Spain divided vote in its third general election

Nail Spain divided votes in their third general election in four years. All eyes are turned possible entry of a party of right in parliament for the first time in decades, which could be the key to overthrowing the current socialist government.

It is expected that the current president, the socialist Pedro Sánchez, is the most voted, although the leading PSOE seems far from getting the parliamentary majority needed to form a single government.

The fragmentation of the political landscape this is the result of the austerity measures that followed the economic recession, the disenchantment caused by traditional bipartisanship and the recent rise of far right populism.

Sanchez called the elections after seeing his budget rejected by the Congress of Deputies in front of the conservative center-right opposition and Catalan separatists who demand the independence of the Northeast.

Polls last week revealed that about one-third of the 37 million voters had not decided who to support. His decision, as well as forecasts of a high turnout, could decide the outcome between the left and right blocks that took shape during the election campaign.

The anti-austerity group United We can He offered to form a coalition with the Socialists, but Sanchez might also need smaller parties, such as Catalan separatists.

In the fragmented conservative camp, three parties fought for leadership: the former dominant people's party, the center-right citizen group and the young national-populist Vox party, which, according to polls, could enter Congress with one-tenth of the seats. His entry could mark a big change in Spain, where the far right has not played a significant role since the country's transition to democracy after the death of dictator Francisco Franco in 1975.

Shortly after the vote, Sanchez said he wanted get a parliamentary majority this could lead to social and political reforms in the country. The president has called for a majority that would form "a stable government that looks to the future with serenity, serenity and determination and succeeds in advancing the necessary progress that our country needs in terms of social justice, social justice and social justice. national harmony and political cleansing ".

The leader of the citizens, Albert Rivera, who focused his campaign on the dismissal of Sánchez, told the press in a city near Barcelona, ​​where he was going to vote, that it needed a significant participation to change the government and "open a new era". .

The leader of Unidas Podemos, Pablo Iglesias, also stressed the importance of the vote. "My feeling is that in Spain there is a large progressive majority and when there is a high turnout it is very clear," said the leader of a public school in the residential suburbs where he lives near Madrid.

The 208 seats in the Senate, the upper house and the 350 parliamentarians of the Congress of Deputies are in dispute, which will then elect a president. For the first time since Spain's democratic transition in the 1970s, more than 100,000 people with intellectual disabilities were able to vote in general elections.