The socialist candidate for the Presidency of the Xunta, or Regional Government in Galicia, and secrectary general of the Galician Socialist Party (PSdeG), Emilio Pérez Touriño, has congratulated the PP for their electoral victory in the region and has promised to 'make note' of what needs to be changed for the socialists to win next time.

Speaking in Santiago de Compostela, Touriño told followers that he 'profoundly' regretted not being able to lead his party to victory and thanked voters both personally and on behalf of the party for their 'decisive and massive' turnout in the polls.

'I have personally congratulated the PP leader, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, for his party's victory,' he told the press, 'and I sincerely hope that things move ahead in the positive fashion Galicia deserves.'

'We will take note of the result,' he continued, 'and we will rectify everything that needs to be rectified in order to work for Galicia and to carry on working for this country.'

During the initial stages of the vote counting, the socialists gave little importance to the results, maintaining that they had a 'good feeling' and expecting the late turnaround they'd had in the last autonomous elections.  The late turnaround didn't happen, however, and the optimistic faces became faces of desolation and utter disbelief as they watched the results unfold on the big screens.  The poor results in the big cities came as a particular surprise.