The Spaniards voted Sunday for the fourth legislative elections in four years in a climate weighed down by the Catalan crisis and the rise of the far right, a vote that does not seem able to put an end to political instability.
Six months after the last elections, Pedro Sanchez, head of the outgoing socialist government, had asked the 37 million voters to give him a clear majority to end the political blockage that undermines the fourth economy of the euro area since 2015. According to first results, the socialist party of Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez is in the lead, and the far-right party Vox becomes the third force in parliament after counting nearly 60% of ballots.
The PSOE rose slightly, from 123 to 124 seats, the Conservatives of the Popular Party back from 66 to 83 seats, and Vox increased from 24 to 52 seats, ahead of the radical left Podemos, which drops from 42 to 35 seats.