Spain’s mainstream parties dominate EU elections

By Alyssa McMurtry

OVIEDO, Spain (AA) - Spain’s two centrist parties dominated the EU elections, with the conservative Popular Party (PP) securing a slight lead over the Socialist Party during Sunday's vote.

Of the 61 seats available to Spain, the PP won 22 and the Socialist Party won 20. In 2019, the country’s two dominant parties held just 34 seats combined.

The results of center-right and center-left parties mean that Spain will have among the largest representations in the EU’s two largest political groups — the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&D) and the European People’s Party (EPP).

At the same time, Spain saw some of Europe’s other larger political trends playing out on a national level, like the collapse of the liberals and growing support for the far-right.

Spain, meanwhile, saw its liberal party Cuidadanos fall completely off the map. This is a reflection of the larger European liberal political group Renew Europe emerging as the biggest loser of the vote.

The liberal party’s seven seats were absorbed mainly by the center-right Popular Party, but also by emergent alt-right parties.

The far-right party Vox came in third place and won nearly 10% of the vote and six seats — two more than in the 2019 elections.

At the same time, a new alt-right party broke onto the scene. Called The Party Is Over, it is formed around the popular anti-establishment social media figure Alvise Perez, who has faced several legal disputes around publishing misinformation.

The Party Is Over won nearly 5% of the popular vote and three seats — its first political representation ever.

And while the Greens–European Free Alliance lost a significant number of seats at the EU level, their support increased slightly between the two far-left parties Podemos and Sumar in Spain.

Together, both parties received five seats and nearly 8% of the popular vote, up one seat from 2019.

Ahora Republicas, a Spanish coalition of left-wing regionalist groups, also gained one seat, moving from two to three in the European Parliament.