Spain Votes May 4 In Early Regional Elections

Madrid is voting Tuesday in an early regional election the incumbent conservative Popular Party is expected to win comfortably, dealing a blow to Spain’s Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez.

Isabel Diaz Ayuso, the outgoing leader of the key Madrid regional administration, has consistently pushed back against central government pressure to impose tighter virus restrictions.

The 42-year-old rising star in the PP argues keeping the economy afloat and preserving social interaction is also important for health.

On her watch, Madrid has had Spain’s lightest virus restrictions. It has been the only major European capital to keep bars, restaurants and theatres open with few restrictions since a nationwide lockdown ended in mid-2020.

Just over 5.1 million people are eligible to vote in the election in Spain’s richest region, which has been governed by the PP since 1995. Polling stations open at 9:00 am local time, closing at 8:00 pm, with results expected several hours later.

Final opinion polls give the PP party around 40-percent support, almost double their result in the May 2019 election.That would put them well ahead of the Socialists, whose backing in the opinion poll had dropped to 20 percent from just over 27 percent in 2019.

Depending on the scale of her victory Diaz Ayuso may yet still need the support of far-right Vox party to govern. But she has said that would not be “the end of the world”.

The early election was called by Diaz Ayuso in March after she broke up her ruling coalition with the centrist Ciudadanos party, which is expected to struggle to win any seats in this election.