Significant defeat of the socialists in Spain

Madrid Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez on Monday announced new elections for July 23 in response to the defeat of his Socialists and their left-wing partners in Sunday’s regional and local elections. Twelve of the 17 Spanish autonomous regions (comparable to the German federal states) and 8,000 municipalities voted on Super Election Sunday.

Sánchez’s PSOE and its left-wing partners wanted to defend their governing majority in 10 of Spain’s 12 autonomous regions. Subject to the coalition negotiations, they probably only succeeded in three.

“I am personally aware of the results and I think it is necessary to give an answer,” Sánchez said on Monday. “The best thing is that the Spaniards are taking the floor to determine the political direction of the country,” said the prime minister in a brief appearance.

Sánchez himself had declared the election to be a test for the national elections, which were not due until the end of the year, and had spent weeks campaigning around the country. It was his first showdown with the new conservative opposition leader Alberto Núñez Feijoo – and Sánchez clearly lost it.

The PSOE lost a total of only 400,000 votes. Due to the poor performance of its left-wing partners, above all the national coalition partner Unidas Podemos, it has often lost the majority.

One of Unidas Podemos’ problems is a badly crafted reform of sexual criminal law, a core project of the left-wing populists. The reform resulted in scores of convicted sex offenders being released early from prison. The party blamed misogynist judges until the PSOE pulled the ripcord and pushed through a reform of the reform.

Strong economic growth hasn’t helped Sánchez either

Even the better-than-expected economy didn’t help Sánchez. While Germany slides into recession, Spain grew by 0.5 percent in the first quarter. The EU Commission assumes that the EU’s fourth-largest economy will grow by 1.9 percent this year – almost twice as much as the EU average.

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An important driver is the booming tourism. Inflation in Spain in April was 3.8 percent, almost half the EU average. Chronically high unemployment is falling and at 13 percent is the lowest it has been since 2008.

This is also due to numerous new public jobs. Sánchez was able to benefit from aid totaling 140 billion euros from the European recovery fund after the pandemic. However, there are repeated indications that the funds are not arriving in the real economy, or only very slowly, partly because the administration is overwhelmed.

The entrepreneurs are not in good spirits with Sánchez anyway. With an excess profit tax on energy companies and banks, he has financed part of the increasing government spending through new taxes on companies.

The conservative PP and the right-wing populist Vox primarily won votes from the young right-wing liberal party Ciudadanos, which will practically disappear from politics again with these elections. It failed mainly due to its own miscalculations and power struggles.

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In important regions like Madrid and Andalusia, the PP even won an absolute majority. Andalusia was the stronghold of the socialists for years. In future, the PP could also nominate mayors in five of the six largest cities in the country. In Madrid and Málaga with an absolute majority. In Seville, a former PSOE stronghold, in Valencia and in Zaragoza with the help of the right-wing party Vox.

The right-wing populist party Vox is one of the clear election winners

Sánchez’s new challenger Alberto Núñez Feijóo tries to position the PP in the right center – but that is made difficult by Vox. Vox boss Santiago Abascal stressed confidently that his party had now become indispensable for the “fight against socialism and against communism”. Vox has finally established itself as a nationwide force, he said.

His right-wing populists emerged as a protest against the independence movement in Catalonia, which culminated in a banned referendum in 2017. During his tenure, Sánchez was dependent on the votes of pro-independence supporters from Catalonia and the Basque Country and made numerous concessions to them.

According to experts, these pacts have come as a bitter blow to many Spaniards. The Basque independence party Bildú put 44 ex-ETA terrorists on its list, seven of them convicted murderers.

New PP leader Feijóo is a newcomer to the national stage in Spain – he was Prime Minister of Galicia when he was appointed PP leader in April 2022. In the politically highly polarized Spain, he uses the nimbus of fresh wind according to experts.

In polls for the national elections, his PP is ahead. In terms of content, Feijoo relies on tax cuts and a more business-friendly policy with less bureaucracy and a more agile administration as counterpoints to Sánchez.

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