Spain rejects far-Right in government
Spaniards feared that Sunday’s election would lead to the far-right returning to government for the first time since the Franco dictatorship ended in 1975. It didn’t happen. Vox, which pledged to roll back laws on gender violence, LGBTQ rights, abortion and euthanasia, ended up losing a third of its seats, dropping from 52 to 33. Alberto Núñez Feijóo’s conservative Popular Party (PP) came first with 136 of 350 seats – but won’t be able to reach the 176-majority even with Vox’s support, while Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s Socialists and far-left ally Sumar secured 153 seats. Both Feijóo and Sanchez will now try to negotiate their way to a majority; if that fails, the country may face fresh elections. “The government is up in the air,” the country’s best-selling daily newspaper El Pais said today on its front page.
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