Spain’s repeat polls ended on Monday with the incumbent conservatives appearing to have won the most seats tailed closely by a far-left coalition led by Podemos, exit polls said.
The election came just three days after Britain’s shock vote to leave the European Union, pitting those hungry for change in a country with high unemployment against those who fear it would torpedo Spain’s slow economic recovery. If the results are confirmed, this would be a historic shift in Spain with the Unidos Podemos coalition replacing the 137-year-old, crisis-hit Socialists as the country’s main left-wing force.
Podemos was only created just over two years ago on the back of the Indignants anti-austerity protest movement, and has experienced a meteoric rise with charismatic, pony-tailed Pablo Iglesias at the helm.