Socialists Win Most Seats in Spain Election

• 11.11.2019, 11:04
•  Europe,  World

Sergio Perez/Reuters

The Socialist Party (PSOE) of caretaker Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez won the highest number of seats but fell short of an absolute majority at the repeat general election in Spain on Sunday, El Pais reports.

With around 99% of the vote counted, the PSOE had taken 120 seats – three fewer than the result it managed at the April 28 general election. The conservative Popular Party (PP) won 87 seats – a major gain from the 66 seats it secured in April, its worst result ever. But far-right group Vox saw the most significant rise, jumping from 24 to 52 seats, to become the third-largest party in Spain’s lower house, the Congress of Deputies.

Unidas Podemos – a coalition of United Left and anti-austerity group Podemos – retained 35 of the 42 seats it won at the last election, while the center-right party Ciudadanos (Citizens) suffered a crushing defeat, losing more than 40 seats to be left with just 10.