In fact, far-left incumbent mayors lost tight elections in Spain’s two largest cities, Madrid and Barcelona. The Socialists secured 20 of the 54 seats granted to Spanish lawmakers within the European Parliament, according to preliminary results, up from the 14 seats that the Socialists had previously held. A former leader of Catalonia, Carles Puigdemont, was elected on Sunday to the European Parliament, as was his former deputy in the Catalan government, Oriol Junqueras. Sunday’s election puts into question the survival of Pablo Iglesias as leader of the far-left Unidas Podemos party. Having transformed Podemos into Spain’s third-largest party in 2015, Mr. Iglesias has more recently presided over the fracturing of his party as well as election setbacks.

Source: New York Times May 27, 2019 02:15 UTC