Far right wins seats in Spanish region for first time since Franco
SPAIN - A far-right party has won 12 seats in the Andalucían regional parliament while the ruling socialists suffered a devastating blow in their longtime heartland in elections at the weekend. Vox, a small but increasingly vocal party that opposes Catalan independence and has vowed to take a tough line on immigration and abortion, has become the first avowedly far-right group to win seats since Spain’s return to democracy following he death of Francisco Franco in 1975. The party exceeded all predictions and could now hold the key to the formation of the next government of the populous southern region.Although the Spanish socialist party (PSOE) won the elections, taking 33 of the 109 seats in the regional parliament, its support collapsed in an area it has ruled since 1982. “Despite winning the election it is a sad night for the socialist party”, said the PSOE’s regional leader, Susana Díaz. “There has been a real loss of ground for the left. But the worst thing is that the extreme right, a phenomenon that has appeared in the rest of Europe, has arrived here.” Diaz said she would call on other parties to “build a firewall against the extreme right in Spain”, adding: “Each party must decide if they are against the extreme right or if they will rely on their support to enter into government.” Two members of Vox shouted insults at Diaz when she cast her ballot early in Seville early on Sunday. Vox said both people had been removed from their positions as voting monitors due to ‘inappropriate behavior’. Even with the support of the Podemos-led Adelante Andalucía coalition which won 17 seatsthe PSOE would still be short of the 55 seats needed for a majority in the regional parliament. The conservative People’s party (PP) took 26 seats on Sunday, while the centre-right Ciudadanos party won 21. Were the two rightwing parties to join forces with Vox, they would jointly command a majority, with 59 seats. (The Guardian)