An anti-immigrant, Eurosceptic far-right party has won its first ever seats in a legislative body in Spain.
With more than 96 percent of the votes counted in Andalusian regional elections Sunday, the VOX party claimed 12 seats, giving a majority to the conservative bloc.
The vote was seen as a first electoral test for Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s Socialist party since he took power in June.
The Socialists won just 33 seats in the Andalusia legislature, compared to 47 in 2015. The center-left party could lose control of Spain’s most populated region for the first time in 36 years if the parties on the right can agree to form a government.
It was the worst showing in the history of the Socialist Workers’ Party, which has ruled Andalusia for the last 36 years.
Spain has so far avoided the rise of the far-right that has taken over the politics across Europe. But now VOX appears to have taken advantage of the anti-immigrant sentiment sweeping Europe as migrants and asylum seekers flood into Europe from North Africa.