November 20th, 2011
04:52 PM ET

Conservative Rajoy set to lead Spain after ruling party concedes

Popular Party leader Mariano Rajoy is poised to become the next prime minister of economically embattled Spain, with his ascension assured after the ruling Socialist Party's candidate conceded Sunday's national election.

Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba made the concession before a somber crowd of Socialist Party supporters - a stark contrast to the raucous, celebratory crowd gathered outside the Popular Party headquarters in Madrid.

According to updates from about 10:30 p.m. (4:30 p.m. ET) on the interior ministry website - at which point over 87% of all votes had been counted - the Popular Party had about 9.4 million votes (44% of the total votes counted) and was leading in the races for 187 seats in parliament. That compares with the just over 6 million votes for the Socialist Party, giving it an advantage in 110 legislative contests.

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Filed under: Elections • Spain
soundoff (15 Responses)
  1. funky bunch

    Should be interesting to see how Spain turns out economically.

    November 20, 2011 at 5:03 pm | Report abuse |
  2. Mi Tierra

    Given that it's a conservative party that will be taking over, that's up for debate...

    November 20, 2011 at 5:17 pm | Report abuse |
  3. bobcat (in a hat)

    If the consevatives over there are the same as here, I don't think that's to much of a brain buster.

    November 20, 2011 at 5:21 pm | Report abuse |
  4. banasy©

    Bc(iah):lol. True.

    November 20, 2011 at 5:29 pm | Report abuse |
  5. George Patton

    One thing Spain might try and that is to grant the Basques the independence they so sorely deserve! What we need to do now is to try to make the leaders in Madrid see the light!

    November 20, 2011 at 7:08 pm | Report abuse |
    • Barnaby Jones

      Come on, George, do you honestly believe that the right-wing thugs in Washington give a damn about the Basques or any of their aspirations? Well, I don't. Those sorry people in Washington only care about themselves and getting reelected next year!

      November 20, 2011 at 7:52 pm | Report abuse |
    • BOMBO

      Here's a fun party game. Let's count George's many personalities, and how many times he talks to himself every day.

      November 20, 2011 at 11:53 pm | Report abuse |
    • BOMBO

      Forgive me, George. I didn't post the above as I have great respect for you and what you post here. Some Tea Partying jerk just hijaced my name to ridicule the two of us! They just resent you for showing just how dumb they really are!

      November 21, 2011 at 9:38 am | Report abuse |
  6. drap

    Will the Santa Maria and Pinto still be sailing to America... .?

    November 20, 2011 at 8:27 pm | Report abuse |
  7. Jesu

    Oh, noes! They hafta!

    November 20, 2011 at 9:31 pm | Report abuse |
  8. s kel

    Ummmm Franco is comming back to power?????,lol

    November 20, 2011 at 11:40 pm | Report abuse |
  9. BOMBO

    Europeans are funny. They are, on average, more conservative than they would have the rest of the world believe.

    November 20, 2011 at 11:55 pm | Report abuse |
  10. Andreas Moser

    Caramba!

    November 21, 2011 at 5:24 am | Report abuse |
  11. Joanne Delmonico

    Hi Al Goodman,
    Great to see your name and to read your stories. The situation in European countries sounds so familiar...same situation here... Troubling all around..
    Joanne in Portland OR...

    January 16, 2012 at 3:25 pm | Report abuse |
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