Catalonia is ready to declare independence after hundreds of people were injured voting in a disputed referendum on Sunday, the Spanish region's leader says. "With this day of hope and suffering, the citizens of Catalonia have won the right to an independent state in the form of a republic," says Catalan President Carles Puigdemont, per the BBC. Catalan officials say 90% of votes were for statehood, with a turnout of 42.3%, though around 750,000 votes could not be counted because police seized ballot boxes. Officials say 844 people were injured in clashes, including 33 police. The latest:
- Puigdemont, who earlier said he would declare unilateral independence for the region within 48 hours if the Yes side won, vowed to send the result to the "Catalan parliament, where the sovereignty of our people lies, so that it can act in accordance with the law of the referendum," the Guardian reports. Spain says the referendum was illegal and the result was invalid.