The conservatives aren’t happy either
This is a bitterly disappointing result for Moreno. While the PP confirmed its overall dominance in Andalusia, winning in all eight provinces, the loss of five seats and its parliamentary majority by a narrow margin is a blow. “It’s an overwhelming victory, but it’s not enough,” said José Manuel Trujillo, a political scientist at Seville’s Pablo de Olavide University. Trujillo largely attributed the loss of seats to voters to the PP’s left and right, who had not turned out four years ago, but did so this time.
The Andalusian president has become the most prominent moderate voice in the PP, marking out a centrist path away from the theatrics of Madrid. Going into this election, Moreno’s vía andaluza (“Andalusian way”) was being touted as a possible strategy for PP national leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo to replicate, who has struggled to find a clear position on the political spectrum.
But, with Moreno falling short, attention will shift to the approach of the conservatives’ other high-profile regional baron, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, the hard-line president of Madrid. She has won a parliamentary majority with a very different style from Moreno’s: by looking to her right and occupying Vox’s populist territory. Ayuso congratulated her Andalusian counterpart on his “absolute defeat of Pedro Sánchez”, but many will see this as vindication of her own uncompromising style.
Feijóo will now have to work out how to best harness these rival camps in the election build-up.
Far-right Vox party is celebrating
Andalusia is the region where the far-right party first made a tangible impact on the Spanish political landscape by winning seats in the region’s parliament in 2018. Although it only gained one new seat on Sunday, triggering some speculation that the party might have reached its electoral ceiling, Vox is poised to enter talks with Moreno as he seeks to form a new administration — unless he can engineer an unlikely deal with the left.
So far, Moreno has said he plans to govern alone, given how close he is to a majority. However, even if he does not form a coalition with Vox, he is expected to attempt to secure the party’s parliamentary support.
