Quim Torra to face second voting round on Monday

The 'traditional' parties, or main national political outfits, the PP, socialists and Ciudadanos were almost guaranteed to vote against a member of the pro-independence team Junts per Catalunya ('Together for Catalunya', or JxCat)'s being invested as president, and although votes in favour from the rest of JxCat and from the Catalunya Left Republicans (ERC) exceeded the 'no' votes at 66 to 65, this is not enough for a first-round investiture ceremony to bear fruit.

A majority in Parliament needs to vote in favour, meaning the CUP's having abstained counted, effectively, as a 'no'.

The CUP is expected to abstain again on Monday, but in the second round Torra will only need a simple majority – more yes-votes than no-votes – since non-votes will not be counted.

On this basis, Catalunya could at last have a regional president by Monday night for the first time since the Spanish government forced an election on December 21.

Spain's national government, led by the right-wing PP, has always said it will lift Article 155 of the Constitution, which removes a region's autonomous governing powers, as soon as Catalunya had a new government in office.

But it has threatened to reapply Article 155 if said new government 'breaks the law', or makes any attempt to hold a referendum on independence or take steps towards Catalunya's becoming a separate country.

With Quim Torra's speech at his swearing-in ceremony having been focused on 'building an independenjt State in the form of a Republic', it looks as though the dispute between Catalunya and Spain is far from over.

Despite Torra's having reiterated that the government of Catalunya is willing to open 'dialogue' with the national government led by president Mariano Rajoy, provided this is 'without conditions and nothing vetoed', Rajoy is already said to be highly disapproving of the new candidate for regional leader.

Torra also switched briefly to English and asked president of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, to 'mediate' in order to 'find a solution' to the ongoing political dispute.

Quim Torra was chosen as candidate by deposed regional president Carles Puigdemont, since Puigdemont is unable to return to Spain due to an arrest warrant in connection with his role in spearheading the 'illegal' independence referendum.