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Spain’s conservative People’s Party (PP) was set to lose its absolute majority in Sunday’s regional election in the southern region of Andalusia, leaving it reliant on the right-wing populist Vox party to govern.<\/p>\n
With Andalusian regional president Juanma Moreno as its lead candidate, the PP was on course to win 53 seats in the parliament in Seville, the electoral commission said after more than 90% of votes had been counted. That would be five fewer than four years ago. An absolute majority requires 55 seats.<\/p>\n
Vox was set to gain one seat, bringing the right-wing populist party to 15 lawmakers in the regional parliament. The Socialists (PSOE) of Spanish Prime Minister Pedro S\u00e1nchez fell to 28 seats in what was once one of their strongholds, two fewer than in their historically poor result in 2022.<\/p>\n
The left-wing regional-nationalist alliance Adelante Andaluc\u00eda improved from two seats to eight, while the left-wing alliance Pro Andaluc\u00eda again won five seats.<\/p>\n
The campaign focused on renewed inflation, partly as a result of the Iran war, as well as shortcomings in healthcare, unemployment, housing shortages and migration across the Mediterranean.<\/p>\n
Andalusia’s jobless rate stands at around 15%, about 5.5 percentage points above the Spanish average.<\/p>\n
The loss of the absolute majority is a setback for Moreno, who is seen as less confrontational than the conservative party at national level.<\/p>\n
It means he too will depend on the right-wing populists for a governing majority in Spain’s most populous autonomous community.<\/p>\n
The same happened to his party colleagues in regional elections in Extremadura in December 2025, Arag\u00f3n in February and Castile and Le\u00f3n in March. In each case, the PP emerged as the strongest force but depended on Vox votes.<\/p>\n
A coalition between the PP and PSOE remains highly unlikely in Spain because of the sharp divisions between the two parties.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n