Spain’s rightwing parties ahead in election — polls

DW

Spain’s conservative opposition People’s Party (PP) was ahead in Sunday’s snap election, but short of an outright parliamentary majority, two polls suggested shortly after voting ended.

The polls showed that the PP could achieve victory with a potential tie-up with the far-right Vox, a move that has been mooted for months.

One survey by GAD3 for media group Mediaset showed the PP, under leader Alberto Nunez Feijoo, would win 150 seats and Vox 31.

The leftist coalition, led by Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s Socialists, would get a combined 149 seats in the 350-seat lower chamber, according to GAD3.

Another survey by Sigma Dos pollster for the state broadcaster RTVE also showed the combined rightwing parties winning at the top of the ranges provided (150 for PP and 27 for Vox).

Near-final results are expected by midnight.

Why did Spain hold a snap election?

early after the left took a drubbing in local elections in May.

The vote has originally been scheduled for December and took place just three weeks after Spain took over the rotating presidency of the European Union

The expected shift to the right was seen as a fresh blow to the European left after similar moves in other EU countries.

A record number, 2.47 million, of the 37.5 million registered voters cast an absentee ballot even before the polls opened.

The election also took place at the height of summer,  when a significant number of voters may be away from their usual polling locations due to vacations and on the tail of a month of .

Officials, however, still expected a 70% turnout.

Vox poised to play kingmaker

Pre-election polls also suggested the PP would come in first, but was unlikely to secure an absolute majority and may have to depend on the far-right Vox party’s support to form a government.

If confirmed, it would be the first time a far-right party had entered government since Francisco Franco’s dictatorship ended in the 1970s.

In an interview published on Friday by El Mundo, Feijoo stated that a candidate should not disclose their alliances just two days before an election. He added a government with Vox “is not ideal,” he added.

In turn, the Socialists would rely on the new movement called Sumar, which brought together 15 small leftist parties to form a government for the first time ever.

mm, lo/jcg (AP, AFP, EFE, Reuters)

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