Expert reaction: Spain election

Posted on 29 April 2019

An expert in Spanish politics comments on the results of Spain’s election, where the country’s governing socialists have won, but fallen short of a majority.

The elections saw the highest electoral turnout in more than 20 years.

Dr Ignacio Jurado from the Department of Politics at the University of York, said: “Large numbers of Spaniards voted yesterday, with the highest electoral turnout in more than 20 years. PSOE (center-left) won the election, but fell short of winning a majority in parliament. To form a government they will need to reach an agreement with Podemos (radical left), who want to enter into a coalition with the socialists, and some small regionalist parties.

“Pedro Sánchez will also need the abstention of at least one of the pro-independence parties of Catalonia or the Basque Country to win the investiture vote. This might be an obstacle as he has pledged not to negotiate anything outside the boundaries of the Constitution.

“For the first time, Vox, a far right party, enters parliament after gaining more than 10% of the vote share. The overall results are partially explained by a strong mobilisation from the left and the nationalist voters to avoid Vox becoming the decisive actor in the parliament.

“Finally, it is also relevant to point out the unprecedented fragmentation in the right, with the until recently ruling party PP (centre-right) losing more than half of its votes with its worst electoral outcome ever of 16.7%.”