Newcomers threaten two-party dominance in Spanish election

A strong showing by a pair of new parties in Spain’s general election is threatening the traditional two-party system, with an exit poll projecting the ruling Popular Party winning the most votes but falling far short of a majority.

The exit poll for the state-owned RTVE channel gave the Popular Party 26.8% of the vote. The main opposition Socialist Party, with 20.5%, was running neck-and-neck for second place with new far-left party Podemos (21.7%), the poll said.

It put support for the new business-friendly Ciudadanos party far behind the others at 15.2%.