What happened in Spain’s snap general election on Sunday?
Pretty much the opposite of everything the pollsters and pundits had predicted would happen. The election, called by the prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, after his Spanish Socialist Workers party (PSOE) did badly in May’s regional and municipal elections, had been expected to usher in a coalition government between the conservative People’s party (PP) and the far-right Vox party. Although the PP finished first and picked up 47 more seats than in the November 2019 election, its victory over a resurgent PSOE was far narrower than had been forecast and the party failed to secure the absolute majority it had hoped for.
