Seville, Spain
Far-right surges: In a shock to Spain, voters in Andalusia gave the far-right Vox party 12 seats in the southern region’s legislature this week. There are 109 seats total, but since no major party took a majority, the dozen new members from the anti-immigrant, anti-Islam Vox can play the role of coalition kingmakers. The party could well join the regional government—which would be the first time since the death in 1975 of dictator Francisco Franco that the far right held power in any Spanish region. The election result is a huge setback for Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, whose Socialist party has dominated Andalusian politics for decades. Andalusia has an unemployment rate of about 25 percent, compared with a national rate of 15 percent.