Spain's Socialist premier Pedro Sanchez emerged as winner but weakened from Sunday's repeat election that propelled the far-right Vox into third place in a result set to deepen years of political turmoil.

The ballot, the fourth in as many years, failed to draw a line under months of parliamentary deadlock following an inconclusive April poll which Sanchez won but left him unable to form a government.

Spanish Socialist Party (PSOE) leader is hoping to gt a ruling majority from the election
Spanish Socialist Party (PSOE) leader is hoping to gt a ruling majority from the election AFP / LLUIS GENE

The Socialist leader, who had called the vote to strengthen his hand, ended up losing three seats in a poll that weakened his potential allies and strengthened the right.

The campaign has been overshadowed by the Catalan separatist crisis that has played squarely into the hands of the far right which over the past year has made significant inroads into Spain's political arena.

The results of the three previous elections in Spain since 2015, and projections for Sunday's vote
The results of the three previous elections in Spain since 2015, and projections for Sunday's vote AFP / Patricio ARANA

Announced some four hours after polling stations closed, the final results showed the Socialists taking 120 of the parliament's 350 seats (28 percent of the votes) while Vox secured 52 (15 percent) -- more than double its mandates in the outgoing assembly.

Vox only made its parliamentary debut in April when it won 24 mandates in the biggest showing by the far-right since Spain returned to democracy after dictator Francisco Franco's death in 1975.

Protesters throw objects during a demonstration in Barcelona on the even of Sunday's election, amid heightened tensions over the Catalan crisis
Protesters throw objects during a demonstration in Barcelona on the even of Sunday's election, amid heightened tensions over the Catalan crisis AFP / LLUIS GENE

In second place was the rightwing Popular Party, which took 88 mandates (nearly 21 percent), up from 66 in the previous poll.

Sunday's vote will only prolong the chronic political turmoil in the eurozone's fourth-largest economy, Teneo analyst Antonio Barroso told AFP.

PP leader Pablo Casado has called for a "real government that will put order in Catalonia"
PP leader Pablo Casado has called for a "real government that will put order in Catalonia" AFP / OSCAR DEL POZO

"The results will make forming a government more difficult due to the parliament's deep fragmentation and the rise of Vox," he said, warning that the divisions "were so problematic" that it was impossible to rule out yet another election.

In recent days, Sanchez had repeatedly raised the alarm about Vox's "aggressive ultra-rightwing" policies, warning the party would drag the country back to the dark days of Franco's dictatorship.

The five main candidates in the Spanish elections
The five main candidates in the Spanish elections AFP / Patricio ARANA

But his warnings appeared to have fallen on deaf ears.

Turnout dropped two percent points compared with April's figure, standing at 69.87 percent.

Opinion polls suggest this new election will fail to break the deadlock
Opinion polls suggest this new election will fail to break the deadlock AFP / GABRIEL BOUYS
The five main candidates in the Spanish elections
The five main candidates in the Spanish elections AFP / Patricio ARANA

Vox's surge drew praise from fellow extremist leaders in Europe, with Italy's far-right leader Matteo Salvini lauding its "great advance" while Marine Le Pen of France's National Rally described its electoral success as "spectacular".

But in Spain, the reaction was one of shock, with the outcome swiftly denounced by Pablo Iglesias, leader of the radical leftwing Podemos who spent months locked in talks with Sanchez's Socialists that failed to end the deadlock.

"These elections have allowed the right to grow stronger and now we have an extreme right which is among the most powerful and strong in Europe," said Iglesias whose party also suffered a slide, dropping to 35 seats from 42 in April.

The campaign took place on the heels of fresh unrest in Catalonia after Spain's top court sentenced nine separatist leaders to lengthy jail terms over their role in a failed 2017 independence bid.

The October 14 ruling triggered days of mass protests which by night descended into chaos, with demonstrators torching barricades and hurling rocks and Molotov cocktails at police who hit back with water cannon, tear gas and foam bullets.

As the crisis gathered pace, Sanchez came under fire from the right, particularly from Vox leader Santiago Abascal who demanded Madrid suspend Catalan autonomy and arrest regional president Quim Torra.

But as the party's profile has risen, it has faced growing criticism, with 3,000 academics and researchers denouncing it for a "calculated, systemic and recurrent" use of "falsified and manipulated data" to advance an ideological agenda of extreme nationalism.

Spain has been mired in political paralysis for four years since Podemos and business-friendly Ciudadanos entered parliament following a December 2015 election that shattered the decades-long hegemony of the Socialists and the PP.

But Oriol Bartomeus of Barcelona's Autonomous University said the next few weeks would prove tricky.

"It won't be easy to break the blockage but right now, nobody wants to even consider the possibility of repeating the elections for a third time," he told AFP.

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