The Spanish general election yesterday resulted in a hung parliament, and will mean weeks, if not months, of difficult negotiations for Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez if he seeks to continue leading the country.
Nevertheless, Sanchez’s gamble on a snap election could be said to have paid off, having achieved his aim of keeping the right-wing out of power.
As polls predicted, victory went to the Partido Popular (PP), who won 136 seats. However, it was not the resounding victory many had predicted, and even with the support of the far-right Vox party, who won 33 seats, PP leader Alberto Núñez Feijoó will be unable to form a majority of 176.
The two major left-wing parties, the PSOE and Sumar won 153 seats between them – also insufficient to form a majority. Consequently, the smaller regional parties are likely to play a key role in forming a new government.
One of the key players will be Junts per Catalunya, the Catalan independence party whose leader, Carles Puigdemont, has been living in Belgium as a fugitive from Spanish law for several years.
It was an election in which both main parties gained seats, while the newer formations that arose following the 2008 financial crisis lost ground.
King Felipe VI will invite Mr Feijoó, as winner of the most votes, to form a government in August. If he cannot do so, it will fall to Sánchez. Many weeks of tough negotiations lie ahead, and if agreement cannot be found, Spain will face new elections.
On Lanzarote, both main parties also increased their vote. The Socialists won 20,782 votes, and ex-Cabildo President María Dolores Corujo will head to Madrid as a deputy. The PP were runners up, with 13,765 votes, a huge improvement on their 2019 figure of 8,676.
As a whole, Las Palmas province will send 3 Socialist deputies, 3 from the PP , 1 from Sumar and 1 from Vox to Spain’s congress. Coalicion Canaría’s single seat was won in the other Çcanarian province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife.
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