Spain’s Socialists suffer record Andalusia defeat
Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez delivers a speech during the Spanish Socialists Party (PSOE) closing campaign rally for Andalusia regional elections in Seville on May 15, 2026.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s Socialists suffered a historical drubbing in a regional election in Andalusia in what could be a dress rehearsal for a national vote next year, final results showed Monday.The Socialists won just 28 seats in the 109-seat regional parliament, down two from four years ago, in May 17’s vote, according to results with 99.9 percent of ballots counted.After resounding defeats for the left in three previous regional elections, the debacle in Andalusia will be particularly painful for Sanchez, whose candidate is his former deputy Maria Jesus Montero.The defeat follows recent losses for the Socialists in Aragon and Castile, Extremadura and Leon regions, increasing pressure on Sanchez before a general election expected in 2027.Andalusia, a sun-soaked tourist magnet famed for its beach resorts and historic cities such as Seville and Granada, was governed by the Socialists for nearly 40 years until the conservative People’s Party (PP) took power in 2019.One of the biggest surprises of the night was the strong showing of the left-wing regional party Adelante Andalucia, which went from two seats to eight.The PP this time won 53 seats, but fell short of an outright majority and is expected to rely on the support of the far-right party Vox to govern.The result marked a partial disappointment for Andalusian President Juan Manuel Moreno, whose PP party lost five seats compared with the previous regional election in 2022.Vox came third with 15 seats, one more than previously, strengthening its leverage in negotiations with Moreno.“Andalusians have given us a clear mandate to continue the transformation of Andalusia,” Moreno said after the result. He had relied on Vox support to govern the region since 2019.
