Spain’s ruling conservatives win election

As voting closed at 7am (AEDT) on Monday, several exit polls (which in Spain are unreliable) predicted The People’s Party would win the most votes, followed by the Socialists, We Can and Citizens, with no clear ruling majority (50 per cent of votes) for any party.

Although incumbent prime minister Mariano Rajoy’s People’s Party secured a comfortable lead over their traditional rivals the Socialists, they fell well short of a majority.

Many held pieces of paper with “Yes” written on them while others waved cards with Podemos – which in Spanish means “we can”.

That prediction makes any of four outcomes possible – either a centre-right pact between the PP and Ciudadanos, a centre-left alliance between the Socialists and Podemos, a coalition between the Socialists and Ciudadanos or a minority administration.

The country could end up with a host of coalition government possibilities.

While Ciudadanos’ leader Rivera has said his party will not support what he called a “grouping of losers”, some analysts saw the possibility of a Socialist government emerging from Sunday’s vote.

However the PSOE was still expected to get a few more seats in parliament than Podemos, due to a complex electoral law that gives more weight to rural areas and small provinces where the Socialists are better represented.

“We are entering a new era in our country”, said Inigo Errejon.

However, should the political wrangling last too long, another election could be called and pro-independence Catalan parties could also use any deadlock to push their cause higher on the national agenda.

Spanish politics have suffered serious challenges over the past four years with the nation’s economic crisis, corruption and a separatist drive in Catalonia.

Thirty-seven percent of the electorate had voted as of 2 p.m.in Madrid, nearly 1 percentage point below 2011 elections, according to the Interior Ministry.

Spain, the fifth-largest economy in the European Union, now has an unemployment rate of 21% – the second highest in the EU after Greece.

“Whoever wins the elections must try to form a government”, said the Spanish prime minister, “I am going to try to form a government and I believe that Spain needs a stable government”.

Sanchez, a 43-year-old former university economics professor, was unknown to most Spaniards until he was elected leader last year of the Socialists.

Ciudadanos, which means Citizens, has the media-savvy Albert Rivera as its leader. At 36, he is the youngest candidate, and his moderate, business-friendly policies plus a pledge to crack down on corruption have attracted voters.

Since Spain’s transition to democracy in the 1970s one of those two parties has been in power.