Spanish voters punish mainstream parties in local and regional elections

  • 9 years ago
Spain’s new anti-austerity Podemos and market friendly Ciudadanos have made gains in local and regional elections at the expense of mainstream parties.

New parties in Spain win strong support in local elections, exit poll indicates: http://t.co/uqbCf1NUtd— The Associated Press (@AP) May 24, 2015

In Madrid , Prime Minister Rajoy’s People’s Party (PP) looks set to lose out to a leftist coalition for the first time in 24 years..

Podemos (“We Can” ) leader, Pablo Iglesia explained what he thought was the significance of Sunday’s vote:

“It’s a  magic night in Spain. And probably these days are the starting days for the change. After the European elections I said the change is possible in Spain and now it’s a reality. I think this spring of change that  will bring us to the victory in elections in November against Spanish PP (People’s Party).”

The Spanish economy has been a key concern for voters and many are enraged over public spending cuts and reports of political corruption.

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