(Bloomberg) -- Read More: Spain’s Long-Dead Dictator Lives Again in an Impossible Election

Key Developments:

  • Polls show acting Premier Pedro Sanchez set to come first, but may lose seats from previous result in April
  • Whatever party can form a coalition to reach 176 seats needed to form a majority in the 350-seat lower chamber is going to govern
  • Look out for gains from the nationalist Vox party

Look out for Vox (8:01 p.m.)

One party benefiting from the Catalonian issue is Vox, led by Santiago Abascal, which advocates for the strongest punishment for the secessionists and argues for the dismantling of Spain’s system of autonomous regional government. Its hard line resonates with some Spaniards: Vox entered parliament for the first time in April with 24 seats, and polls suggest it could double that tally.

Read this for a very good explainer on this phenomenon

The issue that won’t go away (7:45 p.m.)

Catalonian separatism has loomed large in Spanish politics ever since the local government’s attempt to force a break from Spain in 2017. The lengthy sentences recently handed to those leaders for sedition and the outbreak of violent protests in response have brought the issue to the fore once more

Sanchez has had a bad week (earlier)

Sanchez had hoped for a trouble-free few days before the election. Instead, he’s found himself defending the health of the economy and dragged further into the morass of the Catalan separatist movement. Calling another round of elections may prove to be an act of hubris, allowing his opponents on the right to gain more seats.

Sanchez’s Bad Week: Data, Errors Mar Spain Leader’s Campaign

To contact the reporter on this story: Ben Sills in Madrid at bsills@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Flavia Krause-Jackson at fjackson@bloomberg.net;Ben Sills at bsills@bloomberg.net

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