Brexit Disaster May Have Influenced Spanish Vote

I don’t want to read too much into one election, but the results from the general election in Spain on Sunday seem to indicate that the predicted disaster for the British economy after voting to leave the EU may have actually reduced the desire for radical change among voters within the EU.  These elections were essentially a repeat of an election from six months ago in which no party was able to put together a governing coalition.  The expectations were that the more radical Podemos Party would supplant the Socialists to be the dominant party on the left. But Podemos was not able to win any additional seats and the other left-wing emerging party, Cuidadanos, actually lost eight seats, while the Socialists lost only five.

The big winner was the Popular Party, led by Mariano Rajoy, which gained 14 seats and now look likely to be able to form a government.  In the prior election, the Popular party had won the most seats but could not find enough partners to put together a governing coalition. Mr. Rajoy had campaigned on a platform of unity and continuity in the face of crisis within the European Union and it appears that the people responded to that message. Certainly, the collapse of the pound and stock market in the UK after the Brexit vote probably gave pause to many voters. And that disaster may be a warning to others who are thinking of an EU exit.