Pedro Sanchez struggles to form a new government in Spain
Can the country be governed without the support of those that want to break it up?
HARDLY ANYONE predicted a near-draw in Spain’s elections, and yet the Socialists of Pedro Sánchez, the prime minister, and the opposition centre-right People’s Party (PP) ended up taking about a third of the vote each on July 23rd. Even with their preferred coalition partners, Vox for the PP and Sumar for the Socialists, both are however short of a majority. So small parties, nearly all of which lost seats, now hold the key to governing Spain again, and the hunt is on for allies.
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This article appeared in the Europe section of the print edition under the headline “With friends like these”
From the August 12th 2023 edition
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