RESULTS of the European Parliamentary elections show that Spain's 'big two' are losing ground, but the PP remains the most-voted party.
This said, despite fears of record abstention, slightly more voters in Spain went to the polls than in 2009 – of those eligible to cast their ballot, 45.84 per cent did so, compared to 44.9 per cent five years ago.
A total of 54.16 per cent abstained, whilst invalid votes – 290,000 overall – rose from 0.62 per cent to 1.82 per cent.
'Blank' votes as a form of protest totalled over 357,000, or 2.29 per cent, compared to 1.39 per cent five years ago.
Miguel Arias Cañete gave a triumphant 'we've won' speech as the final count was made public, revealing that the right-wing leaders of the central government got 26 per cent of the votes – the highest proportion of all.
The socialists, or PSOE, followed with 23 per cent.
But both suffered a drastic drop in popularity – the PP has lost eight seats in European Parliament, going from 24 to 16, and whereas four million people in Spain voted for them in yesterday's (Sunday's) MEP elections, a total of 6.6 million did so in 2009.
Despite a similar result, the PSOE was far from elated with its candidate, Elena Valenciano, calling the outcome 'disappointing' and stating that the party 'must reflect' on its strategies and how it can best give the public what they want.
The socialists have lost nine seats in the Hemicycle, leaving them with 14.
Although Spanish president Mariano Rajoy warned the public 'not to go for the little parties', claiming it would be a waste of a vote as they would 'never get in', the brand-new left-wing outfit Podemos ('We Can') scooped up five seats in European Parliament, and the Citizens for Europe (Ciudadanos por Europa) got two.
Unión, Progreso y Democracia (UPyD) won four seats, one more than in 2009, which was a cause for celebration for its leader Rosa Díez, who did not miss the chance to point out that Spain's long-standing bipartite régime was 'on its way out' as the PSOE and PP together had gone from winning 80 per cent of the country's votes to just 49 per cent.
Read more at thinkSPAIN.com