Pact likely to keep Aguirre from Madrid mayoral position

THE reigning Popular Party (PP) has been in power in Madrid for the past 24 years, yet despite being the most-voted party in the Spanish capital, Sunday’s municipal elections saw its support take a nose dive.
Now the potential to take power lies in the hands of Ahora Madrid, the grouping backed by new party Podemos, if it decides to form a pact with the socialists, PSOE.
Rising party Ciudadanos took 11.4 per cent of the vote in Madrid, and seven seats along with it, whilst United Left (IU) and Union, Progress and Democracy (UPyD) were left empty-handed, having failed to win the minimum 5 per cent of the vote required for representation in the assembly.
If Ahora Madrid is unable to establish a pact to reach an absolute majority, the PP will continue its influence over the Spanish capital, and Esperanza Aguirre would, in turn automatically become mayor in a second vote.
The PP was just 10,000 votes short of taking one more seat from Ahora Madrid, which would have ruled out the possibility of a leftist alliance.
Speaking to the press, at around midnight, Esperanza Aguirre highlighted that her party had been the most-voted “both in the region and in the council,” and that it had also won 119 of the 179 municipalities in the Madrid region.
Speaking as mayoral candidate, she said: “We have won: according to the law, as the most-voted party, we will hold City Hall provided that there is no agreement between other parties.”