Spaniards are voting in Sunday in a bitterly contested general election that could see the far right play a key role in government for the first time since the country returned to democracy after Gen Franco’s death five decades ago.
The vote, called two months ago by Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, after his Spanish Socialist Workers party (PSOE) suffered a drubbing in May’s regional and municipal elections, offers people a stark choice between the left and right blocs.
Although the opposition conservative People’s Party (PP) is expected to finish first, polls suggest it is likely to fall short of an absolute majority and to have to rely on the support of the far-right Vox party to form a government.
“The only thing I can ask for is the highest possible turnout and the largest possible mobilisation because that’s how we can ensure that the government that emerges from this vote will be a strong one so that Spain can move forward for another four years,” the prime minister said after casting his ballot on Sunday morning.
Mr Sánchez has depicted Sunday’s vote as a crucial showdown between the forces of progress and the forces of reactionary conservatism. The prime minister argues that only the PSOE and the new, leftwing Sumar alliance, led by Spain’s deputy prime minister and labour minister, Yolanda Díaz, can defend and deliver the progressive agenda he has pursued over the past four years.
But the PP and Vox – which have forged more regional governing coalitions since May’s elections – accuse Mr Sánchez and his minority government partners in the Unidas Podemos alliance of being weak, opportunistic and over-reliant on the Catalan and Basque separatist parties on which it depends for support in parliament.
They also say Mr Sánchez and his partners have failed Spaniards through their badly botched reform of sexual offences legislation that has led to more than 100 convicted sex offenders being granted early release.
Although the PP has consistently led the polls and waged an aggressive campaign, it suffered a poor final week as the focus shifted to its leader, Alberto Núñez Feijóo. He had already been left looking awkward after his claims about the PP’s track record on pensions turned out to be untrue but was then criticised for the sexist tone of an apparent reference to Ms Díaz’s make-up.
Mr Feijóo also urged Spaniards to vote on Sunday despite the heat and the summer holidays. “I feel very proud of our country because, despite the temperatures and it being the summer season, we’re seeing a good turnout, he said. “Whatever happens, I’ll keep working for my country, which I believe in. That’s my commitment, my vocation and my destiny.”
The PP leader, who was a senior politician in Galicia before serving as regional president between 2009 and last year, has faced fresh scrutiny over his relationship with Marcial Dorado, who was arrested in 2003 and subsequently jailed for offences including drug trafficking, bribery and money laundering.
Mr Feijóo has always insisted he had no reason to suspect Dorado was involved in anything illegal and has said he broke off contact with him as soon as he was charged with criminal offences.
Mr Sánchez, who was unexpectedly beaten by Mr Feijóo in the only head-to-head debate between the leaders of Spain’s two biggest parties, seized on the controversy and confusion as proof of the left’s growing comeback.
“I see a right and a far-right that are absolutely bankrupt,” he said at his party’s final campaign rally near Madrid on Friday night. “The socialist advance is unstoppable. All I ask is that we all bet on red on Sunday to win the election and guarantee four more years of progress.”
Ms Díaz, meanwhile, exhorted people to get out and vote so that Spanish society “doesn’t go back 50 years”.
Mr Feijóo urged Spaniards to vote “to bring our country together again” and said that, unlike Mr Sánchez, he was beholden to no one. – Guardian