The 2024 European Parliament Elections in Spain: National and European Dimensions
The article examines the 2024 European Parliament elections in Spain as an element of national and European political process. The purpose of the study is to reveal key factors that influenced voting outcome in Spain, as well as its possible implications for national political development and country’s role in the European Union. The research is based on the official data on the election results in Spain and the European Union, Spanish national statistics, Russian and Spanish think tanks’ and news agencies’ publications. The factors that shaped the campaign course and election results include specific features of Spain's administrative territorial structure; national rules for the European Parliament elections; characteristics of the Spanish party system and national political process dynamics. The voting results were also influenced by the growing political appeal of national-conservative ideas and candidates’ reliance on unconventional methods of campaigning. The political and ideological balance among Spanish members of the newly-elected European Parliament reflects stronger presence of the right-wing, including far-right political forces, which is in line with general European trends. However, the traditional political competitors, the center-left Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party and the center-right People’s Party, which consistently take a pro-European stance, have retained their leading positions. This draws a conclusion about the probable continuity of Spain's course in the new European legislature and its further pursuit of greater integration.
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