“I am not one to elude responsibilities, the results are very bad,” Popular Party leader Pablo Casado told a dejected crowd at his party’s headquarters in Madrid. But the votes that the Popular Party lost went to its closest ideological competitors. The centre-right Citizens party, which was participating in its third national election, also improved its share of seats to 57 seats and can aspire to soon overtake the Popular Party. Citizens persuaded some Popular Party members to leave the party and join its ranks during the campaign, including the former president of the Madrid region. Vox and Citizens both stole away what had been the banner cause of the Popular Party: the fight against Catalonia’s separatists.

Source: National Post April 29, 2019 00:05 UTC