BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — the Spanish elections it proved to be a close battle between two left-wing and two right-wing blocs willing to come together to form possible governing coalitions.
Here’s a look at the four leaders of these blogs and how their futures may change following the results.
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PERE SANCHEZ
Spain’s inconclusive national elections have produced a result that will be greeted with relief in European capitals, which like Madrid strongly support the European Union.
Diego Botin narrowly missed the podium and then led Spain to its first SailGP victory, beating Nicolai Sehested of Rockwool Denmark and three-time defending champion Tom Slingsby of Team Australia at the Oracle Los Angeles Sail Grand Prix.
Extreme weather has forced people to flee their homes in Greece and China. Forest fires ravaged Greece for a sixth day amid high temperatures and dry conditions, prompting the evacuation of some 19,000 people from the island of Rhodes.
Spain appears headed for political impasse after inconclusive national elections left parties on both the left and right without a clear path to forge a new government.
Pedro Sánchez, Spain’s prime minister since 2018, defied the odds again in Sunday’s election, defying most poll predictions. His Socialist Workers Party won two more seats than in the last elections, at the end of 2019, and reached 122 deputies.
But Sánchez will need the support of fringe parties, including separatist forces in Catalonia and the Basque Country, if he is to maintain his minority coalition. Perhaps he finds it particularly difficult to work with the hard-line Catalan separatist party Junts. The party is led by Carles Puigdemont, who is technically still on the run from Spanish courts as the mastermind behind Catalonia’s 2017 secession attempt that brought Spain to the brink of a territorial split.
However, Sánchez has proven himself in his political career an extraordinary ability to overcome adversity.
Known for his dashing good looks and progressive credentials that include having more women than men in his cabinet and a strong record on environmental policy, Sánchez has pushed for Spain’s status in the European Union.
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ALBERTO NÚÑEZ FEIJÓO
Alberto Núñez Feijóo was presented as the man who never lost an election, and can still claim it. It took the conservative Popular Party into first place on Sunday, following its four previous electoral victories in the northwestern region of Galicia.
But the projection failed to win enough seats to form a government, even with the help of the far-right Vox party.
Feijóo has resurrected the Popular Party since taking over the party in April 2022 following an infighting that toppled his predecessor, Pablo Casado. Initially presented as a moderate, he has moved to the right, promising to repeal many of the laws of the leftist government.
He is in no position to form a government easily despite winning the largest bloc of parliamentary seats on Sunday. No other party in the Congress of Deputies is ready to join a coalition with Vox as a member. This leaves few, if any, options for achieving a majority of 176 seats.
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SANTIAGO ABASCAL
Santiago Abascal, leader of the nationalist-populist party Vox, likes to define himself as an outsider who has arrived with the mission of saving Spain’s unity and identity. He entered Sunday poised to become the next deputy prime minister, but ended the day in a position of political irrelevance.
His party took a beating, losing just over a third of the seats it held, from 52 MPs to 33. It is still the third most voted party in Spain, slightly ahead of the far-left Sumar coalition, which won 31.
It was Catalonia’s failed secession bid in 2017 that propelled Vox’s rise. The party has also attracted a following by calling for the repeal of gender-based violence laws and criticizing feminism. Critics accuse Vox of fear-mongering about unauthorized migration into the country.
Bearded and barrel-chested, Abascal, who always wears suits while attending Parliament, embraces the classic and even kitschy symbols of traditional Spanish culture.
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YOLANDA DIAZ
The only woman among the four main leaders in Sunday’s elections, Yolanda Díaz is the daughter of activists from the working class, unions and the anti-Franco dictatorship. Like Feijóo, it originates from the northwestern region of Galicia.
He is consistently among the country’s most popular politicians, but Díaz has had to fight the idea that he is simply a far-left extension of Sánchez, an image rooted in his role as second deputy prime minister and labor minister.
His Sumar coalition of smaller left-wing and far-left parties failed to beat Vox in the vote, winning just 31 seats. This will make it more difficult to restructure the left-wing government coalition led by Sánchez.
A labor lawyer by training, she is known for her ability to negotiate agreements such as the industrial peace agreement she forged with unions and business groups, as well as negotiating minimum wage increases and a special leave plan for businesses during the coronavirus pandemic.
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Associated Press reporters Ciarán Giles in Madrid and Joseph Wilson in Barcelona, Spain contributed.
