MADRID (AP) — Madrid residents are voting Tuesday for a new regional assembly in an election that tests the depths of resistance to virus lockdown measures and the divide between left and right-wing parties. The early election was called by a conservative regional president who is trying to broaden her power base after she dissolved her center-right coalition. Madrid President Isabel Díaz Ayuso has made a name for herself by criticizing the national government’s handling of the pandemic and by resisting the strictest infection-control measures. The Madrid region is Spain’s main economic engine and the country’s busiest transportation hub. It’s home to 14% of Spain’s 47 million people but has recorded nearly one-fifth of the country’s 3.5 million confirmed virus cases and of the national pandemic death toll of over 78,000.
