The outgoing Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez arrived on Sunday, November 10 in the lead but weakened the fourth legislative in four years in Spain, and did not improve his chances of governing while the far-right party Vox became the third political force of the country, thanks to the Catalan crisis.

After counting 95% of the ballots, the Socialist Party (PSOE) of Pedro Sanchez, who hoped to obtain a clear majority to end the political blockage that has undermined the country since 2015, has only 120 deputies against 123 after the previous poll, in April.

The extreme right in full swing

Vox, an ultra-nationalist and anti-immigration training founded five years ago, continued its rise and more than doubled its number of seats to 52 elected (24 in April).

It thus becomes the third political force of a country where the extreme right was, before its irruption, marginal since the end of the dictatorship of Franco (1939-1975).

The conservatives of the Popular Party (PP, 88 seats) have raised the bar after the worst result of their history in April (66 seats) while the radical left of Podemos has lost seven deputies (35 against 42 in April) and that the liberals of Ciudadanos break down (10 deputies against 57 in April).

Vox benefited from the turmoil sparked by the crisis in Catalonia that dominated the campaign after the nights of violence that followed the condemnation in mid-October of nine pro-independence leaders to long prison terms for the 2017 secession attempt.

Former member of the PP, the head of Vox Santiago Abascal hammered his virulent speech on Catalonia advocating the prohibition of separatist parties, the suspension of autonomy of the region and the arrest of its independence president Quim Torra. He has also attacked the illegal immigrants he accuses of an alleged rise in delinquency.

Catalan separatists progress

On the whole, however, the right-wing parties, all of which advocated harsh policies against the Catalan separatists, gained only three seats, due to the defeat of Ciudadanos.

Opposite, Catalan independence parties have consolidated their representation: to three, they total 23 seats (against 22 in April) of the 42 that were at stake in Catalonia.

During the campaign, Pedro Sanchez tried to mobilize his electorate against the rise of Vox, which he presented as a return of the Francoism, denouncing the right who did not hesitate to ally with this party to take control of Andalusia, the most populous region of Spain, the region of Madrid, the richest, and the town hall of the capital.

The result of these elections augurs a continuation of political instability.

With AFP and Reuters