Spanish voters make their choice in election

Madrid: Voters are going to the polls in Spain Sunday in a general election that could make the country the latest European Union member to swing to the political right. Prime Minister Pedro S nchez called the early election after his Spanish Socialist Workers Party and its far-left partner, Unidas Podemos, took a severe beating in local and regional elections in May. S nchez has been premier since 2018.

Most opinion polls for Sunday’s voting have put the right-wing Popular Party, which won the May vote, ahead of the Socialists but likely needing the support of the extreme right Vox party if they want to form a government.

Such a coalition would return a far-right force to the Spanish government for the first time since the country transitioned to democracy in the late 1970s following the nearly 40-year rule of dictator Francisco Franco. A PP-Vox government would mean another EU member has moved firmly to the right, a trend seen recently in Sweden, Finland and Italy. Countries such as Germany and France are concerned by what such a shift would portend for EU immigration and climate policies. Spain’s two main leftist parties are pro-EU participation. On the right, the PP, led by Alberto N ez Feij o, is also in favour of the EU.