You wouldn´t have thought that we are only days away from a general election in Spain. While the campaign will be muted because this is the fourth general election in as many years, there is still plenty at stake.
The socialist party of acting Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez is heading for victory but they will not secure an overall majority which will mean that we will be back to square one. The reason why Sanchez was forced to call an early election was because no other party wanted to pact with his Spanish Socialist Party.
Unfortunately, a similar state of affairs is set to happen following yet another general election next month. The Spanish politicial system is at a standstill because none of the major parties are willing to form a coalition with each other. The Spanish Socialist Party were way ahead in the opinion polls but that was before the riots broke out in Catalonia following the jailing of senior Catalan politicians over their independence referendum. Sanchez has been accused of not doing enough to control the violence and some have suggested that is has been weak and acted as if he was powerless.
A drop in support for the socialist is being forecast. The parties on the right of Spanish politicians are expected to gain a bigger share of the vote. It is highly unlikely but there is a possibility that a right wing coalition could be formed which would include the far-right Vox Party. The election is not expected to spring a surprise but who knows?