Barcelona, Dec 21 (IANS): Over 5 million Catalans headed to the polls on Thursday to vote in the regional elections, which could prove decisive for the future of Catalonia, where parties in favour and against independence are vying for a majority in the regional parliament.

The elections were called by the Spanish government after the regional government was dissolved following the illegal declaration of independence on October 27, reports Efe news.

The heads of the two major pro-independence parties - former regional president Carles Puigdemont and his former vice president Oriol Junqueras - have not been able to campaign in Catalonia.

Puigdemont, head of JxCat (Together for Catalonia, centre-right pro-independence party), has been living in exile in Belgium, along with four other members of his former government, while Junqueras - head of the ERC (republican left) is in pre-trial detention along with two other candidates.

The Ciudadanos (Citizens) party and the Socialists are the parties that are against independence.

Polling booths opened at 9 a.m. and are due to close at 8 p.m. to allow the 5,554,395 eligible voters to elect 135 representatives to the regional parliament.

Surveys predict a turnout of around 80 percent even though the election is on a working day, something that has not happened in Spain since the general elections in 1982.

This is the fourth time in seven years that general elections have been held in Catalonia after 2010, 2012 and 2015.