those who were hit hard by the biting economic fallout, this kind of narrative sounded like burying heads into the sand.

"Separatism is too radical and it brought us many problems in Catalonia. People left for Madrid, Valencia, we have lost purchasing power. I have lost clients," Francisca, a 57-year-old businesswoman who backed PSC, told Xinhua.

"We have to look at the common good, and with independence it is going to be worse. People do not want problems, people want to work, they want a good life," she said.

"On the paper, the idea of independence looks very well, but it does not have the basis, and the European Union does not see us as a country, so it cannot be done," she said.

Eloy, a taxi driver, told Xinhua that he used to be a firm secessionist, but has changed his mind after seeing the economy of Catalonia is deeply affected by the independence bid.

"I do not want it now, there is no basis for independence. Without Spain, Catalonia goes nowhere," he said.

Jorge, 52, another taxi driver, echoed Eloy, saying "Today I will vote for pro-unity parties."

He said he has rowed back on pro-secession stance, seeing the risk of savings in banks losing guarantee.

Jorge has shifted his savings from Bank Sabadell based in Barcelona to Bank Santander in Zaragoza, 300 km northwest of Barcelona. "It took me 3 hours to drive there," he said.

Diehard secessionists also came to grips with the reality that even pro-secession bloc win the election, there is no chance to press on with the secession bid.

"The central government will say no again," said Aurora.

Montserrat, 71, a retired teacher voting for Junts per Cat headed by former Catalan leader Carles Puigdement, said "I wish Catalonia to be independent, a republic, but it is in the long run, it will not happen now."

The regional election was called off by Madrid invoking article 155 of the Spanish Constitution, in the wake of the Catalan regional parliament rushing through a unilateral declaration on independence on Oct.27.

A clutch of Catalan leaders, accused by a Spanish court of committing "rebellion, sedition and misuse of public funds," has since then been in pre-trial detention.

Facing the same charges, Puigdement and four ministers of his sacked government fled to Belgium in late October.

Spain's supreme court on Dec. 5 rescinded a European Arrest Warrant issued for the sacked Catalan leaders, amid concerns that the involvement of the Belgian judicial system could tie the hands of Spanish courts to try them for the crime of "rebellion."

The European Arrest Warrant was issued by Spanish high court judge on Nov. 3, days after they fled to Belgium. Enditem