According to the article, 2.26 million Catalans voted out of 5.3 million registered voters, so the result is highly significant. Even if only 21% of the people

According to the article, 2.26 million Catalans voted out of 5.3 million registered voters, so the result is highly significant. Even if only 21% of the people who stayed at home would have voted yes (unlikely), "yes" would still have won.