Voters in Spain are continuing to vote in early legislative elections, the country's fourth in four years and the second this year.
Voters were invited to vote after Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez failed to form a government.Many Spaniards hope the election will break the political deadlock since mid-2018 and form a new government with parliamentary support.
Opinion polls exclude a left-wing or right-wing bloc with an absolute majority, which could mean a stalemate for months to come without a stable government. Polls suggest the hardline National Party, which calls for a ban on separatist and anti-immigration parties, will strengthen its seats in the new Spanish parliament.
The elections come in an atmosphere dominated by the crisis of separation campaign in the territory of Catalonia, and the rise of the extreme right in the country.
The Minister of State for Communications and Undersecretary of the Ministry of Interior in a joint press conference that the turnout in the early elections amounted to about 38%.
The previous elections were held in April, in which the Socialist Party won without an absolute majority.
The prime minister called on the 37 million voters to give him a clear mandate to end Spain's political instability.
Spain has been unstable since 2015, when new parties were born out of the financial crisis, after decades in which the Socialists and the conservative Popular Party rotated for power.