Spain Votes in Key Election Likely to End Era of Two-Party Dominance
- 8 years ago
Spaniards were voting Sunday in a watershed election that will likely mark the end of an era of two-party dominance and kick off an uncertain period of bargaining over the makeup of the next government.
Pre-election polls showed that corruption scandals and high unemployment had sharply eroded support for Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy's conservative Popular Party and the opposition Socialists, which have alternated power for a third of a century.
Two upstart parties, the far-left Podemos and the centrist Ciudadanos, rode a surge of enthusiasm from younger voters eager for change.
Together, the polls indicated, the two parties were set to capture as much as 40% of the vote.
Pre-election polls showed that corruption scandals and high unemployment had sharply eroded support for Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy's conservative Popular Party and the opposition Socialists, which have alternated power for a third of a century.
Two upstart parties, the far-left Podemos and the centrist Ciudadanos, rode a surge of enthusiasm from younger voters eager for change.
Together, the polls indicated, the two parties were set to capture as much as 40% of the vote.