The key question about the result of the June 26 Spanish general election is also the most difficult to answer: why did 1.09 million people — who in the December 20 elections voted for the anti-austerity party Podemos, the United Left (IU) and the three broader progressive tickets Together We Can (Catalonia), Podemos-Commitment (Valencian Country) and In Tide (Galicia) — not vote for the combined Podemos-IU ticket (United We Can) and these broader tickets at this poll?
Pablo Iglesias Turrión
Five months after the December 20 election in Spain failed to produce a government, the country is returning to the polls in the most polarised contest since the end of the Franco dictatorship in 1977.
Spain's anti-austerity party Podemos and older left-wing party United Left announced on May 9 that they had reached a preliminary agreement to run on a joint platform before Spain's new general election on June 26.
It was clear early on that something special was happening in the May†‬24†‬local government and regional elections across the Spanish state.†In Spanish elections,†‬the voter participation rate gets announced at†‬1pm and†‬6pm†— ‬while voting is still taking place.†‬Well before the polling stations closed,†‬the news was that participation was up about†‬5%†‬in Catalonia and about†‬8%†‬in the working-class districts of Barcelona.â€