Voters in Catalonia turned their back on the Socialist Party in a regional election which spells more problems for embattled Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero.
Convergència i Unió, the centre-right Catalan nationalist party led by Artur Mas, regained control of the country’s independent-minded north-eastern region. The CiU won 62 seats out of 135 in the regional parliament and return to power after seven years in opposition.
The Socialists suffered their worst defeat since the 1970s, winning just 28 seats while the right-wing People’s Party came third with 18 seats.
The result comes as Spain struggles with high unemployment, a sluggish economy and whispers that the government in Madrid may have to ask for an international bailout to cope with the burgeoning debt crisis.
There are fears on the left that the ruling Socialists will suffer badly in regional and municipal elections next year and get mauled at the general election in 2012.
