Spain’s Conservatives lose majority in Andalusia, leaving far-right deal likely

MADRID — The conservative People’s Party won an election in Spain’s Andalusia region but looks to have lost its majority in the local parliament, in a setback for the party’s moderates as they prepare for next year’s general election.

The underwhelming result — which saw the PP lose seats to its left and to its right — means the party will almost certainly need the backing of the far-right Vox party in order to form a new government.

“We didn’t graduate with first-class honours,” said Juanma Moreno, the PP candidate and incumbent regional president, of the result. “But we did get an outstanding grade.”

The PP is in opposition at the national level in Spain, and polling ahead of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s Socialist Party ahead of next year’s national vote.

With the PP well ahead in polls throughout the Andalusian campaign, the main question ahead of the election was whether Moreno would be able to secure his second consecutive majority in the region, the most populous in Spain. With 99.8 percent of votes counted, the PP is on track to secure 53 seats in the 109-seat parliament, a loss of five seats.

Moreno is the leading figure of the PP’s moderate wing. The loss of his party’s majority — albeit by a narrow margin — is a blow to those who saw his centrist politics as a potential model for the national leadership to follow into the next general election, scheduled for 2027.

Adelante Andalucía candidate Jose Ignacio Garcia celebrates his party’s results in Jerez de la Frontera on May 17. | Roman Rios/EPA

Moreno had appealed to conservative and moderate Socialist voters to turn out to ensure he secured a majority, which he argued would provide the region with continued stability.  On the campaign trail he also criticized the central government over a train accident that killed 46 people near the city of Córdoba in January.

Looking leftward, Sánchez’s party also had a bad night, registering its worst-ever result in Andalusia, which used to be its biggest electoral stronghold. It won 28 seats, down from 30 four years ago, with parties to its left performing well.

Adelante Andalucía, to the left of the Socialists, made substantial gains to win eight seats, ahead of the left-wing coalition Por Andalucía, which registered five. 

The Socialist candidate, María Jesús Montero, campaigned heavily on healthcare, accusing the PP of negligence following a scandal related to the management of breast cancer scan results in the region.

“These are not good results for us,” Montero said. “We take note of what Andalusians have told us at the ballot box.”

In third place, Vox gained one seat to secure 15 in total, and is seen as the only possible governing partner of the PP. Turnout was 65 percent.

The Andalusia election follows three other regional ballots in recent months, in Extremadura, Aragón and Castilla y León. The PP won all of those convincingly but each time falling short of a majority and leading it into arduous negotiations with Vox to form governments.

In each of those regions, Vox has demanded a tougher line on immigration. In Extremadura and Aragón, the PP agreed to implement a “national priority” policy, which the ultra-nationalist party says seeks to give Spaniards access to public services and benefits ahead of foreigners. Vox said it also wants to introduce this concept in Andalusia.

“Andalusians have spoken clearly and they have told the Andalusian government what they want,” said Vox’s candidate, Manuel Gavira. “They want national priority.”