Published: Less than 20 min ago
Much is at stake for Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez in Sunday’s local and regional elections. The result may provide an indication for the upcoming parliamentary elections this autumn.
More than 35 million Spaniards have the opportunity to vote in Sunday’s election. Prime Minister Sánchez and his social democratic party PSOE govern, either on their own or in coalitions, in ten of the twelve autonomous regions going to the polls.
The outcome is seen as a temperature gauge for what is to come later this year. The PSOE is currently part of a government together with the left-wing party Podemos, a collaboration that has not been entirely frictionless.
Several scandals
Sunday’s local and regional elections take place in a security-political but also economically tough time. In addition, Spain is badly affected by long-term drought and water shortages, and the Prime Minister recently warned that it will affect the country for a long time to come.
The election spurt has also been marred by a number of scandals, including reports of suspected electoral fraud with links to the left.
The political arch-rival, conservative Partido Popular (PP) led by Alberto Núñez Feijóo, wants to see an end to the “Sánchez era” and the party leader has appealed to the people to make way for a strong government, reports El País.
Divide the right
Pedro Sánchez, who himself voted in Madrid on Sunday, called on people to go out and vote “against intolerance”.
– Social democratic politics suits Spain much better than neoliberal politics, he said in a speech on Friday according to AFP.
Opinion polls have pointed to an advantage for the right. A big question for the Partido Popular concerns how to act against the far-right Vox, which in the new election in 2019 became the third largest party.
Last year, the PP and Vox joined in a coalition in the region of Castile and León, but the relatively new party leader Feijóo has tried to move the party more towards the center. Vox, for its part, hopes to be part of a new government document after the autumn parliamentary elections.
The polling stations close at eight o’clock on Sunday evening and a first forecast is expected at ten o’clock.