Catalonia's pro-independence coalition is determined to launch a process to secede from Spain in 2017 after claiming victory in crucial regional elections, the coalition's chief Raul Romeva said Monday.

"The message (from the voters) is clear," Romeva told a press conference in Barcelona, a day after elections in which the separatists won enough seats to make up an absolute majority if they team up with a radical left-wing group. "We have a majority which totally legitimises initialising the process," Romeva said.