Spain’s socialist prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, has responded to the triumph of the rightwing opposition in Sunday’s regional and municipal elections by calling a risky snap general election that will determine his political future and that of his minority coalition government.
The conservative People’s party (PP) – which used the votes as a de facto referendum on Sánchez’s coalition with the far-left, anti-austerity Unidas Podemos alliance – scored an emphatic win, far exceeding expectations and building on its momentum in the polls. As well as securing absolute majorities in the Madrid region and the city council, it took regions including Aragón, Valencia and the Balearic islands from the prime minister’s Spanish Socialist Workers’ party (PSOE).
