Why the triumph of the socialist Pedro Sánchez in Spain is historic

The Socialist Party (PSOE) of Pedro Sanchez won Sunday a historic victory in Spain, where he could rule without the support of fighters of Catalan independence, despite the strong irruption of the far right of Vox, who fragmented and sank the Conservative Popular Party (PP).

With 29% of the vote and 122 deputies, the Socialists become the first political force and now have the opportunity to stay in La Moncloa thanks to a pact with the leftist United Podemos, a minority party and abstention party. Catalan secessionists.

Between the cries of "No pasarán!" (Anti-Fascist) and "Sí se puede!", identified with the indignant and the leftists of Podemos, Sánchez said that from his progressive ideas he would turn to "all political forces", provided that They "respect the Constitution and want to social justice and the fight against corruption".

The activists immediately made it known that they did not want an agreement with Ciudadanos, shouting "¡Con Rivera no!".

"It was quite clear," Sanchez replied. After the 2015 elections, he reached an agreement with the oranges and then failed at his inauguration when Podemos refused to support him.

The Spaniards voted with a record attendance of 75.7% in the most disputed and polarized elections of the country, marked by the threat of a vote hidden on the far right in a context convulsed in recent years by the secessionist conflict in Catalonia.

"The results have been very bad," admitted Casado, who has not practically self-criticized and attributed the fall of his party to the fracture of the center-right vote and the attacks received during the campaign. .

The elections left a panorama of fragmentation in the Spanish right, the citizens being the winner, from 32 to 58 seats. The Liberal Party failed to defeat the PP, but its leader, Albert Rivera, grabbed the spotlight.

"There is bad news, Sanchez and Iglesias will form a government, and good news: there is a winning project, namely Citizens, according to which we will control this government so that it does not crush not the middle clbades, "commented Rivera.

For their part, the progressives of Unidos Podemos won 35 seats, a result that represents a significant decline compared to the 71 they had since 2016, but allows them to continue to claim a reputation as a & # 39; 39, privileged allies of the PSOE.

Sanchez, formed by the PP, Citizens and Vox, added 148 deputies, which was far from reaching the absolute majority of the 176 seats.

On their side, the progressives, PSOE and Unidos Podemos, surmount them with 157 seats. Although they do not reach the absolute majority, Sanchez can achieve the nomination by a simple majority in the second vote with the abstention of the independentista of ERC (Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya ) who got 15 deputies.

"It is time to negotiate a referendum," said Catalan Vice President Pere Aragonès, saying that any support for the policy of support or abstention would be costly.

The elections were a turning point for the Spanish democracy after the entry into Parliament of Vox, the first right-wing party to be represented for nearly 40 years, which won the 24 deputies with 10% of the vote.

"Today is a moment of joy, but also of concern" because "it was not possible to expel the Popular Front," said the leader of the ultras, Santiago Abascal , with reference to the PSOE and its possible allies. Abascal promised that there would now be "a national resistance to the libertarian positions" of the "progressives".