But a surge in support for the far right Vox party has given Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez a headache with just days to go before the nationwide poll. Meanwhile, Catalan pro-independence groups are poised to throw a spanner in the works, fielding their jailed leaders – as well as others who fled the country to avoid prosecution in the top positions on their electoral lists in the semiautonomous region. A survey published by El Pais newspaper showed the Mr Sanchez’s Socialists on course to win 129 seats in the 350-seat parliament.

Adding 33 possible seats from potential allies Podemos and three from Compromis would give 165 seats, just short of the 176 needed for a majority.

By contrast, an alliance of the People’s Party, Ciudadanos and Vox could yield 156 seats – again, not enough for an overall majority.

However, the poll, involving 2,000 people interviewed between April 15 to 18 suggests Vox could attract 12.5 percent support, translating to 32 seats, just six years after the controversial group, a frequent critic of multiculturalism which is committed the return of British overseas territory Gibraltar to full Spanish sovereignty.

Another poll published by newspaper El Mundo, based on the views of 8,000 people interviewed between April 3-17, gave the Socialists a potentially closer path to the premiership, but also to the three right-wing parties, with Vox on 10.2 percent, which would equate to between 20 and 32 seats.

Vox candidates include four retired generals, two of who, Alberto Asarta and Agustín Rosety, signed a manifesto in defence of dictator Francisco Franco when the Mr Sanchez’ government unveiled plans to move his remains from the Valley of the Fallen.

Among candidates running for the conservative People’s Party are two bullfighters as well as the widow of a third killed in action.

And former French Prime Minister Former Manuel Valls is running as an independent candidate for the post mayor of Barcelona, with the backing of Ciudadanos.

Other parties, including Basque and Catalan nationalist parties and the anti-bull fighting animal rights party PACMA, would take 32 seats and 11.3 percent of the votes, according to El Pais’ poll.

Oriol Junqueras, Catalonia’s former vice president, who faces a jail sentence of 25 years and has been behind bars for almost a year and a half, is on the list of the Catalan Republican Left for the general election and for the European Parliament.

Significantly, according to the El Pais poll, about 27 percent of those surveyed still could not say which way they would vote.

In such an uncertain scenario, the role of small parties such as the Catalan and Basque nationalists could be key.

Both polls also show that the Socialists could get a majority if they reached a parliamentary alliance with Ciudadanos, as they did in 2016, but the centre-right party has clearly ruled out that possibility.

The main candidates in Spain’s general election on Monday clashed over how to handle Catalonia’s independence drive, accusing each other of lying in a tense television debate that left questions open on what coalition deals could be struck.

None of the four candidates – Mr Sanchez, Pablo Casado, of the People’s Party, Albert Rivera, from Ciudadanos or Pablo Iglesias from left-wing Podemos – emerged as a clear winner from the late-night debate during which all except the anti-austerity Pablo Iglesias appeared quite tense, trading barbs and accusing the others of lying, being out of touch with reality and not doing enough to handle corruption cases within their respective parties.

Mr Casado, of the conservative People’s Party, and Mr Rivera, from the centre-right Ciudadanos, repeatedly accused Mr Sanchez of working against the country’s interest.

Vox was not invited to the debate and was not mentioned by name by any of the candidates, with only Sanchez mentioning its leader Santiago Abascal by name, to try and rally left-wing voters against the possibility of seeing a right-wing government backed by the far right.

Another TV debate among the same four candidates will follow this evening, giving them another chance to differentiate themselves ahead of the election.

Source: Read Full Article