Conservatives set for victory in Andalusia regional elections

Seville, Spain, Jun 19 (EFE).- Spaniards headed to polls Sunday to vote in regional elections in the southern region of Andalusia in which the conservative Popular Party is expected to win comfortably but also to need the support of far-right Vox to form a government.

Over 6 million people are eligible to vote in the most populous region of Spain and more than 3,700 polling stations have been set up.

Voting started at 9 am and will end at 8pm with results expected to be announced a few hours later.

The Popular Party (PP), in coalition with center-right Ciudadanos, has been governing the region since 2018 after the Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE) lost a majority for the first time in 35 years.

Surveys suggest that PP will win around 50 seats in the 109-seat Andalusian parliament but while it is expected to win Sunday’s elections, it is not sure whether they will achieve an absolute majority to govern the region alone.

In this case, it would likely seek support from the far-right Vox party and bring it into the regional government, similar to what happened in the northern region of Castilla y Leon earlier this year when PP and Vox formed an alliance for the first time.

This would be a hard blow for social prime minister Pedro Sanchez ahead of national elections in 2023, making it harder to get re-elected. EFE

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