Despite Mas going to the polls with a view to attain an absolute majority in the regional parliament Mas' led coalition lost in the event 12 seats, making it the biggest loser out of the snap election. Still, the sum of parties defending Catalonia's independence from Spain (CiU and ERC) significantly increased their votes due to ERC's growth compensating CiU's losses; the aggregated support for both parties reached 44.4% of the total and thanks to the electoral law this combined rate was enough to ensure that between both parties they could control more than half the Catalan Parliament seats.