Separatist parties and the pro-unity Ciudadanos all found reason to celebrate in a vote that deepened Catalonia's divisions and reopened Spain's political crisis.
ADVERTISEMENTCatalonian separatists look set to retain power in the northern Spanish region after Thursday's local elections, with three pro-independence parties collectively winning a slim majority in parliament.
However the pro-unity party Ciudadanos emerged as the biggest party, and a popular vote evenly split leaves Catalonia as divided as ever.
The result gave both sides some reasons to celebrate but plunges Spain right back into a political crisis that the government in Madrid hoped would be resolved.
Here in images is a snapshot of a dramatic day at the polls, and night as the results rolled in:
18-year-old Laura Sancho, voting for the first time in her life, casts Catalonia's former President Carles Puigdemont's proxy vote in Sant Cugat del Valles.
* A Ciudadanos supporter waves a Spanish flag at a rally after the election.*
People queue to vote inside a polling station in Barcelona.
Carles Puigdemont, the dismissed President of Catalonia, reacts to the results from Brussels.
Barcelona footballer Gerard Pique casts his vote at a polling station in Sant Just Desvern, near Barcelona
A man takes a photo of graffiti depicting dismissed Catalan vice-president Oriol Junqueras who is in detention awaiting trial on charges of sedition, rebellion and misappropriation of funds.
Catalan Ciudadanos leader Ines Arrimadas reacts at a party rally in Barcelona after results were announced.
People react to results at a gathering of the Catalan National Assembly (ANC) in Barcelona.
Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC) General Secretary Marta Rovira votes in Vic.
A man is reflected in a puddle alongside Spanish and Catalan flags in Madrid.