Spain votes in an election that could see Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez lose power

The election took place during the summer holidays and in the midst of extreme heat in most of the country.

Madrid:

Spaniards voted on Sunday in a potentially close general election that could see Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s ruling Socialists lose power and a far-right party become part of a new government for the first time in 50 years.

Sánchez announced early elections after the left’s defeat in local elections in May, but his gamble to outwit opponents may backfire.

Opinion polls show the election is likely to win the center-right People’s Party of Alberto Núñez Feijoa, but will need to form a government with Santiago Abascal’s far-right Vox. It will be the first time a far-right party has entered government since the end of Francisco Franco’s dictatorship in the 1970s.

Polls will close at 8pm (1800 GMT) (9pm in the Canary Islands) when voter surveys conducted via phone calls last week are released. All ballots are expected to be counted by midnight, confirming the party with the most votes.

Both the left and right factions have the potential to form a coalition, for which the Congress would need at least 176 seats in the 350-seat lower house. The new parliament should be formed by August 17, but talks between parties to form a government could last for months.

An analysis of opinion poll data by Spain’s El Pais newspaper predicted a 55% chance of a PP/Vox coalition, a 15% chance of Sánchez staying in power with a patchwork left-wing coalition, and a 23% chance of a hung parliament and re-election when polling closed on 19 July.

As Sánchez went to vote in Madrid, TVE footage showed him being greeted by a small group of people shouting “liar” and a similar size group shouting “prime minister”. He told reporters that he had “good feelings” about the election result.

The prime minister’s minority government is currently in coalition with the far-left Unidas Podemos which is running under the Sumar platform in Sunday’s election.

Fizzou said he hoped Spain could usher in a “new era”.

VOX leader Abascal said “the important thing today is whether Spain changes its course” and thanked voters for “disrupting their comfort” to cast their vote, while Sumar leader Yolanda Díaz said “rights are at stake” and urged people to vote in “possibly the most important election” for their generation.

The election took place during the summer holidays and in the midst of extreme heat in most of the country.

According to the Interior Ministry, voter turnout at 2 pm (1200 GMT) was around 40.5%, higher than the 37.9% recorded at the same time during the previous election in November 2019.

Postal workers arrived at polling stations with boxes of postal votes after the Postal Service reported on Saturday that an all-time record of 2.47 million had been cast as people cast their ballots from the beach or the mountains.

“The status quo scenario and a hung parliament is still a real possibility, with a combined probability of 50% in our view,” Barclays wrote in a recent note to clients, citing a low margin in favor of the PP and overall uncertainty regarding polling and voter turnout.

If neither faction can agree to form a government, new elections must be held – something that has happened twice in the past 10 years.

Such uncertainty could affect Madrid’s effectiveness as the current host of the six-month rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union, as well as the spending of its EU COVID recovery fund.

A swing on the right?

Sanchez’s government has passed progressive laws on euthanasia, transgender rights, abortion and animal rights – anti-feminist, family values-oriented Vox has said she would seek to repeal if she were part of the next government.

With major parties depending on smaller parties for support, there has been a dent in the political centre.

In Barcelona, ​​Luis Alonso, a 43-year-old engineer, said, “Globally the world is moving towards becoming more divided between the right and the left… It’s no different here”.

In Madrid, Yolanda Fernández, 67, said: “I voted for the socialists because I went through a period I don’t want to see again”, referring to the Franco era. He said that Vox coming into government would mean a “huge blow to social rights”.

Sánchez, in office since 2018, has seen his tenure as prime minister marked by crisis management – ​​from the COVID pandemic and its economic effects to the politically divisive consequences of the failed 2017 independence bid in Catalonia.

Experts say PP leader Feijoo, who has never lost an election in his native Galicia, has sold himself as a safe pairing, which may appeal to some voters.

Juan Carlos Rodríguez, a 63-year-old civil servant who voted in Madrid, said, “I voted for the right, but I wouldn’t say I voted for PP or VOX. I think the country needs a change… Pedro Sánchez is a bad politician.”

Ultimately, the PP government may dilute the green agenda of the previous government and take a more conservative stance on social issues.

The PP has promised to streamline the tax system, cut taxes for low-income earners, eliminate the recently created wealth tax, boost industry, and reduce the value-added tax on meat and fish.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV Staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)