Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has announced a snap general election on 23 July after his centre-left party PSOE suffered a crushing defeat at regional and municipal elections on Sunday.
Initially scheduled for December of this year, the PM has bought the elections forward to the end of July, with the future of his minority government in doubt amidst growing gains from the centre-right and far-right.
After winning the 2019 general election, the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) has led the Spanish Government in coalition with the radical left-wing party, Podemos.
However, the country has since seen a shift to the right, with PSOE's conservative rivals, Partido Popular (PP), as the firm favourites to lead the next government. Moreover, the far-right party Vox has positioned itself as the country's third-largest political force.
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The re-emergence of the Spanish right was demonstrated by Sunday's regional and municipal election results, in which PP won an absolute majority in the Spanish capital of Madrid while also gaining control of other regions across the country, such as Valencia and Aragón.
It now remains to be seen whether these local gains will be reflected on the national level when Spaniards head to the polling stations at the end of July. However, the most recent polls have already put PP on 31%, six points ahead of PSOE who are at 26%, and Vox on 15%.
These elections could see a far-right party enter into government for the first time since Spain became a democracy in 1978, with PP refusing to rule out going into coalition with the far-right party Vox.
