Europe
Change of power possible: Spain elects new parliament
Empty seats are in the lower house of the Spanish Parliament in Madrid. Elections in Spain. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez is threatened with defeat. photo
© Bernat Armangue/AP/dpa
Is Spain’s socialist minority government under Pedro Sánchez losing to a coalition of conservatives and right-wing populists? There is no such thing as a “fire wall” in Spain like in Germany.
It is unclear whether voter turnout would suffer from bringing voting forward in the middle of the summer heat and holiday season. For Córdoba in Andalusia, the National Weather Service Aemet predicted up to 40 degrees, and the temperature in the capital Madrid could also climb to more than 35 degrees in the afternoon. A record 2.5 million people exercised their right to vote by post. Sánchez had brought forward the election scheduled for later this year after his Socialist and left-wing parties suffered defeat in regional and local elections at the end of May.
Polling stations close at 8 p.m. Shortly thereafter, forecasts based on post-election polls, which are generally reliable, are published. Extrapolations based on the votes counted can only be expected later in the evening. On the Canaries further west, the election ends at 9:00 p.m. (CEST).