Spain election set for poll deadlock

Spain's far-right Vox Party supporters attend the closing election campaign event in Madrid. Photo / AP

Spain is preparing for weeks of fraught coalition negotiations as polls suggest today's election is unlikely to deliver a clear winner.

Amid a surge in support for the hard-right, the country is facing a fragmented political landscape.

Vox, a start-up group that has burst on to the scene, carving up support among the traditional conservative parties, is expected to win its first seats — and the first representation at a national level for the hard-right in Spain since the fascist era. But they are unlikely to prevent the governing Socialist Party (PSOE) from being the biggest party, with support for the left hardening in the face of Vox's brash nationalism.

Party leaders warned of the potential for stalemate for a country that has been through its third general election in four years.

Pedro Sánchez, the Socialist Prime Minister, urged PSOE voters to turn up en masse. He warned of the possibility of the "extreme-right being at the controls".

Sánchez has regularly been accused of being a "danger" to the unity of Spain by right-wing opponents due to his reliance on Catalan pro-independence parties during his 10-month minority government.

Pablo Casado, the conservative Popular Party (PP) leader, reached out to those tempted to jump on the Vox bandwagon. "We've already changed; we've already mended our ways."

The only way the PP can return to power is via a coalition with the liberal Ciudadanos and Vox. Sánchez's best chance of holding on to power is by striking a deal with left-wing ally Podemos and Basque nationalists. Neither of these hypothetical blocs are guaranteed to win even a slender majority.