The regional and municipal elections in Spain have been the main protagonists of the main international newspapers. And it is not for less, the result of these can be a reflection in the face of the next early general elections that will be held on July 23, as Pedro Sánchez has just announced.
Foreign media highlight the electoral losses of the PSOE in key regions and town halls after the significant advance of the Popular Party, achieving an absolute majority in the mayoralty and in the Community of Madrid.
The Spanish map is stained blue after the PSOE has lost 15 of the 22 provincial capitals in which it governs, including fiefdoms such as Seville, Valladolid, Castelló and Palma and they fail to add in Valencia. Nor did they manage to be the first force in Barcelona, ​​where the list of Xavier Trias, from Junts, has prevailed.
The electoral colleges had not foreseen such an earthquake, nor should the Spanish government have expected this electoral outcome. It was expected that there could be a close result in some cities, and that one or another municipality could lose to the opposition. But the result that is clear after this election Sunday in Spain is much clearer: it is a big slap to the Spanish left.
The German outlet Süddeutsche Zeitung calls the elections an “earthquake” that not even the government of Pedro Sánchez expected and adds that it is a “big slap in the face of the Spanish left”. In fact, the newspaper points out the importance of these elections as they measure the pulse in the face of the generals between the socialist and the popular leader, Alberto Núñez Feijóo.
He also notes the loss of the six largest cities have fallen to the conservative parties and how it has affected the decline of Ciudadanos. “Their voters have mostly drifted towards the conservatives, some towards Vox and, to a lesser extent, towards the socialists.” And they emphasize the return to bipartisanship: “Spain is more clearly divided into two blocks than it has been in a long time.”
The French newspaper calls the Socialists a “historical debacle” after the result of the municipal and regional elections. At the same time, Le Monde echoes the expression “tsunami” of the right, chosen by the socialist president Javier Lambán, after the popular ones devastated yesterday and lost great socialist bastions. “Only Asturias, Castilla-La Mancha, the Canary Islands and Navarra resisted the ‘tsunami’ of the right”.
Along these lines, the outlet points out that these results are a “bad omen” for the Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, less than seven months before the general elections scheduled for next July.
The united right thus snatches away from the socialists the cities of Valencia and Seville, a historical bastion of the left, and at the regional level also the Valencian Community, Cantabria, Aragon, Extremadura, the Balearic Islands and La Rioja, where the PP has achieved an absolute majority .
“Sánchez, punished in the local vote. The Popular Party triumphs in Madrid and with Vox takes Seville”, this is how the Italian outlet has analyzed the electoral results in Spain.
The Corriere della sera has highlighted the comfortable victory of the president of the Community of Madrid, Isabel DÃaz Ayuso, who will be able to govern without the support of Vox. “She was sure to ‘win’ and get an absolute majority in the regional assembly of Madrid, and she did it with more than 47% of the votes,” the outlet points out. At the same time, they also point to the losses of the historic socialist cities such as Valencia and Seville, which remain in the hands of a coalition government between the popular and the extreme right.
“In Barcelona, ​​however, the fragmentation of the left is taking place. The separatists of Junts per Catalunya become the first force and their candidate Xavier Trias now promises to steal the mayoral band from Ada Colau of En Comú”, says the Corriere .
The British newspaper highlights in its headline the “resounding victory” of the Popular Party, after its absolute victory in the mayoralty and in the Community of Madrid, as well as in other Spanish regions and municipalities. In addition, he highlights how the advance of the conservatives will serve as a “great boost” for the party before the general elections.
“The results of the polls in 12 regions and more than 8,000 municipalities also point to a return to traditional bipartisanship,” says The Guardian.
The political news outlet refers to the repercussions that these electoral results will have on the general elections. Politico highlights the victory of the popular, even in traditionally socialist cities, although he also underlines his party’s confidence in Vox to form governments, “without other potential partners available” among the main parties in Spain. In turn, he recalls that the extreme right has doubled its votes compared to the 2019 municipal elections and already has a presence in all the country’s regional parliaments.