About 1.6 million people in Spain’s northeastern region of Catalonia voted Sunday in favor of breaking away from the country and carving out a new Mediterranean nation in a mock independence poll, but more Catalans stayed away either because of the poll’s questionable legality or their opposition to secession.

Results released early Monday with 88 percent of votes counted showed that over two million people voted and 1.6 million favored forming a new nation that would be separated from the European Union and forced to reapply for membership. But 5.4 million were eligible to vote, meaning many did not bother to participate amid worries about the vote’s lack of legal guarantees and its nonbinding status. Read more...More about Europe, Vote, Spain, Us World, and World