Spain's ruling, conservatives win most votes, but fall short of majority
Corrections & clarifications: An earlier version of this story did not make clear that Spain was ruled by a dictatorship before transitioning to a monarchy and democracy in the 1970s.
Spain's ruling Popular Party won the most votes in Sunday's national election but was short of a majority in parliament to run government, according to results.
Negotiations to form a coalition government could likely take weeks.
With 99.6% of the vote counted, the conservative Popular Party of Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy won only 123 seats in the 350-member lower house of Parliament, far below the 186 majority it now holds, the Associated Press reported.
The main opposition Socialist Party received 90 seats, while Podemos, a new far-left party, and allies got 69 seats, and centrist Ciudadanos, another upstart party, won 40, according to the AP.
“Spain is not going to be the same anymore and we are very happy,” said Pablo Iglesias, the pony-tailed leader of Podemos.
The results were historically poor showings for the two established parties — Popular and Socialist — that have alternated running the government for decades. The election appeared to be ushering in a new era of politics for a system that had remained largely unchanged since the 1970s, when it evolved from a dictatorship to a monarchy and democracy.
Despite Rajoy's conservatives garnering the most votes, a left-leaning block that includes the Socialist Party, Podemos, former communists and smaller like-minded parties will actually control more seats than conservative opponents, according to a Reuters analysis.
Under various possible alliances, both right-leaning and left-leading parties have narrow avenues toward negotiating to form a new government.
Rajoy told cheering supporters that he would try to form a government but didn’t provide specifics about how he would do that. “This party is still the No. 1 force in Spain,” Rajoy declared.
The volatility was triggered by growing unhappiness among Spaniards with both established parties after years of economic turmoil and political corruption.
Long-simmering disenchantment with severe austerity measures and labor reforms supported by Rajoy and a stubbornly high unemployment rate of 20% have moved large sectors of the electorate to consider the two newer political parties — Podemos that emerged last year amid street demonstrations over government belt-tightening reforms, and the business-oriented Ciudadanos.
Rajoy argued that he made tough decisions to navigate the country though a devastating recession to an economy now growing at about 3%, among the highest rates within Europe.
Iglesias, the Podemas leader, is a political science professor and an ally of Greece's leftist Prime Minister Alexis Tsipris, who defeated conservative opponents in a parliamentary election in that country earlier this year.
The youngest of the party leaders is Albert Rivera, 36, head of Ciudadanos, who is described by the AP as eloquent, media-savvy and a previous national debate champion. He has pledged to crack down on governmental corruption.
A burning issue for voters is a secessionist movement within the wealthy Catalonia region of the country. Rajoy has said he will block any bid for independence.
The parliamentary campaign lasted two weeks and received international attention Wednesday when a 17-year-old student punched Rajoy in the face during a campaign stop. The boy's lawyers said the attack was not politically motivated, according to the AP.