Popular Party wins Extremadura for the first time since 2011 but falls short of a majority

# Popular Party wins Extremadura for the first time since 2011 but falls short of a majority

The Popular Party has won the Extremadura regional election, but María Guardiola remains short of the absolute majority she wanted and will again have to negotiate with Vox if she wants to secure a new term as regional president.

The vote, held on the event date of 2025-12-21, delivered the PP 29 seats in the 65-seat assembly, one more than in the previous election. That was enough to put the party first in the region, something it had not achieved since 2011, but not enough to govern on its own. RTVE reported that the result leaves Guardiola dependent on a strengthened Vox, which expanded sharply from five seats to 11 and emerged as the clearest winner in terms of seat growth.

The PP called early elections after failing to pass the regional budget for 2026. Guardiola had argued that she wanted free hands in office and a mandate without reliance on Vox, a partner in government until July 2024. Instead, the final result brought her back to the same arithmetic she had tried to escape. With 29 seats, the PP is still 10 short of the majority threshold in the chamber.

For the Socialists, the night was far worse. RTVE described the PSOE as the big loser, and the party fell to 18 seats, down 10 from the previous contest and to its worst result in the region's history. Miguel Ángel Gallardo acknowledged that the result was very poor in his first appearance after the vote. The loss is particularly notable in a region that has traditionally been a Socialist stronghold and where the party had built a long record of majorities in past decades.

Vox also strengthened its leverage. With 11 seats, it is now much closer to the PSOE than before and again holds a decisive role in any investment talks. Santiago Abascal's party has already shown in other regional negotiations that it is prepared to demand policy concessions, and RTVE reported that its Extremadura campaign line included rejection of the Green Deal, support for keeping the Almaraz nuclear plant open, and cuts to what it sees as unnecessary spending.

Guardiola responded to the result by claiming clear victory and calling on other parties not to block the first force in the assembly. According to RTVE, she said she would begin a round of contacts with the other political groups from the following day. The outcome gives the PP a symbolic win, but not the governing majority it had hoped early elections would produce.

The election also stood out for turnout. RTVE said participation fell to 62.7%, the lowest in Extremadura's history and a decline of 7.6 percentage points from the previous regional election. That weak turnout added another layer of volatility to a contest already shaped by budget failure, campaign attacks between the main parties, and the return of coalition arithmetic that Guardiola had wanted to leave behind.

For now, Extremadura appears headed for a new round of bargaining. The PP won the vote, the PSOE suffered its worst result, and Vox increased its strength enough to become the unavoidable player in any attempt to form a government.