MADRID (Reuters) – Voters went to the polls in Spain’s northwest region of Galicia on Sunday in a close-run race where polls have suggested the opposition conservative People’s Party (PP) could lose an absolute majority that it has held for 15 years.
The PP have ruled the region for all but four of the past 35 years and their leader, Alberto Nunez Feijoo, is a former Galician regional government chief.
A poll published on Feb. 11 by 40dB for El Pais newspaper found that 46% of voters would prefer a coalition of the Galician Nationalist Bloc (BNG) and the Socialist Party to the PP retaining power.
While battling to retain control of its heartland, the PP is also contending with internal conflict after Feijoo appeared to support a conditional amnesty for Catalan separatists – a measure that has been promoted by Spain’s left-wing coalition government and previously opposed by the PP.
One unlikely possibility is that Gonzalo Perez Jacome, the mayor of Ourense, could become kingmaker. Perez, who has dressed up as a Power Ranger and Superman during the campaign, is fighting to force the regional government to repay “its historic debt” to the town.
Official results are expected by 11 p.m. (10.00 GMT). Results from overseas voters, accounting for 476,000 emigre Galicians, will be counted by Feb. 29.
(Reporting by Graham Keeley; Editing by David Goodman)
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