Even a socialist stronghold like Seville changed hands in the last election. “Sánchez will use his charm in the next elections and will try to win back the support of the Spaniards in a personal capacity,” Hahn expects.
presidency of the EU
On July 1, Spain will assume the presidency of the European Union, currently it is Sweden. Just before Sweden became president, the country also just got a new government. “Then you are partly working out the plans made by the previous government,” Hahn also saw in Sweden. “Though there will be some accent differences here and there.” He doesn’t expect easy training in Spain and therefore doesn’t expect a new cabinet any time soon. ‘So it’s not the case that the Spanish plans need to be put in the fridge right away. But it’s impressive what happens there.’
Local and regional elections
The right-wing parties People’s Party (PP) and Vox did better than expected in last weekend’s elections. This is to the detriment of the PSOE and coalition partner Podemos. Sánchez argues that although it is a local and regional election, the outcome of the vote goes “beyond”. He says he takes personal responsibility for the outcome and that voters need to provide “clarity” about where the government should go and who should lead it.