Stalemate

But at the moment it appears that the socialists are not willing to pact with some and others are not willing to pact with them, leading to a stalemate. If Sanchez calls an election he will win again but he is unlikely to win a majority so the stalemate could continue for months if not years.

A similar state of affairs occurred with the former leader of the Partido Popular, Mariano Rajoy, who was toppled by Sanchez. Rajoy won election and after election but failed to secure a majority and he was in the same boat as Sanchez is at the moment. Sanchez does have a mandate to rule; his socialist party was the most voted at the last elections but if he can’t get key legislation through parliament because of a lack of support it is pointless trying to form a government.

There had been some speculation that the socialists would go into coalition with the centre right Ciudadanos but both parties have ruled this out even though it is the coalition government many would like to see. So the political uncertainty in Spain is set to continue unless Sanchez can find a coalition partner. In the long-run it could hit the Spanish economy because of all the uncertainty which it creates.