Pedro Sanchez struggles to form a new government in Spain

HARDLY ANYONE PPPPPPPPpredicted a , and yet the Socialists of Pedro Sánchez, the prime minister, and the opposition centre-right People’s Party () ended up taking about a third of the vote each on July 23rd. Even with their preferred coalition partners, Vox for the and Sumar for the Socialists, both are however short of a majority. So small parties, nearly all of which lost seats, now hold the key to governing Spain again, and the hunt is on for allies.No significant party beside the will vote to create a government that includes, or depends on the support of, , leaving the without any obvious routes to reaching a majority. Mr Sánchez and Sumar, his radical-left partner party, are trying to bring five regional parties together to support him as prime minister for another term. Four of these are separatist. Spain, in other words, cannot be governed without the support of those who want to break it up.