Victory! Nobody won

Spain had a parliamentary election last night. Four big parties and a variety of small parties were running, and as expected, no party won a majority. In fact, no two parties added together amount to a majority. This is important because it takes a majority vote to elect a prime minister or, obviously, pass legislation.

The BBC has a report here, and the Guardian here. You can see excruciatingly detailed results at El País newspaper here (in Spanish).

Although the news reports make this result sound dire, it was what voters wanted – the polls confirmed this ahead of the election, so the outcome surprised no one. Voters wanted to force the parties to talk to each other, to negotiate and come to agreement rather than one party imposing its will on everyone and everything.

Imagine politicians compromising and working together. If that happens, what a victory Spanish voters have achieved. And what a change.

— Sue Burke