![Europeans 2024: in Spain, the right wins the elections but the socialists resist Europeans 2024: in Spain, the right wins the elections but the socialists resist](https://media.lesechos.com/api/v1/images/view/666679160a45ce0daa70db4e/1280x720/01101772146601-web-tete.jpg)
Victory night for the People’s Party (PP). The moderate right-wing party comes first in Sunday’s European elections in Spain. With 34.18% and 22 seats, the PP of Dolors Montserrat gains nine elected officials and is ahead of the socialists of the PSOE, who lose one deputy and collect 30.2% (20 seats). At the end of this electoral day marked by abstention, since one in two Spaniards did not vote, the Vox ultras strengthened themselves as the third force with 10.4% (6 seats), a significantly higher result to 6.28% in 2019.
The parties to the left of the socialists obtain modest scores, with 4.64% (3 elected) for Sumar, and 3.27% (2 elected) for Podemos, while the liberal Ciudadanos has disappeared from the list. chessboard. The meeting of the Catalan, Basque and Galician independence left brings together 4.3% (3 elected), and the alliance of moderate Basque and Canarian nationalists obtains a seat, as do the Catalans de Junts, the party of Carles Puigdemont, even if the latter was not a candidate.
Far-right YouTuber
The big surprise of the evening was the emergence of competition for Vox on the far right, with the emergence of the list “Se Acabo la Fiesta” (“the party is over”), led by a YouTuber from extreme right which managed to obtain 3.9% (3 seats) with the sole program of denouncing political corruption. “The European elections are the right place to try to launch new political projects,” commented political scientist Lluis Orriols, professor at Carlos III University, in the evening. “It is too early to know whether this is a fleeting experience or whether it is a training course that will become a lasting part of the Spanish landscape. »
In the meantime, it is clear that the ultra temptation is increasingly strong among Spanish voters, especially among the youngest. By adding Vox and Se Acabo la Fiesta, the far-right vote approaches 15% and risks becoming problematic for the traditional right, which will have to define the distances to take. On the left, the Socialist Party accuses the PP of having “fueled” the monster by favoring the expansion of rumors and disinformation as a strategy for destroying the adversary.
Launching ramp
But for the moment, the leader of the Popular Party, Alberto Nuñez Feijoo, is enjoying his revenge after his failed inauguration last September. This time, he sees himself on the launching pad for the conquest of the government. “We are facing a new political cycle. These results are the best for the PP in twenty-five years,” he exulted on Sunday evening from his party headquarters.
In Madrid, Europe and the future alliance games in Brussels take a back seat. The electoral campaign was conducted through the prism of national politics, in a context of strong polarization, as the PP leader called for transforming the vote into a plebiscite against Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, against a backdrop of accusations of corruption and influence peddling linked to the activities of his wife.
Try a new “remontada”
The latter had mobilized strongly in recent weeks, to try to reverse the unfavorable polls which gave his rivals a 10-point lead. He had tried the strategy of counterattack which had succeeded so well until then, calling for a new “remontada” to block the road to a possible alliance of the right in Brussels. Even if the gap has narrowed, this time the rebound was not sufficient and the right was ahead of it by two seats.
However, there is no question of letting go of the bar for Pedro Sanchez. “The PSOE has become the only government option capable of confronting the ultra wave sweeping across Europe and Spain,” the socialist leader reacted Sunday evening, welcoming his party’s results and committing to “continue to consolidate a Europe of progress and progress”.