Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s Socialist Party suffered its second significant defeat in just two months during a snap regional election, highlighting declining support for the government across much of the country.
In Aragón’s 67-seat parliament, the conservative People’s Party secured 26 seats on Sunday, down from 28 in 2023, according to local government figures with 98% of votes tallied.
The Socialists fell to 18 seats from 23, while the far-right nationalist party Vox doubled its representation to 14 seats, claiming third place.
Late last year, the People’s Party (PP) announced three snap elections between December and March in regions it governs, aiming to reinforce its claim that Sánchez’s popularity is declining.
Another PP-governed region, Andalucía, Spain’s most populous, is expected to hold elections in June.
Sunday’s results mean the PP will again need support from Vox to form a government, as it did in 2023. This mirrors the December outcome in Extremadura, where the two parties have yet to reach a coalition agreement.
The election campaign in Aragón, a northeastern region of Spain with around 1.3 million residents, was largely dominated by debates over Sánchez’s national government policies, including a plan unveiled earlier this year to legalise around half a million immigrants.
Sánchez also asked his spokeswoman and Education Minister, Pilar Alegría, to resign from her post and run in the regional election.
The elections in Aragón and Extremadura highlighted Vox’s rising popularity, as the party gained seats in both regions. The nationalists’ growing support, fuelled largely by anti-establishment messaging, is causing concern within the PP. The next regional vote is scheduled for Castilla y León on 15th March.
Despite Sánchez’s government achieving the strongest economic growth among the EU’s largest nations in recent years, it has struggled to translate these achievements into voter backing.
Unemployment has dropped below pre-financial-crisis levels, public debt is declining, and the Bank of Spain projects 2.2% economic growth in 2026, well above the euro-area average.
The prime minister’s personal standing has also been weakened by several corruption scandals involving at least two of his closest aides as well as his wife.