Spain: wide advantage of the PSOE, which will need more alliances to govern

The Socialist Party (PSOE) retains a comfortable advantage in the Spanish elections, with over 80% of the votes counted since it would get 123 deputies (out of a total of 350) and that the far right of Vox confirms its entry in Parliament.

The other important fact is that the left coalition United Podemos and its Catalan allies get 42 legislators, which adds to 165 deputies for socialism, which is not enough to form a government (176). The PSOE will therefore need more alliances.

These elections recorded a significant increase in turnout, which was 74.56% (according to provisional data), compared to 66.48% of the previous elections of June 2016.

More than 36.8 million citizens were called to vote in electoral centers that were created without significant incident at 9 am local and that remained open until 20 pm local (15 in Argentina).

The incumbent and favorite president to win the elections, as confirmed by the first official data, the Socialist Pedro Sanchez, the first candidate to vote in Pozuelo de Acorcón, in Madrid, said he expects the Spaniards "to send a clear message that there is a large majority to govern ". "The wish that I would like to convey is that it is a day of open doors to the future," added the Socialist, who encouraged the Spaniards to participate in this crucial event with the polls.

Then, Pablo Iglesias, the candidate of Podemos, a party that aspires to govern with the PSOE, said he expects a "high turnout" after voting in a public school in Madrid, where he was convinced that he was not going to be a leader. there exists "in Spain a large progressive majority".

"We are not elections, we play if we want to remain united, if we want to remain free and equal citizens, if we want a Spain turned towards the past or the future, an extreme or centered Spain", has declared Albert Rivera, candidate of Barcelona. citizens.

For his part, the leader of the ultra vox party, Santiago Abascal, said the elections "will be historic for Spain" and demanded that "the results be respected".

"I demand maximum participation, what will come out of the polls will condition the future of Spain, I would like a stable government," said the PP leader, Pablo Casado, last candidate to vote.

The PSOE of Sanchez wins, as expected, the elections but remains far from the threshold of 175 seats which constitutes the absolute majority in a Congress of 350 seats, which should lead to agreements between two parties or more, among them the independence

Another scenario evoked is that the right-wing bloc formed by the conservative party, the liberal citizens and the far-right Vox party reach an absolute majority.

"These are crucial votes for the future of Catalonia," said Catalan President, secessionist Quim Torra, at the end of a very polarized campaign on the nationalist issue.

The uncertainty surrounding the scope of the vote hidden in Vox, a party that emerges forcefully in the heat of the secessionist conflict in Catalonia and in agreement with the far-right movements that cross Europe, makes the results more unpredictable than ever.