| Summary/Abstract |
Spain finds itself at an impasse: currently without government, no immediate solution is in sight. Mariano Rajoy and his right-of-centre Partido Popular/Popular Party (PP) received more votes than any other political formation at the general elections held on 20 December 2015, but were significantly short of an absolute majority; even if their MPs had been pooled with those of Ciudadanos—the most market-driven of the recent political start-ups—this would be insufficient to form a government, and none of the other major political parties were willing to play ball with a leader who has behaved in a self-interested, corrupt and authoritarian manner since his election in 2011. The Partido Socialista Obrero Español/Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE), under the leadership of the physically attractive but seemingly insubstantial Pedro Sánchez then had the opportunity to form their own coalition, but negotiations were far from straightforward.
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