These are the first elections of the new electoral cycle after 2 years without polls in Spain, and the results confirm what the surveys predicted: The PP will continue to govern in Extremadura after achieving 43% of the vote and 29 seats (up from 28). Meanwhile, the PSOE collapses (dropping from 28 seats—equal to the PP’s previous count—to 18), and the fringes on both sides are rising: the right (Vox goes from 5 to 11 seats) and the left (Podemos goes from 4 to 7).
With a low turnout (62% of the just over one million voters called to the polls), the President of Extremadura has slightly improved her 2023 result and will be able to continue governing the region. However, she cannot escape the pressure from the far-right, which has surged spectacularly in an autonomous community that has traditionally been a PSOE stronghold. The PSOE—with a candidate awaiting trial (accused of hand-picking Pedro Sánchez’s brother)—is collapsing amid allegations of corruption and sexism. At the same time, it is paying the price at the polls for the national policies of Pedro Sánchez, who in 2023 went from promising to bring the leader of the Catalan coup, Carles Puigdemont, before the courts, to granting him amnesty and seeking his support to remain in La Moncloa.
The Spanish Government’s other partner, Sumar—the political force led by Yolanda Díaz—lacks a national structure and chose not to run in Extremadura. However, the party it originated from, Podemos, did run. Today, Podemos rivals Sumar at the polls and has spent years labeling Yolanda Díaz a traitor and describing the current government as ‘exhausted,’ to the point of causing constant parliamentary defeats for the PSOE-Sumar government in Madrid.
The PSOE’s debacle and the rise of Podemos are a major blow to the coalition government. Despite this, political columnists aligned with the PSOE and Sumar emphasize that María Guardiola and the PP have failed to achieve their greatest ambition: freeing themselves from the tutelage of the far-right, which has consistently seen its electoral prospects improve since Pedro Sánchez took office.
However, they avoid pointing out that for the far-right Vox to truly influence the PP government’s agenda, it would have to threaten to vote against it and align itself with PSOE and Podemos—something that would be unprecedented and incomprehensible, both in Extremadura and throughout Spain. If Vox chooses not to support the PP but also not to align itself with PSOE and Podemos—as seems most likely—the PP should be able to govern in a minority without too many problems.
