AROUND half of all Spaniards interviewed would prefer their country to be run by a coalition rather than a single party, according to the latest survey by the Sociological Research Centre (CIS).
The data were compiled in the fortnight following the general election on April 28, and a third of respondents said they would prefer for the winning socialists (PSOE), led by president Pedro Sánchez (pictured), to strike a coalition deal with left-wing Unidos Podemos than with centre-right Ciudadanos.
In total, those who preferred a coalition of some kind amounted to 45.2% and those who want a left-wing coalition came to 34.1%.
A Unidos Podemos-PSOE coalition was favoured by 16.2% of the total, without involving any
of the independent regional parties, whilst 7.7% preferred a joint cabinet of this nature but with regional parties included.
Overall, 34.1% wanted a PSOE-Unidos Podemos coalition involving regional parties, but not those which seek independence, effectively ruling out any party in Catalunya, whilst only 7.6% wanted to see the PSOE governing alone.
A total of 24.5% wanted to see the PSOE pact with Ciudadanos, which appears extremely unlikely given that the centre-right party became far more right-leaning in the run-up to the election and continually proposed joining forces with the right-wing PP if the numbers added up.
And the PP, which took a swerve even farther to the right before the elections, was keen to join up with far-right Vox.
Only 6.1% of respondents wanted a PP-Ciudadanos-Vox coalition government, whilst just 5.8% felt the elections should be repeated due to their inconclusive result.
A hung Parliament is, however, almost guaranteed nowadays, since the one-time straight contest between the 'Big Two', the PSOE and PP, is now consigned to history with the emergence of independent parties that have risen to the top of the stakes.
Unidos Podemos was Spain's third-largest political force until April 28 and Ciudadanos its fourth, but the elections saw them switching places.
Vox burst onto the scene after netting one in 10 of the votes, gaining 24 seats out of 351.
Pedro Sánchez's PSOE party acquired 123 seats – a dramatic increase on the 85 he held previously – but this leaves him 53 short of a majority and some type of coalition will probably be necessary, even though Sánchez is seeking to govern in a minority and merely harvest 'yes' votes for his investiture ceremony from the left-leaning parties.
Unidos Podemos is keen to join forces with Sánchez to create a 'government of progress', and is constantly reminding him that this is the 'only way forward'.
According to the CIS survey, voters consider that the PP was the party which employed the greatest amount of insults towards the opposition and was the most aggressive – even more so than alt-right Vox.
