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Spanish Premier Strengthens Hand Before Push to Form Government

Spanish Premier Strengthens Hand Before Push to Form Government

(Bloomberg) -- Spain’s acting prime minister, Pedro Sanchez, strengthened his hand ahead of talks to form a government with his Socialists winning European elections and dominating local votes.

Even so, the result in the bellwether region of Madrid took some off the shine off Sanchez’s evening as the conservative People’s Party held on to a stronghold it has defended for 24 years.

The overall result gives 47-year-old Sanchez momentum as he begins talks aimed at forming a governing majority after his victory in last month’s general election. While the Socialists have almost double the seats of the next biggest party, they are well short of an absolute majority, so Sanchez needs to negotiate with the anti-austerity force Podemos and regional groups -- potentially including Catalan separatists -- to secure his path to power.

Spain’s constitutional model is heavily decentralized, meaning parties vie for preeminence in regional elections that hand them powers over tax revenue and large budgets including health and education.

Helping Socialist candidates win power across the country will also bolster Sanchez’s standing within his party. A weaker-than-expected showing by Podemos -- the party failed to make ground in European elections and performed poorly in Madrid and elsewhere -- may bolster Sanchez’s ambition to rule without having to invite it to participate directly in his government.

Voters in 12 of Spain’s 17 regions were electing new administrations on Sunday with the biggest battle being staged over Madrid, an economic powerhouse that wields a 20 billion-euro ($22.4 billion) budget.

With 94% of votes counted, the Socialists were the most voted party with 37 seats. But with its left-wing allies including Podemos only adding a further 27 seats, that wasn’t enough to wrest control of the 132-seat chamber from the embattled PP.

To contact the reporters on this story: Charles Penty in Madrid at cpenty@bloomberg.net;Rodrigo Orihuela in Madrid at rorihuela@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Chad Thomas at cthomas16@bloomberg.net, Flavia Krause-Jackson

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