Spain's right holds poll lead over Sanchez's Socialists ahead of November 29 snap election

Spain's right holds poll lead over Sanchez's Socialists ahead of November 29 snap election Spain's ruling Socialists have narrowed the gap but continue to trail the conservative People's Party, who would need to team up with the far-right Vox party to secure a majority of seats in parliament, pollsters say with three weeks to go before the country's general election. Spain's conservative People's Party (PP) would beat Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez's Socialists but require the far-right Vox to secure a parliamentary majority, according to the latest polls in the run-up to a general election on November 29. The electoral campaign starting in four days is expected to be dominated by issues such as housing, immigration and corruption – as wells as reverberations from last month's deadly train crash that triggered the resignation of Transport Minister Oscar Puente. Read more'Desolation, despair': Spain begins three days of mourning after deadly train crash A SocioMetrica poll published by El Español newspaper projected around 200 seats in the 350-seat lower house for the PP and Vox combined. The Socialists would secure 108 seats – two more than in the previous survey. The poll, which is based on 5,460 online interviews and factors in 3 percentage points in margin for error, showed a net transfer of 832,000 voters from the left to the right. A survey by polling institute 40dB for El Pais showed the gap between the PP and the Socialists narrowing to two percentage points, but the combined right-wing bloc still achieving a working majority of around 190 seats. A Sigma Dos poll published by El Mundo also pointed to the Socialists recovering some ground lost after the train crash and now likely to win 105 seats, but far behind the 199 seats for the PP and Vox. An IMOP poll for El Confidencial focused on vote transfers rather than seat projections, pointing to a drop in voter loyalty for the Socialists and a rise for the PP – the latter largely at the expense of Vox supporters. Sanchez, who has been in power since 2018, called a snap election on October 5 after right-wing parties voted down emergency legislation aimed at tackling the country's housing crisis. A key problem for the embattled PM is the weakness of his coalition partners on the hard left, who were unable to agree on a common list of candidates last month, further denting his chances of staying in power. The polls showed the Broad Front poised to win 10 to 15 seats and its rival on the hard left Podemos at risk of losing its parliamentary representation. (FRANCE 24 with Reuters) Keywords for this article