PP Breathes Sigh Of Relief As It Retains Majority In Galicia Stronghold

Spain's main opposition centre-right Popular Party (PP) has narrowly retained its majority in the regional Parliament of Galicia in a development that will ease pressure on PP leader Alberto Nunez Feijóo. Galicia is Feijóo's home region where he served as regional president from 2009-22. It is an historic stronghold for the PP, which has held power in the autonomous community for all bar four years from 1990 onwards.

• In the 18 Feb election, the PP won 40 of the 75 seats, a loss of two. The left-wing regionalist Galician Nationalist Bloc won an additional six seats taking its total to 25. The centre-left Socialists' Party of Galicia, linked to PM Pedro Sánchez's PSOE, lost five, reducing its total to nine - its lowest-ever representation.
• The Guardian notes, "When Feijóo let slip [...] that he was not opposed to pardoning the Catalan politicians who led the failed independence push in 2017 it threatened to derail the Galicia campaign, given that his party opposes any form of amnesty. However,[...]voters were more willing to forgive Feijóo than they were Sánchez, whose pact with the Catalans was being blamed for his party’s poor showing in the first significant election since he secured another term as prime minister."
• The Spanish gov't remains vulnerable to instability and fragmentation given its reliance on regionalist and separatist parties. Poor results in regional votes due to public antipathy to the gov't working with Catalan separatists could see PSOE lawmakers opposed to the amnesties become more vocal, posing a greater risk to Sanchez.