Spain is gearing up for a fresh election battle as new polls loom in June to try and lift the country out of a state of political limbo that may play into the conservatives’ hands.
Gone was the euphoria brought by elections in December that upended Spain’s traditional two-party system as millions gave their vote to new groupings in the hope of ending austerity, corruption and unemployment, resulting in a hung parliament.
As the months wore on, parties that had been forced to negotiate to try and agree on a coalition government failed to do so, forcing King Felipe VI to initiate a process to dissolve parliament and call new polls last week.
Editorials in left- and right-wing newspapers shouted out their frustration as Spain looked set to remain without a fully functioning government for at least two more months at a time when it was emerging from a devastating economic crisis.
Much of the coalition negotiations had centred around left-wing parties after Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy - whose conservative Popular Party (PP) won the December election but lost its majority - gave up trying to form a government for lack of support.
The Socialists (PSOE) - who came second in the polls with just 90 parliamentary seats out of 350 - were tasked by the king to try and bring other parties together in a coalition, but ultimately failed.
Under an official timeframe, new polls will be announced on May 3 and are then expected to take place on June 26.
While they acknowledged the failure of talks, party leaders started playing the campaign trail blame game on Wednesday.
PSOE chief Pedro Sanchez was particularly angry at the charismatic young leader of Podemos - the far-left party born from the Indignados protest movement against austerity - whom he accused of blocking an opportunity to chase the conservatives from power by refusing to back him.
“People did not vote for ideological blockages but for change. That’s what (Pablo) Iglesias didn’t get,” he told Spanish radio.
Research polls have suggested that fresh elections will do little to change the December outcome, which saw four parties win much of the parliamentary seats - but not enough each to gain power.
Rajoy’s conservatives could gain ground, while Podemos may lose a little as some of the 5mn people who voted for the party and its allies believe it should have worked with the Socialists.
