Spain: electoral earthquake in Andalusia

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Santiago Abascal, leader of the extreme right-wing party VOX, and regional candidate Francisco Serrano celebrate the election results in Andalusia, in Seville, on December 2, 2018. REUTERS / Marcelo Del Pozo

Bastion of the Socialists for 37 years, Andalusia is seen as the scene of a profound electoral change, following the regional elections of this Sunday evening: Even if it carries the ballot in voice and in siege, the socialist party records a retreat historic, in favor of a majority on the right. The latter can only be done with the support of the far-right party Vox which, with 12 seats, makes a spectacular entry into the Andalusian hemicycle in Seville.

With our correspondent in Madrid , François Musseau

Very shy at the Spanish level, almost nonexistent until then in Andalusia, here the extreme right makes an impressive burst from 0 to 12 seats. The Vox party advocates the deportation of immigrants suspected of crime, the construction of a wall in Ceuta and Melilla or the prohibition of the teaching of Islam.

True, the far right is the fifth force, but the two liberal parties, the People's Party and Ciudadanos, also in full swing, will have to make an alliance with it if they want to obtain an absolute majority in the Andalusian Parliament and thus govern.

It's going to be a real dilemma. And this is now the great argument of the socialist leader Susana Diaz, who calls for an alliance between moderate parties to keep the party Vox at a distance.

What is certain is that this vote is a historic slap for the socialists, who had made Andalusia their stronghold for nearly four decades. It remains to be seen whether, yes or no, there is a foretaste of the general elections, which will certainly take place next year.