The election result in the Balearics

The Partido Popular must decide whether they govern alone without a majority

Jaime Martínez, Marga Prohens and Llorenç Galmés raise their thumbs in victory last night in Palma. | M.A. CAÑELLAS

Jason MoorePalma01/06/2023 15:30

The bubble burst on Sunday. No-one had predicted that the Partido Popular and Vox would have such success at the ballot box. The polls had hinted that a right-wing coalition could win in Palma and possibly the Balearic government but I am sure that no-one envisaged such a landslide. Not only were the Spanish Socialist Party (PSOE) ousted, the liberal Ciudadanos and the nationalist PI were wiped out, the far-left Podemos saw their share of the vote nosedive. Even the nationalists at Mes have their problems. So didn’t anyone see this coming?

The simple answer is no but the more you talk to voters the more convinced I am that this result was always on the cards. People were not happy with everything from the building work on the Paseo Maritimo to the ban on cruise ships to the new law which appears to benefit squatters. Everyone had their reasons. If you put all these reasons together you have a landslide for the opposition. To be honest I am not even sure that the Partido Popular or Vox ran a good campaign. They got their message out but it was an election campaign with the handbrake on. What can we expect in the following weeks and months?

Plenty of political wrangling for sure. The Partido Popular must decide whether they govern alone without a majority or they open the doors to Vox, something many of their members will not like. A day is a long time in politics and on Sunday it was a question of a few hours. The right are back and only time will tell whether the voters got it right.