PP still wants to govern alone despite losing majority in Sunday’s regional election 

The acting president of the regional government of Andalusia, the Partido Popular’s Juanma Moreno Bonilla, said on Monday that his aim was to govern alone following the Andalusian election on Sunday, in which his party lost its absolute majority. 

The PP ended up with 53 seats in the regional parliament, down from 58 in 2022. 

That left it two seats short of the 55-seat majority in the 109-seat parliament and means the PP will need the support of the far-right Vox for Mr Moreno’s investiture. 

The PSOE won 28 seats, two fewer than the 30 it obtained in the previous regional elections and its worst result in an Andalusian regional election, while Vox remains the third-largest force and won 15 seats, up from the 14 members of parliament it secured four years ago. 

Mr Moreno, who had rejected a coalition with Vox during the campaign, reiterarted that position yesterday. 

“The result is sufficiently decisive and the sensible thing is to respect what the majority of Andalusians have decided, which is to govern alone,” he said. 

Mr Moreno said the Andalusian PP had fallen 21,000 votes short of an absolute majority, while acknowledging that parliamentary arithmetic would require his party to seek agreements. 

Mr Moreno said the result could allow him to form a “single-party government”, arguing that the party’s 53 seats represented a “solid majority” and gave it “room for manoeuvre.” 

He also appeared to send an early message to Vox, added: “We have a priority, which is Andalusia.” The far-right party had campaigned on a slogan of “national priority”. 

The Andalusian Parliament is due to be constituted on June 11, by which point it will be clearer whether there has been progress toward an agreement. 

Mr Moreno would need either Vox’s backing in the first round of voting for his investiture as president of the regional government, or its abstention during the second round of voting, which is based solely on simple majority.

But it was clear on Monday that the party would seek a hefty price for that support.

“There are many people in the Partido Popular who are in a hurry to divide up the positions of power,” said Vox spokesman Manuel Gavira. 

“We are in a great hurry to change Andalusia’s course and change the policies in Andalusia.” 

“That is what we expect, that the Government of Andalusia has taken note and listens to what Andalusians have asked for.” 

“Moreno Bonilla ran in these elections asking not to depend on Vox, and Andalusians have told him that he has to come to an understanding with us, as his colleagues have done in Extremadura and Aragón and, sooner rather than later, it will happen in Castilla y León as well.” 

“We understand that the national priority is possible, and it has been done in Extremadura and will be done in Aragón and in Castilla y León.” 

Sunday’s results mean the PP now needs to seek support from Vox, which has consolidated its position. 

But the focus on the PP means less is being said about the leftwing regionalist part Adelante Andalucia, which took fourth place with eight seats, after having had two MPs in the regional parliament over the past four years. 

Meanwhile, the Por Andalucía coalition, which includes IU and Podemos along with other left-wing forces, won five seats, the same number as in the last legislature. 

Overall, it means parties on the left in Andalucia managed to increase their overall position despite the Socialist’s poor performance. 

Turnout in Sunday’s election rose to 64.83%, up nearly 9% from the last regional election. 

100x100 Unidos, the new regional party championed by La Linea mayor Juan Franco, fell well short of securing it first MP in the Andalusian parliament. 

In the Campo de Gibraltar, the most voted party was the PP, though at 35.5% across the eight municipalities it was down on the previous result for 2022 when it obtained over 40% in most Campo communities. 

In second place were the Socialists and Vox with around 18% of the Campo total, though the result means different things for each party.  

For the PSOE, it represented a drop in support, whereas for Vox it meant sustained growth from the last regional election, particularly in Algeciras. 

In La Linea, while 100x100 Unidos failed to secure support for an MP in the regional parliament, the party had the strongest support with over 31% in the city, and just over 10% of the Campo total. 

Adelante Andalucia secured 9% of the total Campo vote. 

The results deliver three regional MPs for the Campo, including Pilar Pintor for the PP, Rocio Arrabal for the PSOE and Leticia Blanco for the Adelante Andalucia.