Spain: Conservatives win absolute majority in Andalusia – Vox sidelined

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Voters in Andalusia

Photo Credit: IMAGO/Angel Garcia/IMAGO/ZUMA Wire

The conservative People's Party PP surprisingly won the absolute majority in the regional elections in southern Spain's Andalusia after counting more than 93 percent of the votes.

With its top candidate, the previous regional head of government Juanma Moreno, the PP got 57 seats (42.99 percent) in parliament in Seville on Sunday, according to the electoral commission.

That was 31 more than in the 2018 election. The absolute majority is 55 MPs.

The success also means strong momentum for the PP chairman Alberto Núñez Feijóo, who was only elected in April.

Like Moreno, he is considered a moderate conservative and could pose a threat to the socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez in the next national elections, probably in November next year.

Defeat for Prime Minister Sánchez's party

Sánchez's socialist PSOE, which ruled the most populous community for decades until 2018, finished a distant second with 31 seats (down 2, 24.26 percent).

Above all, she had warned that the PP would enter into a coalition with the right-wing populist Vox.

Moreno is no longer dependent on them.

Vox had bet on a government participation, but did slightly worse than the polls had expected with 14 seats (up 2, 13.45 percent).

Moreno can thus rule in Andalusia for four more years.

His previous coalition partner, the liberal Ciudadanos, who previously held 21 seats, were unable to win a seat with just 3.27 percent.

The left electoral alliance Pro Andalucía got 5 seats (7.66 percent), the left alliance Adelante Andalucía got 2 seats (4.58 percent).

The election campaign was about, among other things, the high unemployment rate, which is almost 20 percent in Andalusia and thus almost six percentage points higher than the Spanish average.

Politics during the corona pandemic, climate change, from which Andalusia is already clearly suffering due to its geographical location, and immigration via the Mediterranean were also controversial issues.

dop/dpa