Spanish newspapers reflect parliamentary uncertainty without clear majority

This Monday, the Spanish press reflects on the political uncertainty resulting from early legislative elections on Sunday, when the left prevented an absolute majority of the right, despite the victory of the conservative People’s Party (PP).

“PP wins, but resistance from PSOE and Sumar undermines its majority with VOX and leaves the government in the air,” El Pais daily stressed on its website immediately after the election results.

This newspaper has provided Parliament with an “alliance calculator”, indicating the many negotiations that may be required to form Spain’s next government.

The PP elected 136 deputies (47 more than it had) and the Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE, in power) won two more, now with 122.

Polls pointed to a possible outright majority for the PP with VOX, but the far-right party lost 19 MPs and its elected 33 prevented it from garnering 176 votes for the right-wing bloc to secure a government.

Somar (the far left), whose parties are part of the PSOE-led government coalition, had 31 deputies in the new parliament.

“Feijoo fails to live up to expectations, but claims to rule” is another highlight of El Pais election night, which also reports that VOX leader Santiago “Abascal accuses Feijoo of ‘alternative failure’ to demobilize the right.”

On the left, the same newspaper writes that “the PSOE rises from the ashes of 28-M to improve the result of 2019”, referring to the defeat of the socialists in the May municipal elections, and “Somar clings to the possible re-establishment of a coalition government.”

The daily newspaper El Mundo, headlined “Feijoo wins elections, but Puigdemont can make Pedro Sánchez president,” refers to the Catalan leader who was fired by the Spanish government in 2017 for trying to establish a republican system in Catalonia.

“The triumph was bitter for the PP, and the defeat was sweet for the PSOE,” writes the same newspaper.

“Sánchez will be able to return to power through a new alliance of the vanquished and with the tacit consent – in the form of abstention – of the juntas, the party of the fugitive Carles Puigdemont,” he adds.

In an editorial, El Mundo speaks of “an uncertain scenario with the country in the hands of Puigdemont and Bildu”, recalling that the party that lost the election never ruled Spain.

ABC also emphasizes that “Feijoo wins, but Sanchez can rule if Puigdemont backs him up.”

In an editorial titled “Spain at Most Uncertainty”, the ABC states that “contrary to almost all predictions, the election results fall short of the conservative bloc’s expectations and present an unlikely alternative to the government of Pedro Sánchez”.

“Feijoo wins but doesn’t reach Moncloa and Sanchez will need to invest in Hunts” is the headline underlined in La Vanguardia.

The Barcelona-based newspaper also reports that the NP leader will try to form a government and that Sanchez is “resisting the tsunami of the right”.

The Catalan La República notes that “independence is once again decisive: the Junts and the ERC hold the key to electing Sánchez president.”

The newspaper El Diario Vasco writes: “Feijoo wins, Sanchez resists, and both have the ability to govern,” adding that “the new parliament is threatened with deadlock and new elections.”

La Voz de Galicia notes that “The PP wins the election, but the PSOE fights back and Younts sets the stage for Sanchez to take office.”