Spain’s Andalucia won by PSOE in municipal elections as Vox decimated and PP take control of Costa del Sol

THE PSOE has achieved the largest share of Andalucia’s municipal votes, continuing its upward rise.

The Socialist party achieved 37% of the region’s votes, compared to the 30% it took in the regional election and the 34.2% in the general election.

It took six provinces in the region: Jaen (45.5%), Huelva (44.3%), Sevilla (41%), Granada (37.2%), Cordoba (34.4%) and Cadiz (31.1%).

Meanwhile, the conservative PP party has taken two provinces, in Almeria (39%) and Malaga (26.8%), with 14 of its mayors in the town halls of the province.

Malaga City’s PP mayor Francisco de la Torre, who came to power in 2000, has also retained his position.

The PP have also snatched second position across the region from the Ciudadanos, which won 8% of votes.

In terms of numbers of councillors, however, the centre-right party is behind Adelante Andalucia, the coalition of the Podemos and IU parties.

Of the 786 municipalities in Andalucia, the PSOE took 690, representing 80%.

It comes as far-right party Vox has been decimated, after it only managed to get 104 of its councillors into municipal seats, representing just 3.24% of the total.

At a local level, the far-left IU party has won in Manilva with six seats, but failed to secure the absolute majority of nine.

Expat PSOE candidate Kaat Buelens was unsuccessful, her party taking five seats, while the PP had a shocking performance, getting just one councillor into Manilva Town Hall.

Kaat told the Olive Press: “I’ll still fight for our rights, after the efforts made by our whole party.”

In Estepona, the PP’s Jose Maria Garcia Urbano, again became one of Spain’s most voted-for mayors, with over 70% of the vote, his party winning 21 seats compared to the PSOE’s four.

That is despite the controversial unveiling a of a slide during his election campaign, which was closed just 24 hours later, after several users received severe burns.

Meanwhile, Benalmadena was one of the only Costa del Sol municipalities where the PSOE won, taking 11 seats, although it failed to get the absolute majority of 13.

The PP took most of the popular expat areas, winning Fuengirola and Marbella by absolute majorities, and also getting the most councillors into the town halls of Mijas, Ronda and Torremolinos, though not with absolute majorities.