- Spain elects a new parliament.
- 37.5 million eligible voters are called upon to elect 350 members of the House of Commons and part of the Senate.
- According to polls, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s left-wing government is at risk of defeat.
- The polling stations are open until 8 p.m.
Spain faces a choice of direction. The parliamentary election was about the question of whether Sánchez’s left-wing minority government can continue to govern for the next four years or whether the conservative People’s Party (PP) would return to power after a good five years.
Before the vote, polls put the PP with its top candidate Alberto Núñez Feijóo at least five percentage points ahead – but also far from an absolute majority. Therefore, he may need to work with the right-wing populists at Vox to replace Sánchez as resident of the Palacio de la Moncloa.
But the socialist incumbent Sánchez and his partner, who is even further to the left, the newly formed electoral alliance Sumar, also had hopes of a surprise victory.
“I feel good vibes,” said Sánchez after voting in Madrid. The elections in Spain are not only important for the fourth largest economy in the EU, but “also for Europe and the whole world”.
PP-Vox coalition not ruled out
However, if the polls are confirmed, Feijóo would be dependent on Vox as the election winner for the change of power. He has not ruled out cooperation with the Eurosceptic right-wing populists.
In some regions, both parties already govern together. Vox is drumming for cashing in on leftist prestige projects in the areas of social affairs, the protection of minorities, the environment and coming to terms with the dictatorship, and for cracking down on separatists.
During the election campaign, Sánchez emphasized Spain’s relatively good overall economic situation and social achievements after Corona and despite the Ukraine war. He accused the PP of possible cooperation with Vox at the national level. A PP-Vox government would lead the country down a “dark tunnel” back in time, Sánchez warned.
Legend:
The choice of direction in Spain – accompanied by oppressive heat.
EPA/ANGELE VISDOMINE
Feijóo countered that the country was fed up with its government and wanted a change of direction. Many people can only make ends meet with their income and the national debt has gotten out of hand. In addition, the minority government in parliament relied on the votes of separatist parties and made illegal concessions in return.
Feijóo criticized that the government had achieved the opposite of what it wanted with a botched reform of sexual criminal law. Instead of protecting women better, dozens of sex criminals had to be released early from prison.
This is campaign bluster, utter nonsense, another attempt to scare people.
The head of the Vox party, Santiago Abascal, wants to campaign for the abolition of the far-reaching autonomy rights guaranteed by the constitution if he participates in the government. His announcement that there would be worse clashes in Catalonia than in 2017 during the riots over the independence referendum as soon as he sat at the cabinet table caused heads to shake in the economically strong region in the north-east of the country.
“This is election campaign noise, complete nonsense, another attempt to scare people,” said political scientist José Luis Martí of the German Press Agency – typical of the “extreme right”.