Spain's Catalonia punishes pro-referendum leader
By HAROLD HECKLE and JOSEPH WILSONBy HAROLD HECKLE and JOSEPH WILSON, Associated Press?
?Voters wait to cast their ballots in a polling station in Barcelona, Spain, on Sunday, Nov. 25, 2012. Voters in Catalonia begin casting their ballots in regional elections that could determine the future shape of Spain. If voters give the regional government strong support, its leader pledged to hold a referendum asking Catalans if they'd prefer to split from Spain and go it alone in the 27-member EU. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
Voters wait to cast their ballots in a polling station in Barcelona, Spain, on Sunday, Nov. 25, 2012. Voters in Catalonia begin casting their ballots in regional elections that could determine the future shape of Spain. If voters give the regional government strong support, its leader pledged to hold a referendum asking Catalans if they'd prefer to split from Spain and go it alone in the 27-member EU. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
The leader of center-right Catalan Nationalist Coalition (CiU), Artur Mas casts his vote during elections for the 'Generalitat de Catalunya' (Catalan Autonomous Government) in Barcelona, Sunday, Nov. 25, 2012. Voters in Catalonia begin casting their ballots in regional elections that could determine the future shape of Spain. If voters give the regional government strong support, its leader pledged to hold a referendum asking Catalans if they'd prefer to split from Spain and go it alone in the 27-member EU. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
The leader of center-right Catalan Nationalist Coalition (CiU), Artur Mas casts his vote during elections for the 'Generalitat de Catalunya' (Catalan Autonomous Government) in Barcelona, Sunday, Nov. 25, 2012. Voters in Catalonia begin casting their ballots in regional elections that could determine the future shape of Spain. If voters give the regional government strong support, its leader pledged to hold a referendum asking Catalans if they'd prefer to split from Spain and go it alone in the 27-member EU. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
A woman casts her vote in a polling station in Barcelona, Spain, on Sunday, Nov. 25, 2012. Voters in Catalonia begin casting their ballots in regional elections that could determine the future shape of Spain. If voters give the regional government strong support, its leader pledged to hold a referendum asking Catalans if they'd prefer to split from Spain and go it alone in the 27-member EU. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
A voters choices his ballot paper to cast his vote in a polling station in Barcelona, Spain, on Sunday, Nov. 25, 2012. Voters in Catalonia begin casting their ballots in regional elections that could determine the future shape of Spain. If voters give the regional government strong support, its leader pledged to hold a referendum asking Catalans if they'd prefer to split from Spain and go it alone in the 27-member EU. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)
BARCELONA, Spain (AP) ? The economically powerful region of Catalonia has voted into office a large majority of pro-independence lawmakers, but the leader who made a referendum over breaking away from Spain a central plank of his campaign saw his party's majority reduced by 12 seats.
Regional president Artur Mas called the early election as part of a power struggle with Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy regarding the size of Catalonia's contribution to national coffers. But what began as a quarrel over money turned into a test of Spain's territorial integrity.
Mas had asked the electorate to give him an absolute majority to lend weight to his party's center-right policies, including the call for a referendum. Instead, voters have left him 18 votes short and in need to make coalitions to guarantee staying in power.
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