Spain’s conservatives miss out on an all-out win as the left rejoices

Alberto Nez Feijóo, the head of Spain’s opposition conservative party, has declared victory in a snap election, but without the results he required.

Even with far-right support, his Popular Party (PP) has fallen short of a parliamentary majority.

Cheers rang out from the opposing Socialist camp as Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez stated, “The reactionary bloc has failed.”

While both can claim victory, Spain’s outcome is inconclusive.

Mr Sánchez, on the other hand, has been vindicated in his controversial choice to hold the election amid the sweltering heat of a Spanish summer, with election-day temperatures reaching 40 degrees Celsius in certain parts of the country.

Turnout over 70%, as people felt the importance of the election and took time away from their vacations to vote in swimsuits and beach gear.

“No pasarán,” supporters screamed outside Socialist HQ, referring to both the far-right Vox party and the anti-fascist slogan of the Spanish civil war.

Nonetheless, Mr Feijóo told jubilant conservative supporters that forming a government was now his responsibility.

“Spaniards know we have gone from being the second force to the party with the most votes,” he said, adding, “I hope this doesn’t start a period of uncertainty in Spain.”

But that is the situation in Spain. Because Vox has 33 seats and Mr Feijóo’s PP has 136, they are seven seats short of an absolute majority of 176 in parliament, hence the most likely outcome of this election is another poll before the end of the year.

That is why Mr Sánchez’s Socialists and his far-left allies Sumar seemed to be the happy.

“The reactionary bloc of regression, which set out a complete reversal of all the advances that we’ve achieved over the past four years, has failed,” he told supporters.

The right has regularly criticised Mr Sánchez for a poorly drafted sexual consent law, as well as abortion and transgender rights laws.

However, the opposition also challenged his support from Catalan and Basque nationalists, claiming that concessions he made to them jeopardised Spain’s geographical union.

Some PP supporters screamed Que te vote Txapote, an anti-Sánchez slogan that translates as “Let Txapote vote for you,” referring to a fighter who carried out killings for the defunct Basque group Eta.

The mood among PP supporters had been sombre for much of the night, and celebrations eventually flared up when their party overtook the Socialists in the results. As their leader ended his address, small groups of Spanish-flag-draped voters wondered what would happen next.

These were not triumphant activists rejoicing. Despite the hyperbole from the balcony above, it felt like a hollow victory.

According to El Espaol, despite the PP’s triumph, Pedro Sánchez still has a possibility of forming a government.

However, securing separatist support would necessitate going much further than previously. He would also require the endorsement of a hardline pro-independence party, Together for Catalonia (Junts), which appears unlikely to do so.

Despite the hot heat, the turnout was 70% greater than in November 2019. This was owing in part to nearly 2.5 million postal votes cast, but polling locations were busiest in the morning before the heat set in.

With the backing of three million of Spain’s 37 million voters, Vox remains the third largest party, but not substantially ahead of Sumar, and with a dramatic decline in seat numbers.