- Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez called a snap election, for April 28, on Friday. Sánchez became Prime Minister in May, after the first successful vote of no confidence in modern Spanish history. The announcement comes two days after his Socialist government was defeated in Congress, and failed to pass its budget.
- This will be Spain’s third election in four years. After four decades of alternating rule, between the center-left Socialists and conservative Popular Party, Spain’s relatively-stable party system began fragmenting in 2015.
- The center-right opposition wasted little time criticizing Sánchez for negotiating with Catalan separatists. “Even a seven-year-old girl can understand it: you can’t govern a country with someone who wants to liquidate your country,” Citizens Party leader Albert Rivera said Sunday.
- Sánchez’s Socialists are predicted to win the most seats, but fall well short of a majority. The conservative Popular Party would be next, followed by the center-right Citizens. Political newcomers Vox could finish fourth, or even third, and become the first far-right party in Congress since the death of Francisco Franco.
- Franco, (still) dead since 1975, will be exhumed from the Valley of the Fallen near Madrid, the government announced on Friday. His family will then have fifteen days to choose an alternative resting place. Congress decreed the dictator be exhumed in August, but the process has been delayed several months.
Vamonos! Spanish Prime Minister Calls Snap Election
