Charlie Smith
THE polls have closed at Spain’s general election – the country’s fourth in four years and the second in 2019.
The far right Vox party is set to more than double its number of deputies, while there are also predicted gains for the conservative PP.
READ MORE:
- As Spain’s General Election looms, Heather Galloway recalls her day watching Franco be exhumed from his Madrid tomb
- Thousands of British expats in Spain to be denied vote in UK General Election, as Brexit uncertainty lingers
- Shakespeare, bonsai trees, fish suppers…how Spain’s politicians wind down in the run-up to the elections
Spain’s socialist party, the PSOE, led by acting Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, is forecast to shed seats compared to the last general vote in April.
That is according to an RTVE poll, which was not allowed to be released during the election run-up.
The huge survey, which is not an exit poll and was conducted between October 25 and November 10, predicts a slim win for the PSOE.
The RTVE poll predicts between 114 and 119 deputies for the POSE in Spain’s 350-seat Parliament, and 30 and 34 for the anti-austerity Podemos party, led by Pablo Iglesias.
These results would mark declines of four and nine, and six and 10, respectively, for Spain’s left wing block.
The rise of the right is led by Vox, the party of Santiago Abascal, which according to the RTVE poll would increase the 24 seats it had in April to 56-59.
Pablo Casado’s PP party would also see a large rise in its share of the seats from the 66 it had in April to 85-90 seats at these elections.
Meanwhile the centre-right Ciudadanos party is set to enter the political wilderness, as the party, led by Albert Rivera, will go from the 57 seats it had in April to just 14-15, according to the same poll.
RTVE’s predictions are backed up by another poll by El Espanol, which showed roughly the same results.
Javier Casquiero, a political correspondent at El Pais said: “In the worst case scenario, the right – the PP, Vox and Ciudadanos – would win 157 seats of the 350 in parliament, and in the best case 166.
“The left – the PSOE, Podemos and its breakaway party Mas Pais – would have 147 seats in the worst case, and 156 in the best.”
If he is right about the results, talks would then begin between the larger blocks of Spain’s left and right about the possibility of entering government with smaller parties like the Catalunynan nationalists.
Voter turnout was last calculated at 6pm, when it was put at 56.8%, four points lower than on April 28.
