Conservatives win Andalusian elections, but need far-right to rule

The conservative Popular Party won elections in Spain's southern Andalusia region but lost its absolute majority, results showed on Monday, meaning it will need to form an alliance with the far-right Vox party to stay in power.

Sunday's vote in Spain's most populous region was a test of political strength ahead of national elections due next year. The same right-wing coalition hopes to oust Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez from power after nine years of left-wing rule.

Issues such as public health deficiencies, drug trafficking, and unemployment played a significant role in the Andalusian campaign.

The PP won the largest share of the vote, or 53 seats, less than the 58 it had in 2022 and below the absolute majority of 55 in the regional parliament, which has 109 seats.

The Socialists lost two seats and won a total of 28, the party's worst result in its former electoral stronghold, while Vox won 15 seats, one more than in the previous election.

The left-wing regionalist party Adelante Andalucía increased to eight seats, from two four years ago, while the left-wing alliance Por Andalucía retained its previous five seats.

"We said it would be complicated. We came up short," said PP regional leader Juanma Moreno, who campaigned promising a moderate government without Vox.

The PP has already reached coalition agreements with Vox in the regions of Extremadura and Aragon, and will likely do so in Castile and Leon in the coming weeks.

Socialist candidate Maria Jesus Montero, who until now was the budget minister and first vice-president of the Sanchez government, acknowledged the poor results and promised that her party would learn from its mistakes.

Andalusia was a strongly socialist region until 2018, when anger at the political establishment led to a surge in support for Vox. Then, for the first time in Spain's democratic history, the PP reached an agreement with the far right to secure its support, but that arrangement ended in 2022 after the PP won an absolute majority.