Stalemate drags on as socialist party loses crucial seat

Spain's socialist party has suffered a setback in its efforts to form a new leftwing coalition government after last month's inconclusive election as a count of overseas votes handed a crucial seat across to the opposition conservatives.

- Sam Jones

The result means the left and right blocs are now neck and neck as MPs prepare for a vote in congress that will determine who gets to govern.

The left's hopes of remaining in power now rest even more firmly on Junts, the centre-right Catalan pro-independence party led by Carles Puigdemont, the former regional president who fled Spain to avoid arrest over his role in the failed unilateral bid for independence almost six years ago.

Although the rightwing People's party (PP) won the snap election, it fell well short of expectations and only narrowly beat the Spanish Socialist Workers' party (PSOE), led by the acting prime minister, Pedro Sánchez.

Faced with another hung parliament, the PSOE had appeared to be the major party most likely to be able to cobble together the parliamentary numbers to win an investiture vote. But the overseas vote, which was counted and factored into the overall result on 23 July, means the right and the left bloc now each have 171 seats in the 350-seat congress.

Should the small Canarian Coalition party ditch its stated aversion to supporting any PP government that includes the far-right Vox party, the right bloc's seat count could rise to 172.