Pedro Sánchez says Spanish people need to ‘clarify’ what they want after ruling socialists suffer losses in regional and municipal elections Spai

Spain’s PM calls snap election after conservative and far-right wins in local polls

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2023-05-29 11:30:11

Pedro Sánchez says Spanish people need to ‘clarify’ what they want after ruling socialists suffer losses in regional and municipal elections

Spain’s socialist prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, has called a snap general election in response to the triumph of the rightwing opposition in Sunday’s regional and municipal elections.

The conservative People’s party (PP) – which used the polls as a de facto referendum on Sánchez’s coalition government with the far-left, anti-austerity Podemos party – scored an emphatic win, securing absolute majorities in the Madrid region and the city council, aking regions including Aragón, Valencia and the Balearic islands from the prime minister’s Spanish Socialist Workers party (PSOE).

However, the PP’s failure to secure the necessary majorities in many of the newly-won regions means it will have to strike deals with the far-right Vox party, which also comfortably increased its showing on Sunday.

Speaking at the Moncloa palace in Madrid on Monday morning, Sánchez announced that he had informed King Felipe of his decision to dissolve parliament and call a general election on 23 July – five months before the next election was due to be held.