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Europe

The Latest: EU congratulates Sánchez on Spanish victory

Associated Press
Published | Updated
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    Spanish Prime Minister and Socialist Party candidate Pedro Sanchez speaks to supporters gathered at the party headquarters waiting for results of the general election in Madrid, Sunday, April 28, 2019. Spain's governing Socialists won the country's national election Sunday but will need the backing of smaller parties to stay in power, while a far-right party rode a groundswell of support to enter the lower house of parliament for the first time in four decades, provisional results showed. At left is his wife Maria Begona Gomez. (AP Photo/Andrea Comas)

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    Spanish newspapers in Pamplona, northern Spain, announce the victory of Spain's Prime Minister and candidate of the Spanish Socialist Party, Pedro Sanchez, a day after general elections, Monday, April 29, 2019. The center-left Socialist party won re-election in Sunday's ballot, and will try to form a government.(AP Photo/Alvaro Barrientos)

LISBON, Portugal – The Latest on the results of the Spanish general election (all times local):

11:35 a.m.

The European Union executive says that it is confident that outgoing prime minister Pedro Sánchez "will be able to form a stable pro-European government that will allow Spain to continue to play an important role in the EU."

Spokesman Margaritis Schinas added that the results also show that "a crushing majority of the Spanish population has chosen for clearly pro-European parties."

He said that EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker has called Sánchez to congratulate him on "his clear victory"

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7:55 a.m.

Spain's third parliamentary election in less than four years has done little to dispel uncertainty over the political future of the eurozone's fourth largest economy.

The center-left Socialist party won re-election in Sunday's ballot, collecting nearly 29% of votes, and will try to form a government. It would be one of only a handful of socialist governments in the European Union.

But with only 123 seats in the 350-seat Congress of Deputies, Spain's parliament, it needs to negotiate the support of smaller rival parties to pass legislation.

Even an alliance with the far-left, anti-austerity party United We Can wouldn't give the Socialists the key number of 176 seats.

Spain's political landscape has fragmented further, with far-right party Vox claiming its first seats in the national parliament.