Spain Election 2023: Polls opened at 07:00 GMT in potentially close-run general elections highlighted by ideological divides
Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez of the Socialist Workers Party (PSOE) will face off against Alberto Nunez Feijoo of the right-wing People’s Party.
As Spain endures a scorching summer, the postal office revealed on Friday that 2.4 million postal ballots had already been cast.
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LIVE UPDATE
21:22 – Vox anticipates that it will not be an obstacle for “the alternative”, but warns that it will not “give away” its votes
The general secretary of Vox, Ignacio Garriga, has called for “prudence” in the face of the data provided by the general election polls and assures that it will not be an obstacle to forming an “alternative” to Sánchez but he is not going to “give away” his votes.
21:02 – Feijóo arrives at the PP headquarters to follow the recount of the results of the general elections of 23-J live
The leader of the PP and candidate for the Presidency of the Government, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, has arrived at the national headquarters of the Popular Party after 8:30 p.m. to follow the electoral count of the general elections this Sunday, accompanied by several members of his team.
This morning, after depositing his vote in the ballot box, Feijóo has indicated to the media that everything that Spain “speaks clearly and clearly will be good for the Spanish.”
20:48 – Vox calls for “prudence” before knowing the results of the elections
For now, Vox is avoiding any reaction to the polls known in the last few minutes: “Prudence, let’s wait for the final results,” asks Ignacio Garriga.
According to Sigma Dos, Vox would go from 52 deputies to a range between 24 and 27.
In the case of GAD3, those of Santiago Abascal would be around 31 seats.
A sharp drop that at the moment does not worry the Vox management, which denies any type of credibility to the polls.
- Reports Vicente Coll.
12:33 – Guardiola predicts “magnificent results” for the PP
The president of the Junta de Extremadura, María Guardiola, voted this morning at CEIP El Vivero de Cáceres, where she indicated that she is convinced that the Popular Party will obtain “magnificent results” that will allow Alberto Núñez Feijóo to form “a stable government”, reports David Vigario.
Guardiola has stressed that these positive feelings are what “the people on the street, the people of Extremadura, are transmitting to us”.
In this sense, she said that “people are looking forward to a change in our country”, because in his opinion “there will be a very important participation and it will result in a sufficient majority for the PP”, since Spain needs “a stable government” and that “it begins to look at Extremadura”.
And she added that this region “needs to grow and for that it is essential that we have the support of the Government of Spain”, for which he has shown his confidence that Feijóo can obtain this Sunday “a sufficient majority to be able to have a stable Government, a serious Government and above all a Government that is committed to our land”, she concluded.
12:20 – The spokeswoman and the head of the PNG list vote in Galicia
The national spokesperson for the BNG, Ana Pontón, and the head of the list for the province of La Coruña, Néstor Rego, encouraged citizens to participate because today “we Galicians and Galicians are risking our future and rights and freedoms,” reports Natalia Puga. Pontón accompanied the head of the list to vote and then the BNG leader voted at the Galician Center for Contemporary Art (CGAC).
Rego encouraged Galician men and women to vote with confidence: “it is time for Galicia and for Galician men and women to decide which country we want for the future”.
12:11 – Alternatives for Valencia train passengers
Renfe has enabled transport alternatives for five services that have been affected by the suspension of train circulation in Valencia due to an incident in a tunnel, reports Noa de la Torre.
Thus, Renfe, as one of the operating companies of the service, has informed that the travelers of the two AVEs -one departing from Castelló and the other from Valencia- who had been detained since 7:50 a.m. at the València Joaquín Sorolla station have been transferred on an Alvia by conventional route to Albacete and, from this city, they will continue to Madrid by AVE.
As for the two AVE detained in Chamartín and Atocha bound for Valencia, the passengers travel by AVE to Albacete and from there they will continue in Alvia to the Valencian capital.
Finally, for the users of an AVLO from Madrid Chamartín detained in the Valencian town of Requena, a bus transfer to Joaquín Sorolla has been enabled, Renfe sources have detailed.
12:00 – Juanma Moreno asks to “make room” today to vote
The president of the Andalusian PP, Juanma Moreno, has encouraged all Andalusians to “make room” today to go vote “and commit to the institutions and our democracy by exercising their free right,” reports Silvia Moreno.
And after stressing that “Spain has a lot at stake”, he pointed out the importance of going to the polls because “Spain has to avoid any possible blockade in the future that could lead to institutional paralysis and new elections, and this can only be achieved with massive participation”.
After exercising his right to vote at the Colegio Sagrado Corazón school in Malaga, Moreno has acknowledged that this is an atypical election, “because they are held in the middle of summer, with some cities at more than 40 degrees”, also pointing out that it is the third election in Andalusia in a year.
“But not because everything is so repetitive, you have to stop voting,” she insisted.
At this point, and after being convinced that the entire day will pass with the institutional and democratic normality of other electoral events, he has indicated that in the PP “we are hoping to reap the fruits of the work carried out with the support and affection of the citizens”.
“We have hope for a better future and for the political project in which we represent ourselves”
11:36 – The PSOE denounces Senate ballots “marked PP in envelopes” in booths at the Los Villares school
The PSOE of Jaén has filed a complaint in the early hours of this Sunday, July 23, with the Zone Electoral Board after detecting in the electoral college of Los Villares “previously printed Senate ballots in favor of the three PP candidates, as well as PP ballots for Congress stuffed inside envelopes, all of them in the voting booths of the aforementioned college.”
As reported by the PSOE in a statement, this fact has forced the provisional stoppage of voting at 09:34 am in the only polling station in this municipality of Jaén.
For its part, the PP has denied in another note any relationship with the appearance of these “marked” ballots and stresses that voting “continues normally.”
The complaint presented by the Socialists before the Electoral Board attached a video “proving the existence of the aforementioned ‘pre-marked’ ballots within the envelopes that were in the booths of this polling station.”
11:27 – Otegi’s ‘wink’ to the ETA members
The general coordinator of EH Bildu has worn the same T-shirt with the message Freedom (Freedom) that he wore on October 18, 2021 in Eibar when he confessed to a group of militants that he would support any Sánchez budget to get the “200 prisoners” of ETA out of jails, reports Josean Izarra.
Otegi has used the white shirt throughout the campaign, even with a jacket, in interventions without any reference to the situation of the approximately 130 ETA members who continue to be imprisoned.
11:16 – The PP demands “immediate” action before the suspension of trains between Valencia and Madrid on election day
The general secretary of the PP in Madrid, Alfonso Serrano, has criticized “that the trains full of Madrid residents cannot leave Valencia due to a problem in a tunnel” right on election day and has demanded “urgent and immediate” action.
“What a coincidence, right?” Serrano expressed through his Twitter account.
In addition, he has pointed out that “nobody tells them anything” and has made it ugly that Adif does not propose alternatives on buses. “Does anyone want them to turn around?” He has suggested.
