Spain will hold a new general election in November, the country's fourth since 2015, after King Felipe VI decided not to grant acting Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, or any other politician, a mandate to form government.
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"There is no majority in Congress to allow the formation of a government, so the country is called back for a repeat of the election on November 10," Sanchez said in a televised statement.
Neither Sanchez, who leads the Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE), nor any other party leader enjoy the parliamentary support required to form a new government, the royal family said in a statement released late on Tuesday after two days of consultations.
Sanchez, who had urged the alternative Unidas Podemos (UP) alliance to support him in order to stave off early elections, said he tried in "every way" to form a new government "but they made it impossible".
The 47-year-old leader has been in office since June last year, after his predecessor, Mariano Rajoy of the conservative People's Party (PP), lost a vote of confidence.
Australian Associated Press
