Madrid voters queue at polls in COVID-influenced crunch election (updated)
04/05/2021 11:45
(Adds voting, quotes, colour)
By Elena Rodriguez and Cristina Galan
MADRID, May 4 (Reuters) - Voters formed long queues at
polling stations in Madrid on Tuesday to maintain social
distancing in a regional election centred around unorthodox
COVID-19 policies that could shake the nation's political
landscape.
The unusual mid-week vote in Spain's wealthiest region is
poised to return Isabel Diaz Ayuso, from the conservative
Popular Party (PP), to power as regional leader, according to
opinion polls.
Ayuso, 42, has won the support of many Madrid residents by
defying Spain's left-wing government and refusing to close down
bars and restaurants to curb the coronavirus pandemic.
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She prioritised the economy and social life, pleasing many
bar and restaurant owners - as well as madrilenos who are famous
for their lively nightlife.
An emphatic victory for PP and the wider right in Madrid
could alter the balance of power nationally, beginning a new
electoral cycle with a restructured right side in which the PP
can only get a majority with the help of the far-right Vox
party.
"I am feeling so happy," Ayuso told reporters after casting
her vote. "Today is the best day, it's democracy day."
Polling stations are open until 8 p.m. (1800 GMT), and more
than 5 million people are entitled to vote, with the last hour
reserved for COVID-19 positives and suspected cases. National
broadcaster TVE will release exit polls when stations close.
Final results are expected before midnight.
"(The elections) are very strange, I think it’s weird for us
all, the masks, voting on a weekday, and also all the social
polarisation. We all have our attention on the election," said
IT consultant Borja Lava, 37.
The Madrid region, home to some seven million of Spain's 47
million people, recorded 369 COVID-19 cases per 100,000 in the
last 14 days on Monday against a national average of 223.
Occupancy of intensive care units is also the highest in Spain,
at about 44.7%.
The PP is projected to win over 40% of the vote, potentially
doubling its seats in the assembly from 2019's election, but
Ayuso may need the help of the Vox party to govern.
Five activists from women's rights group Femen staged a
topless protest before Vox candidate Rocio Monasterio arrived to
cast her vote.
"Legal fascism - national shame!" read a slogan painted on
one protester's body. They were removed by police.
Surveys suggest the centre-right Ciudadanos party, which has
in the past teamed up with the PP to form regional governments,
faces the prospect of winning no seats and disappearing from the
political landscape.
The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party of Prime Minister Pedro
Sanchez would see its seats halved in the 136-seat assembly, and
the broader left is poised to secure just 64 seats.
(Reporting by Graham Keeley, Cristina Galan, Emma Pinedo, Elena
Rodriguez, editing by Inti Landauro, Andrei Khalip and Ed
Osmond)
((graham.keeley@thomsonreuters.com;))