Spain’s ultraconservative Vox party is posed to enter a regional government for the first time, after record results in local elections on Sunday.
Vox came third in the central Castilla y Leon region, more than tripling its share of the vote after winning 13 seats in the 81-strong assembly.
The main opposition center-right People’s Party came first with 31 seats, two more than in the previous election in 2019. And the Socialist party of Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez finished second with 28 seats, seven less than last time.
Given rising animosity with the Socialists, the PP will likely now have to forge an alliance with Vox if it wants to continue to rule the country’s largest, yet sparsely populated, region.
In exchange, Vox chief Santiago Abascal wants the vice-presidency of the regional government. “We will not demand more or less than what corresponds to us,” he said late on Sunday.
Even after strong showings in Madrid and Andalusia, Vox has previously only supported PP-led administrations from outside government.
The PP has ruled Castilla y Leon for three decades and called a snap election in an attempt to replicate its success in Madrid last May, when regional president Isabel Deal Ayuso got an absolute majority in a landslide win. But it failed to take into account rising support for Vox.
The party’s victory in Castilla y Leon could give it a chance to push policies further to the right. It might also provide a blueprint for next year’s general elections, when the PP might have to form another uncomfortable alliance to gain the premiership.
