Spain's governing Socialists won the country's national election Sunday but will need the backing of smaller parties to stay in power, while a far-right party rode a groundswell of support to enter the lower house of parliament for the first time in four decades, provisional results showed.
Voters in Spain had become disillusioned as the country struggled with a recession, austerity cuts, corruption scandals, the divisive Catalan independence demands and a rise in far-right Spanish nationalism. As a result, after having only two main political parties for decades, Spain's political landscape has fragmented into five leading parties.
"We told you that we were going to begin a reconquering of Spain and that's what we have done," Vox leader Santiago Abascal said, in reference to the 15th-century campaign by the Spanish Catholic Kings to end Muslim rule in the Iberian Peninsula. To remain in office, Sanchez will have to form a governing alliance with smaller parties, including the far-left United We Can. Since he still needs about 15 more seats, Sanchez will also have to decide whether he wants to make pacts with Catalan and other separatist parties -- a move that would anger many Spaniards, especially nationalist Vox supporters.
The arrival of Vox in Madrid's national parliament marks a big shift in Spain, where the far right has not played a significant role since the country's transition to democracy following the death of dictator Gen. Francisco Franco in 1975. The prime minister said he wanted "a stable government that with calmness, serenity and resolution looks to the future and achieves the progress that our country needs in social justice, national harmony" and in fighting corruption.
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