Spain is heading for a period of difficult coalition-building after Sunday’s elections in which Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy's conservatives came first, but were far short of a majority and with no obvious coalition partner after the centrist Ciudadanos (Citizens) did worse than expected, finishing fourth.
Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy on Friday rejected any idea of his ruling Popular Party (PP) trying to form a grand coalition with the main opposition Socialist Party (PSOE) after Sunday's general election, in a bid to stop emerging political forces Podemos and Ciudadanos from entering government.
Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy was accused of being unfit to govern by his socialist challenger Pedro Sanchez on Monday night in an unusually ferocious election debate held before this week's general election. Sanchez performance makes him a first line contender for highest office in Spain, even if Rajoy's party as forecasted wins the election
The latest surveys on the Spanish legislative elections to be held next Sunday, predict a victory for the ruling center-right People's Party, or PP, but without an absolute majority, so the party will have to form a coalition to establish a government.
Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy announced on Monday his government would file an appeal with the Constitutional Court to ensure that an independence declaration backed by the Catalan regional parliament has “no consequences”, he told a news conference.