Voters in on Sunday headed to the polls for the third time in four years. The ruling (PSOE) expected to win the but fall short of a majority.

The election is marked by rise of the far-right movement Vox, which opposes multiculturalism and has threatened to end self-rule for regions like Catalonia. has presented himself as a bulwark against the advance of the hard right.

Polls suggest will lead the vote, but no single group will win an overall majority, the reported.

The opinion poll in newspaper put the PSOE at about 30 per cent, the conservative (PP) at around 20 per cent, the centre-right Ciudadanos and left-leaning Podemos both near 14 per cent and the far right party at about 11 per cent. However, it also showed up to four in 10 voters were yet to make up their mind.

Voting began at 9 a.m. and will end at 8 p.m. on the mainland.

Speaking after casting vote at a polling station near Madrid, Sanchez said he hoped for stability. "After many years of instability and uncertainty, it's important that today we send a clear, defined message about the we want. And from there a broad parliamentary majority must be built that can support a stable government," he said.

An exit poll will be published after the end of voting, but in the previous two elections it failed to give an accurate picture of the outcome.

Almost all votes are expected to be counted by midnight.

The highly polarised campaign was dominated by issues like, national identity, equality and the future of Catalonia. The semi-autonomous region of Catalonia held an independence referendum in October 2017 and declared its independence from weeks later.

A dozen of its leaders have since gone on trial in Madrid, facing charges, including rebellion and sedition.

Analysts say support for has been boosted by widespread anger at the independence drive. The party opposes any concessions to secessionists.

Women's rights have also been a key poll topic. Gender-based violence has provoked debate and street protests across Spain for years and more politicians than ever are courting women's votes. Vox, however, has spoken out against what it calls "radical feminism" that it claims "criminalises" men.

With polls suggesting no clear mandate, observers say the vote could plunge Spain into a prolonged period of political uncertainty. This also means chances of a repeat election are high.

Particularly notable within the split vote is the rise in support for who are set to become the first far-right party to sit in Parliament since 1982.</s>Spain's governing centre-left Socialists won the country's election Sunday but must seek backing from smaller parties to maintain power, while a far-right party rode an unprecedented surge of support to enter the lower house of parliament for the first time in four decades.

Voters in Spain had become disillusioned as the country struggled with a recession, austerity cuts, corruption scandals, the divisive Catalan independence demands and a rise in far-right Spanish nationalism not seen since Spain's dictatorship ended in the 1970s.

With 99 per cent of ballots counted, the Socialists led by Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez won nearly 29 per cent of the vote, capturing 123 seats in the 350-seat Congress of Deputies. The new far-right Vox party made its national breakthrough by capturing about 10 per cent of the vote, which would give it 24 seats.

Vox's success apparently came at the expense of the once-dominant conservative Popular Party, which fell to 66 seats, losing half of its support since the last election in 2016. The conservatives also lost votes to the centre-right Citizens party, which will increase its number of seats from 32 to 57.

"We told you that we were going to begin a re-conquering of Spain and that's what we have done," Vox leader Santiago Abascal said, in reference to the 15th-century campaign by the Spanish Catholic Kings to end Muslim rule in the Iberian Peninsula.

Vox, which was formed five years ago, has promised to defend Spain from its "enemies," citing feminists, liberal elites and Muslims among others. Its emergence on the national stage gives Spain five political parties, furthering political fragmentation in a country that was alternately ruled for decades by the Socialists and the Popular Party.

Santiago Abascal, leader of far-right party Vox, is seen at a polling station in Madrid. (Andrea Comas/Associated Press)

To remain in office, Sanchez will have to form a governing alliance with smaller parties, including the far-left United We Can led by Pablo Iglesias.

Iglesias said after the vote the he "would have liked a better result, but it's been enough to stop the right-wing and build a left-wing coalition government," adding that he's already offered support to Sanchez.

But Sanchez will still need 15 more seats to reach a majority in the 350-seat lower house of parliament, meaning he may be forced to make pacts with Catalan and other separatist parties — moves that would anger many Spaniards, especially the nationalist Vox supporters.

Pablo Casado, who has steered the Popular Party further to the right to stop it from losing votes to Vox, called the ballot the country's "most decisive" in years. Polls only a week ago showed that about one-third of Spain's nearly 37 million voters were still undecided.

Turnout in Sunday's vote was around 75 per cent, up more than eight points since the previous election in 2016. The surge in turnout included a huge boost in the northeastern Catalonia region, which has been embroiled in a political quagmire since its failed secession bid in 2017 put several separatist leaders in jail while they undergo trial.

People line up to cast their votes at a polling station in Barcelona. Turnout in Sunday's vote was around 75 per cent. (Emilio Morenatti/Associated Press)

The arrival of Vox in Madrid's national parliament marks a big shift in Spain, where the far right has not played a significant role since the country's transition to democracy following the death of dictator Gen. Francisco Franco in 1975.

The Popular Party and the Citizens party focused their campaigns on unseating Sanchez, hinting they could create a conservative coalition government — with the backing of Vox — like the one that recently ousted the Socialists from the southern Andalusia region.

Speaking Sunday after voting, Sanchez said he wanted the ballot to yield a parliamentary majority that can undertake the key social and political reforms that Spain needs.

The prime minister said he wanted "a stable government that with calmness, serenity and resolution looks to the future and achieves the progress that our country needs in social justice, national harmony" and in fighting corruption.

Spanish Prime Minister and Socialist Party candidate Pedro Sanchez casts his vote inside a polling station in Pozuelo de Alarcon, near Madrid. (Bernat Armangue/Associated Press)

At the Palacio Valdes school in Madrid, voter Alicia Sanchez, a 38-year-old administrator, worried about the influence of the nationalist Vox party.

"I've always come to vote, but this time it feels special. I'm worried about how Vox can influence policies on women and other issues. They are clearly homophobic. Reading their program is like something from 50 years ago," she said.

Having voted in all elections since Spain returned to democratic rule four decades ago, Amelia Gomez, 86, and Antonio Roman, 90, said they had little faith in any candidate.

"All I want is for whoever wins to take care of the old people," Gomez said, complaining that the two of them together receive less than 1,000 euros ($1,500 Cdn) a month in state pensions.</s>The Socialist Party (PSOE) of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has won the highest number of seats but fallen short of an absolute majority at the snap general election that was held in Spain on Sunday. With around 95% of the vote counted, the PSOE has won 123 seats while Unidas Podemos – a coalition of United Left and anti-austerity group Podemos – picked up 42. Together, these two parties account for 165 seats, which is below the 176 needed for an absolute majority, meaning Sánchez will need the support of regional parties if he is to govern.

The conservative Popular Party (PP) suffered a crushing defeat on Sunday, losing around 70 seats in Congress to be left with just 66. The center-right party Ciudadanos (Citizens) performed better, winning 57 deputies in Congress. Meanwhile the far-right party Vox took 24 seats in its debut national election. Since Blas Piñar, a far-right politician linked to former dictator Francisco Franco, lost his seat in Congress in 1982, no political party with a similar ideology has set foot in any of the country’s parliaments.

High turnout

Spaniards headed to the polls on Sunday, April 28, for the third time in less than four years to cast their vote in an election dominated by uncertainty. Polls ahead of the election predicted the Socialist Party (PSOE) would win the highest number of seats in Congress but there were doubts as to whether they would have enough seats to form government. A number of factors were tipped to shift the political landscape in Spain, most importantly the rise of the far-right party Vox, which made shock gains at the regional elections in Andalusia in December.

In the face of this fractured outlook, Spaniards poured into polling stations across the country, with voter turnout at around 75% – 8.5 percentage points more than the 2016 polls. The turnout was particularly high in Catalonia, where the independence drive has deeply divided the region. The rise was most notable in inland areas in Catalonia that are the strongest supporters of independence.

Vox had targeted the breakaway region during its election campaign, promising to get rid of Spain’s current system of devolved regional powers.

In two televised debates ahead of the election, PP leader Pablo Casado and Ciudadanos chief Albert Rivera also promised to take a hardline approach on the separatist movement. In early April, sources close to Casado said he would apply Article 155 of the Constitution, a measure that gives the central government emergency powers to suspend Catalonia’s autonomous powers, if he won the election and achieved an absolute majority in the Senate.

Por una España de libres e iguales en donde recuperemos la convivencia y no tengamos que ver nunca más cómo se le niega hasta el saludo a la líder de la oposición @InesArrimadas.



🇪🇸 pic.twitter.com/TOqP3zp7am — Toni Cantó (@Tonicanto1) April 28, 2019 “For a free and equal Spain where we recover social harmony and never have to see again how even the leader of the opposition is denied a handshake.”

The tense situation over the issue of Catalan independence led to two incidents at polling stations in the region. In the first, an electoral official refused to shake the hand of Inés Arrimadas, a candidate in Barcelona for center-right party Ciudadanos.

Por cosas como esta, cada minuto que pasa necesitamos con más urgencia #MásPPMásEspaña🇪🇸. Esto es intolerable. No podrán con nosotros.

Todo nuestro apoyo a @cayetanaAT Cayetana Álvarez de Toledo. pic.twitter.com/9uskyMUP8e — Partido Popular 🇪🇸 (@populares) April 28, 2019 “Due to things like this, with each minute that passes, we more urgently need #MorePPMoreSpain. This is intolerable. They will not defeat us. All our support for Cayetana Álvarez de Toledo”

And in the second, Cayetana Álvarez de Toledo, a candidate for the PP in Barcelona, was blocked by several people from entering a polling station in Montcada i Reixac, and confronted as she left.

Aside from these incidents, voting went ahead largely without issues. According to the National Police, 92,000 officers were on duty on Sunday to ensure the smooth running of the polls.

Mobilization of the left

In the lead up to the election, Prime Minister Sánchez warned voters that there was “a real risk that the right could join with the far right” in a bid to reduce voter apathy, which was one of the factors behind the Socialists’ defeat at the Andalusian regional election.

Susana Díaz, the former regional premier of Andalusia who was ousted from power in December thanks to an agreement between the PP, Ciudadanos and Vox, warned on election day that “when the left doesn’t mobilize, the right wins.”

Images of Vox’s large-scale campaign rallies fed progressive fears about the possibility of seeing the far right in government again in a country where this ideology was in power via a dictatorship until 1976, and where many people thought it had since died out.

English version by Melissa Kitson.</s>Spain’s socialist party has begun weighing up its options for government after storming past its traditional conservative rival in Sunday’s snap general election but failing to win a majority.

The prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, led his socialist PSOE party to its first victory since 2008, winning 123 seats and taking 29% of the vote.

The rightwing People’s party (PP) endured a catastrophic night as its seat count plummeted from 137 to just 66, while the poll also marked a breakthrough for the far-right Vox party, which took 24 seats to enter the national parliament for the first time.

The PSOE also routed the PP in the upper house of the Spanish parliament, where it took control by winning 121 senators – up from 43 three years ago. The PP’s headcount was slashed from 130 to 56.

With Spain’s third election in four years producing another hung parliament, speculation is mounting as to how the PSOE will secure the 176 seats needed to form a government in the 350-seat congress of deputies.

At the moment, the socialists are aiming to govern alone, albeit with the continuing support of the anti-austerity Unidas Podemos and its allies.

“We think we’ve got more than enough support to keep steering this ship,” the deputy prime minister, Carmen Calvo, told Cadena Ser radio on Monday morning.

“We’re very aware that Unidas Podemos has helped us a lot and backs our progressive aims. But we think this is the course we need to follow.”

Even with the support of Podemos and its allies, Sánchez would have only 165 seats and would need to rely on smaller regional and nationalist parties.

He will be keen to avoid turning again to the two Catalan separatist parties who backed him in the successful no-confidence motion that removed the PP from office in June last year and allowed the PSOE to take power.

The two parties – the Catalan Republican Left and Together for Catalonia – triggered the snap election by siding with the Spanish right to reject his 2019 budget.

Such a move would also allow Sánchez’s opponents to deploy their familiar argument that the prime minister is too beholden to Catalan separatists and ought to take a less conciliatory approach to the independence issue.

José Luis Ábalos, Spain’s public works minister, said there would be no deal with the Catalan Republican Left, which won 15 seats in the election.

“We said we wouldn’t go there and we’re not going to,” he told Telecinco. Abalos also said the PSOE “isn’t in a rush to make a government deal at the moment”, adding that it is instead focusing on programmes and proposals.

Another plan would be to hope that the Catalan separatists will agree to abstain in the second round of an investiture vote in parliament, allowing him back into office with a simple majority.

Buoyed by the party’s success, grassroots PSOE supporters are unlikely to back any deal with the centre-right Citizens party, led by Albert Rivera, even though it would yield 180 seats.

As Sánchez appeared at the party’s Madrid base following his victory, supporters chanted: “Not with Rivera”.

The Citizens leader firmly ruled out backing the PSOE during the campaign, and may well prefer to remain in opposition in the hope of taking advantage of the PP’s woeful results to position his party as the dominant voice of the Spanish right.

Sunday’s result reflects the growing fragmentation of the Spanish right, which, until recently, had been represented by the PP.

But the arrival of Vox has pushed both the PP and Citizens further to the right as they struggle to stop voters defecting to the upstart party, which has surged on the back of the Catalan independence crisis.

The PP’s leader, Pablo Casado, described the party’s worst ever electoral showing as “very bad” but has previously said he would not resign if the party fared poorly.

PP chiefs will also be reluctant to add to the party’s woes by ditching him as leader with less than a month to go until European, regional and municipal elections.</s>Madrid, April 29 (IANS) Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s Socialist Party emerged as the single largest political party after it won 123 seats in the Sunday’s snap election, official results showed.

However, PM Sanchez will need the support of at least one other party to stay in power.

The Socialist Party (PSOE) obtained 28.69 percent of the vote, and 123 of the 350 lower-house seats, according to official results with 99.65 percent of the votes counted, Efe news reported on Sunday.

The conservative Popular Party (PP) came in second, with 16.69 percent and 66 seats, followed by Ciudadanos (Citizens, center-right) with 15.85 percent, garnering 57 seats, and leftist Unidas Podemos (United We Can) getting 35 seats with 11.95 percent of the votes.

Vox – the first far-right party to enter the National Parliament since Spain’s transition to democracy after Francisco Franco’s death in 1975 – obtained 10.26 per cent of the votes and 24 seats.

The leader of Vox, Santiago Abascal, was the first party leader to appear before his supporters, who welcomed him on Madrid’s Margaret Thatcher Square with shouts of “Spain, united, will never be defeated!”

Vox has a heavy emphasis on anti-Catalan separatism, which is one of the central pillars of a party whose meteoric rise came just after the illegal – and ultimately abortive – referendum in the prosperous northeastern region of Catalonia back in 2017.

Abascal promised to provided “resistance” with his 24 lawmakers “in the face of the break-up (of Spain) and against freedom-destroying positions” and he boasted of having garnered 2.5 million votes for a party that, in earlier elections, had only managed to scrape together some 40,000 supporters at the polls.

The “ultra-rightist” leader, who formerly belonged to the PP, warned Sanchez that no majority in Parliament will enable him to reform the Constitution or approve “totalitarian legislation on the part of the ‘progressive’ dictatorship.”

Having increased his party’s parliamentary weight from 84 to 122 seats in the lower chamber, Sanchez can now choose between an alliance, or a coalition government, with either the Ciudadanos party or with Unidas Podemos plus one or more regional parties.

The leader of Unidas Podemos, Pablo Iglesias, congratulated Sanchez and said that the results were hopeful since “the parliamentary weight of the progressive bloc exceeds that of the bloc of the three rightist” parties in the country.

“Pedro Sanchez, who has won the elections, at this time must avoid the orange temptation (orange being the identifying color of Ciudadanos and its leader, Albert Rivera) because it’s time to shield public services,” Iglesias said.

The leftist leader demanded that Sanchez halt the right in Spain and build a coalition government of left-leaning politicians.

“Not with Rivera, not with Rivera,” Socialist activists and supporters chanted when their leader, dressed casually in jeans and with his shirtsleeves rolled up, emerged on the balcony of the PSOE headquarters on Madrid’s Ferraz Street, which was jammed with people celebrating the election result.

“From our progressive position, we’re going to extend our hand to all political groups within the Constitution,” the premier said, while his supporters insisted on demanding that he steer clear of a coalition pact with Ciudadanos.

Sunday’s vote was the third general election in less than three-and-a-half years in the Mediterranean country.

On June 1, 2018, Sanchez became the first Spanish Prime Minister to assume office via a no-confidence motion, which he successfully tabled against his PP predecessor, Mariano Rajoy.

Last February, he called the snap elections held on Sunday after Catalan separatists linked up with right-wing opposition parties to reject his government’s budget for 2019.

The Socialist Party had not emerged as the top vote-getter in any of Spain’s general elections since 2008.

In Sunday’s vote, however, the party managed to achieve an absolute majority in the Senate of 208 seats.

For the PP conservatives, meanwhile, this was the worst result in the history of their party.

Rivera and PP leader Pablo Casado, publicly appeared at the same time as Sanchez was celebrating his victory with his Socialist backers after midnight in Madrid.

Rivera said that the PSOE will govern with the leftists of Iglesias and with the nationalist parties, and Casado demanded that the premier come to a governing agreement “without needing the independence-minded” forces.

The voter turnout was calculated at 75.75 percent, the highest since the 2004 elections.</s>
• The Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE) is projected to win the most seats in Spain’s snap election, according to exit polls.
• But PSOE won’t have enough seats to form a government and will have to join forces with another party.
• The country’s far-right party, Vox, scored a significant victory, taking in nearly 10% of the vote.
• This will be the first time a far-right party will be represented in Spain’s parliament since the end of military rule in the 1970s, according to the BBC.
• Read more stories like this on BusinessInsider.com.

Nearly 75% of eligible Spaniards turned out to vote Sunday, with exit poll’s projecting a large victory for Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE) against the far-right party Vox and the conservative People’s Party. But the victory isn’t a slam dunk for those worried about the populist wave seemingly sweeping the globe.

It’s projected that PSOE, the party of the country’s current Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, will secure the most parliamentary seats, between 116 and 120, but ultimately split the majority with the People’s Party, according to The Guardian, which is projected to win 65 or 66 seats. In 2016, People’s Party won 137 seats.

PSOE will have to join with another party to form a government. If they don’t, it’s possible that another election could be called.

The much-watched far-right party Vox is projected to only win between 36 and 38 seats. The low numbers may seem like a loss on their face, but in fact, the number of seats won mark a significant victory for the party. A far-right party has not been represented in Spanish parliament since the end of military rule in the country in the 1970s, according to the BBC.

Vox, whose leaders have outspokenly opposed feminism, free immigration policy, and social welfare programs, has centered their existence around resisting the effort of Catalan separatists to make the Spanish state separate from Spain as a whole.

The party won its first major victory in a regional election in December, where it took 11% of the vote. With its national victory, it’s cemented itself as a major political player for years to come.

Besides playing an extremely important role as a foil for Vox, the issues of Catalonia was key leading up to the election.

PM Sanchez was only elected through forming a coalition with autonomous Basque and Catalan parties. They would eventually reject Sanchez’s budget in February which led the prime minister to call snap elections in an attempt to solidify more power.

While Sanchez did not support succession, his cooperation and work with Catalan secessionists appeared to fuel criticisms from Vox.

Now, it’s not clear who Sanchez will seek out to form a government. Left-wing party Podemos shares similar values with PSOE, but are only projected to win around 14% of the vote.

Spain is headed for its tightest election in decades – here’s how it could all go haywire

Here’s what you need to know about 8 big elections that will affect 2.2 billion people</s>MADRID — The latest on the Spanish national election (all times local):

Spain’s governing Socialist Party has won the country’s parliamentary election but will need backing from smaller parties to stay in power. And for the first time since the 1970s, a far-right party will have members in Spain’s lower house of parliament.

With nearly all ballots counted from Sunday election, the Socialists headed by Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez won nearly 29% of the votes. They captured 122 seats in the 350-seat Congress of Deputies.

The new far-right Vox party won 10% of the vote and will have 24 seats. Its success came at the expense of the once-dominant conservative Popular Party, which fell to 66 seats

The Popular Party lost votes both to Vox and to the center-right Citizens party, which will increase its number of seats from 32 to 57.

Spain’s socialist prime minister says he will consider talks to form a new government only with parties that respect the constitution and promote social justice.

Pedro Sánchez declared his party the winner in Sunday’s general election, a ballot in which the far-right made inroads for the first time since Spain returned to democratic rule.

Sánchez hinted at a preference for a left-wing governing alliance but his stress on the constitution also sent a warning to Catalan separatists even though he may need their support to be elected by Parliament’s lower house to a new term as prime minister.

Spain’s constitution says regions have no right to secede and sovereignty must be decided by all Spaniards, not just by inhabitants of a particular region. Catalan separatists defied Spain in 2017 with a referendum and subsequent independence declaration. They won 22 seats Sunday.

The leader of Spain’s conservatives is acknowledging that Sunday’s election results for his Popular Party are “very bad” — its worst showing ever in a national vote.

Pablo Casado also told his Popular Party members Sunday night that “we have been losing our electoral support for several elections.”

According to provisional results, the Popular Party will see its number of seats in Parliament shrink to 66 from the 137 it won in the 2016 elections.

Casado blames the debacle on the splitting of voters on the right, with many being lured away by the center-right Citizens party and the new far-fight Vox party.

The Socialist Party of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez replaced the Popular Party as the biggest vote getter and is poised to stay in power.

The leader of the United We Can anti-austerity party in Spain says that it has already offered the incumbent prime minister Pedro Sánchez his desire to form a left-wing coalition government.

Pablo Iglesias spoke with provisional results in the country’s third election in four years gave the victory to the ruling Socialist Party but short of a parliamentary majority.

He said “we would have liked a better result, but it’s been enough to stop the right-wing and build a left-wing coalition government.”

United we Can, whose name in Spanish is Unidas Podemos, won 35 seats, 10 less than in the previous national election, in 2016. Iglesias blamed the result on the party’s internal leadership fights.

He said the negotiations for possible pacts will last a long time.

Vox leader Santiago Abascal has euphorically celebrated his new far-right party’s results in Spain’s general election.

Abascal has told supporters in central Madrid that he blames the once-dominant conservative Popular Party for not being able to garner enough votes for the right-wing to oust incumbent Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez.

Abascal gave a thumbs-up sign to celebrate his party’s showing as confetti in the party’s green and white colors showered down.

He said “we told you that we were going to begin a reconquering of Spain and that’s what we have done.” That is a reference to the 15th-century campaign by Spanish Catholic Kings to end Muslim rule on the Iberian Peninsula.

The 43-year-old Abascal said that the 24 lawmakers from Vox that will sit in Spain’s lower house of parliament will be enough for the party to set the political agenda.

He said that the lawmakers “will ask those things that preoccupy Spaniards.”

Vox, which was formed five years ago, has promised to defend Spain from its “enemies,” citing feminists, liberal elites and Muslims among others.

Spain’s government spokeswoman says the Socialist party has won the country’s general election with nearly all votes counted.

The result means that Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez will be able to enter negotiations for a governing alliance with the far-left United We Can Party, whose leader has offered to share a coalition Cabinet.

Both parties still need the votes of around 15 more lawmakers for Sánchez to be able to stay in office.

Government spokeswoman Isabel Celaa said that the incumbent party of Sánchez received nearly 7 million votes, which results in 122 seats in the lower house of parliament.

Vox general secretary Javier Ortega Smith has told supporters that “today is historic” after the new far-right party won its first seats in the Spain’s parliament.

Provisional results give 24 seats to Vox in the lower chamber after Sunday’s election, with the Socialists taking the most votes.

Ortega Smith says that “this is an ephemeral victory since the left knows that with Vox their party is over.”

Ortega Smith adds: “the resistance is now in the Congress, and starting tomorrow millions of Spaniards that have been silenced with have a voice in Congress.”

Spain’s once-dominant conservative Popular Party is on track to lose more than half of its parliamentary seats amid far-right gains in the general election.

The conservative Popular Party, or PP, was once the leading force in parliament but will likely win only 65 seats — less than get half of its 2016 haul of 137 seats, according to partial results with about 90 percent of votes counted.

The PP’s influence has been diluted by the far-right Vox party, which looks set to make a strong entrance into parliament’s lower house with 24 lawmakers, according to the partial results. PP also lost votes to the center-right Citizens party, which will increase its number of seats from 32 to 57.

The Socialists are poised to become the most voted party since 2008, but will need to make pacts with other parties to remain in office.

Partial results in Spain’s election show the incumbent Socialists winning the most votes in the general election but falling well short of a majority. The far-right, meanwhile, has made strong gains.

The provisional results, with 50% of the ballots counted, show that Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s party has won 126 seats and the far-left United We Can got 35. That is still 15 seats short of the 176 majority in the 350-member lower house.

If the results stand, that would mean Sánchez would also need to rely on smaller parties and separatists to stay in office.

The right-wing bloc would be short of a majority, according to the partial results. With 67 seats, the once-dominant Popular Party has lost almost half of its presence in the Congress of Deputies, losing votes to the center-right Citizens party, which grabbed 53 seats and far-right party Vox won 23.

Spain’s Interior Ministry says that turnout was over 75%, well above the average in the previous 12 elections since Spain returned to democratic rule.

Polls have closed in most of Spain in an election with one of the highest turnout levels in recent years amid division over the role that the far-right could play in influencing the country’s politics.

Participation in Sunday’s election was more than 9% higher than during the 2016 vote, especially in the northeastern region of Catalonia, two hours polls closed.

Spanish media showed long lines still in many of the polling stations at 1800 GMT (2 p.m. EDT), when all voting is supposed to end everywhere but the Canary Islands, where voting finishes one hour later.

Voter turnout in Spain’s general election is over 9% higher than during the 2016 vote, especially in the northeastern region of Catalonia.

Two hours before the polls close Sunday, Spain’s Interior Ministry says nearly 60.8% of all eligible voters have already cast their ballots, up from 51.2% at the same time in the 2016 election.

In Catalonia, turnout is up to 64.2% from nearly 46.4% in 2016. This is the first national election since the region’s failed secession attempt in 2017.

In southern Andalusia, Spain’s most populous region, turnout has risen to nearly 57.3% from nearly 50.3%. Right-wing parties won Andalusia’s regional election in December, ending the ruling Socialists’ long-time hold on the region.

A highly polarized campaign that included rising support for the far-right nationalist Vox party and an uncertain result Sunday appear to have motivated voters.

Turnout is soaring in restive Catalonia as voters go to polling stations in much higher numbers for Spain’s first national election since the northeastern region’s failed secession attempt in 2017.

The Spanish Interior Ministry says that by 2 p.m. (1200 GMT), voter turnout in Catalonia is more than 11% higher than in 2016 elections, up from 32.31% to 43.52%.

Sunday’s election comes during the ongoing trial of 12 leaders of Catalonia’s secession bid who are facing charges including rebellion. Five of those defendants are running in the election from inside a jail cell.

Imma Margalef, a 60-year-old administrative assistant, says in Barcelona that she has voted for the pro-secession Republican Left for the first time because “I think it is unfair that they have put these people in jail.”

Pilar Olivar, a 62-year-old marine biologist, is against Catalonia seceding and says she has voted for the ruling Socialists to keep the right-wing parties from returning to power.

Spain’s Interior Ministry says turnout for Sunday’s national election so far is 4% higher than the previous ballot.

The ministry says, as of 2 p.m. (1200 GMT), 41.5% of all eligible voters have already cast their ballots Sunday, up from 36.9% at the same time in the 2016 election.

Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s Socialist party is favored to get the most votes, but it is expected to fall far short of a majority. The right-wing in Spain, long dominated by the conservative Popular Party, has now split into three groups, including the Citizens party and the far-right nationalist Vox party.

The uncertain outcome includes the likelihood that a far-right party could enter Parliament for the first time since the 1980s.

Polls close at 8 p.m. (1800GMT) for the nearly 37 million Spaniards allowed to vote.

The leader of Spain’s conservative opposition says that Sunday’s general election is perhaps the country’s “most decisive” in recent years.

Minutes after casting his vote in a polling station at a Madrid school, Popular Party leader Pablo Casado told reporters that he wishes for a stable government to emerge from the ballot.

Santiago Abascal, the leader of the first far-right party likely to grab a significant number of parliamentary seats since the 1980s, also voted in a public school in the Spanish capital.

“Millions of Spaniards are going to vote with hope. They are going to do it without fear for anything or anybody,” he told cameras.

Vox, which has revived Spanish nationalism in response to separatist and liberal-minded movements, posted a tweet with a picture adapted from a battle in HBO’s Game of Thrones series. A sword-wielding Vox warrior faces a wall of enemies carrying the symbols of Vox’s political opponents: media organizations seen by the party as unfavorable and feminist and gay rights logos.

“Let the battle start, #ForSpain” the tweet said.

Alicia Sánchez, 38, and her mother cast their ballots in Spain’s general election at the Palacio Valdes public school in central Madrid “in order to stop the racist extreme right” from making a significant power grab.

“I’ve always come to vote, but this time it feels special. I’m worried about how they can influence policies on women and other issues. They are clearly homophobic. Reading their program is like something from 50 years ago. I’m scared,” Sánchez said Sunday.

Minutes later, Amelia Gómez and Antonio Román, she 86 and he 90, emerged from the crowd flocking to the polling station.

Having voted in all elections since Spain returned to democratic rule four decades ago, following the dictatorship of Gen. Francisco Franco, the couple they didn’t have much trust in politicians.

“All I want is for whoever wins to take care of the old people,” Gómez said, complaining that the two of them together receive less than 1,000 euros (1,100 euros) a month in state pensions.

“They need to watch for the poor, that’s their job,” Román added.

The five top candidates to become Spain’s next prime minister are casting their ballots and encouraging people to take advantage of the sunny spring day to come out and ensure a high turnout in Sunday’s general election.

All are voting in the Spanish capital except for the center-right Citizens party leader, Albert Rivera, who cast his ballot in a town near Barcelona.

Rivera, who has focused his campaign on unseating the incumbent Socialist prime minister, told reporters that a high turnout is needed for a government change and to “usher in a new era.”

Pablo Iglesias, the leader of the left-wing United We Can party, also stressed the importance of voting on Sunday.

“My feeling is that in Spain there is an ample progressive majority, and when there is high participation that becomes very clear,” Iglesias told reporters at a public school in the residential suburb near Madrid where he lives.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez says he wants Sunday’s highly contested general election to yield a parliamentary majority that can undertake social and political reforms in the country.

Surrounded by cameras and accompanied by his wife, the 47-year old incumbent Socialist leader cast his ballot early on Sunday at a cultural center in an affluent suburban neighborhood of the Spanish capital.

He was the first of the five top candidates to vote in the general election marked by the rise of a far-right party and the high number of undecided voters.

All polls forecast that Sánchez’s Socialists will overtake the conservative Popular Party to garner the most votes, but Sánchez will be nowhere near a majority in the parliament’s Lower House.

Up for grabs are the 350 members of the Congress of Deputies, who then choose a government, and also 208 senators for the Upper House.

A divided Spain is voting in its third general election in four years, with all eyes on whether the rise of conservative nationalism will allow the right wing to unseat the incumbent prime minister.

Pedro Sánchez is set to win the most votes, but his Socialists seem far from scoring a majority in parliament to form a government on their own.

The fragmentation of the political landscape is the result of austerity that followed the economic recession, disenchantment with bipartisan politics and the recent rise of far-right populism.

Sánchez called Sunday’s ballot after a national budget proposal was rejected in the Lower Chamber by the center-right-conservative opposition and Catalan separatists pressing for self-determination in their northeastern region.

Voting stations opened at 9 a.m. (0700GMT) Sunday and will close at 8 p.m. (1800GMT), with results expected a few hours later.

Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.</s>Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s Socialists have won snap elections without the necessary majority to govern solo in a fragmented political landscape marked by the far-right’s entry into parliament.

The results raise the spectre of another period of instability for Spain, with Sanchez depending on alliances with hostile rivals in an environment that has soured since Catalonia’s failed secession bid in 2017.

A significant development was the rise of the ultra-nationalist Vox party, which garnered just over 10 percent of the vote in a country that has had no far-right party to speak of since the death of dictator Francisco Franco in 1975.

Sanchez’s Socialist Party (PSOE) got 123 lawmakers out of 350, or close to 29 percent of votes — short of an absolute majority but much better than the 85 seats it got in 2016.

“The Socialists have won the general election and with it the future has won and the past has lost,” he told cheering supporters from the balcony of the party’s headquarters in Madrid, claiming victory late Sunday.

The big loser was the conservative Popular Party (PP), which bagged 66 seats compared to 137 in the previous election that saw it govern Spain with a minority government.

Sanchez, who came to power in June after ousting conservative prime minister Mariano Rajoy in a no-confidence vote, could seek to forge alliances with far-left Podemos and smaller groupings like Catalan separatist parties, as he had done over the past 10 months.

He could also try to cosy up to centre-right Ciudadanos, which won 57 seats. Together, they would form an absolute majority but voters from both parties would likely frown on such a move.

“I hope Sanchez won’t reach an agreement with Ciudadanos, I want a left-wing government,” 51-year-old Esther Lopez, said at the Socialist Party headquarters, wearing earrings marked “PSOE.”

Ciudadanos leader Albert Rivera, built his campaign on disparaging Sanchez, criticising his attempts to negotiate with Catalan separatist parties in a bid to ease a secession crisis in the northeastern region.</s>Spain will hold its third general elections in four years on Sunday amid an atmosphere of indecision and rise of the far right.

Polls suggest that around 40% of the electorate was undecided just a week before the national vote.

Since 2015, when Spain’s predominantly two-party political system came to an end, the country has had major difficulties forming a government. In the 2015 elections, two new parties broke onto Spain’s political landscape – the far left Podemos Party and center-right Ciudadanos (Citizens) Party. Prior to that, Spanish politics had been dominated by the Popular Party and the Socialist Party. However, issues including corruption, the economic crisis and the growing Catalan separatist movement gave rise to the new political parties.

Their entry into Spanish politics resulted in a Parliament so fragmented that politicians were unable to elect a government. As a result of the political deadlock, general elections were held in 2016. In 2016, the results of the national election were similarly inconclusive. However, after nearly 10 months with only a caretaker government, Spain’s parliament managed to elect the Popular Party, led by Mariano Rajoy, as the governing party.

Yet, with support from less than half of the Spanish Parliament, the government was toppled in 2018 by a motion of no confidence submitted by the Socialist Party. That is when Pedro Sanchez, the current frontrunner for Sunday’s elections, became Spain’s prime minister.

While Sanchez was able to pass some legislation including a 22% hike in minimum wage, he was unable to pass the 2019 budget and called another round of national elections in the hopes of improving Spain’s governability.

Although the latest polls show the largest voting bloc is undecided, they suggest that the Socialist Party is in the lead, followed by the conservative Popular Party, Citizens, Podemos and Vox.</s>Nearly 75% of eligible Spaniards turned out to vote Sunday, with exit poll's projecting a large victory for Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) against the far-right party Vox and the conservative People's Party. But the victory isn't a slam dunk for those worried about the populist wave seemingly sweeping the globe.

It's projected that PSOE, the party of the country's current Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, will secure the most parliamentary seats, between 116 and 120, but ultimately split the majority with the People's Party, according to The Guardian, which is projected to win 65 or 66 seats. In 2016, People's Party won 137 seats.

PSOE will have to join with another party to form a government. If they don't, it's possible that another election could be called.

The much-watched far-right party Vox is projected to only win between 36 and 38 seats. The low numbers may seem like a loss on their face, but in fact, the number of seats won mark a significant victory for the party. A far-right party has not been represented in Spanish parliament since the end of military rule in the country in the 1970s, according to the BBC.

Vox, whose leaders have outspokenly opposed feminism, free immigration policy, and social welfare programs, has centered their existence around resisting the effort of Catalan separatists to make the Spanish state separate from Spain as a whole.

The party won its first major victory in a regional election in December, where it took 11% of the vote. With its national victory, it's cemented itself as a major political player for years to come.

Catalonia’s Independence supporters march during a demonstration on November 11, 2017 in Barcelona, Spain. Gonzalo Arroyo Moreno/Getty Images

Besides playing an extremely important role as a foil for Vox, the issues of Catalonia was key leading up to the election.

PM Sanchez was only elected through forming a coalition with autonomous Basque and Catalan parties. They would eventually reject Sanchez's budget in February which led the prime minister to call snap elections in an attempt to solidify more power.

While Sanchez did not support succession, his cooperation and work with Catalan secessionists appeared to fuel criticisms from Vox.

Now, it's not clear who Sanchez will seek out to form a government. Left-wing party Podemos shares similar values with PSOE, but are only projected to win around 14% of the vote.

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The governing social democrat Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) wins, but short of an absolute majority. The far-right Vox party finished fifth with 10% of the votes.