Political gloves are off in Spain

Spain's Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez (left), applauds with other members of the Socialist bench after the rejection of the no-confidence vote promoted by Vox. | J.J. Guillén

Humphrey CarterPalma30/03/2023 15:06

The political battle to win the May 28 local elections in the Balearics began this week after Parliament sat for the final time of its four-year duration on Tuesday. The parties now have less than 60 days to win over the electorate. But what is interesting this year is that both the local and general elections are being held in the same year, something which has never happened in Spain before. The general election has to take place no later than December 30 and campaigning for the general election is gradually gathering momentum.

Last week, for example, Spain’s Socialist-led minority government comfortably saw off a no-confidence vote tabled by the far-right Vox party. Vox had been hoping to capitalise on public anger over the government’s botched sexual offences legislation – which has resulted in reduced prison terms for hundreds of convicted felons – and its overhaul of sedition legislation.

Now, will the local and general elections campaigns confuse voters? No doubt some may consider matters of state to also be local ones and therefore perhaps cloud their judgment when it comes to local voting day. Spain’s main opposition Partido Popular (PP) is poised to win the general election but could only achieve a working majority via a potentially problematic alliance with the far-right Vox, according to an opinion poll published on Monday, and that could prove extremely dangerous at both local and national levels.