The Spanish Prime Minister, Mariano Rajoy, has been re-elected and ended 10 months of deadlock. In a vote of confidence, a simple majority of MEPs voted in favor of the 61-year-old in Madrid and freed the way for a minority government of his conservative People's Party. 170 deputies voted in favor of Rajoy and 111 against him. There were 68 abstentions. Rajoy's election had become possible because the opposition Socialists had urged their deputies to abstain from the voting.

In the past years Spain had to endure two elections already and Rajoy`s centre- right People`s Party was the only party that could increase its votes and number of seats between these two past votes. This vote marked a major triumph for Rajoy and confirmed his strong reputation as a political survivor. He had already been elected in 2011 and during his term of office he imposed spending cuts to tackle growing deficits as Spain had to endure deep recessions and high unemployment rates. Furthermore, there have been a series of corruption scandals concerning his party, which led to a decline in voter’s confidence. Despite some difficulties Rajoy did not step down and won the most votes now.

Nonetheless, he will now need to face major challenges, since the People`s Party has only 137 seats out of 350 seat in parliament. Thus, it also depends on the opposition when it comes to the adoption of laws. The Socialists have already announced resistance, as for instance, they will not support Rajoy`s government budget for 2017. 

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