Joe Duggan (Reporter)
ANTI-AUSTERITY party Podemos have sent shockwaves through Spanish politics by winning 69 seats in the general election.
Pablo Iglesias’s outspoken left-wing party won 29 seats more than Ciudadanos, who secured 40 seats.
The PP won 122 seats, but are some way off the 176 needed for an overall majority with the the PSOE winning 92 seats.
Pablo Iglesias said: “This begins a new political stage in our history.
“We have got 69 people in power to defend socail justice and fight corruption.”
In Valencia, the Podemos-backed Compromis won nine of the 32 seats and beat PSOE into fourth place.
In Madrid, Podemos picked up eight out of 36 seats behind the PP on 12.
PSOE has had its worst result in its history since democracy returned.
A coalition between the PP and Ciudadanos would have only 161 seats, and a pact between PSOE and Podemos would reach the same total.
In Catalonia, the Podemos-backed En Comu Podem won 12 seats, the left-wing ERC nine
Journalist Giles Tremlett said: “Catalonia is the key. If PSOE/PODEMOS/ERC/CONVERGENCIA find common ground, all is possible.”
