Spanish election: Center-right wins

GlobalPost

Spain’s center-right Popular Party won a governing majority in the lower house of parliament in elections today, ousting Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero and his Socialist Party, the New York Times reported. The Socialist Party has been in power for eight years.

The PP captured 186 seats in the 350-seat lower house, with 98 percent of the vote counted, Reuters reported. It’s the biggest majority for any party in three decades. The Socialists are down to 111 seats in parliament after losing 58 seats in the election, Reuters reported.

According to the New York Times:

The Socialists were undone by the severe downturn in a once-booming economy. As in other troubled nations of the euro zone, Spain has been beset by crashing property values, the collapse of the construction sector and crushing debts that have become increasingly difficult to refinance.

Incoming Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, 56, promised in his victory speech that Spain "will stop being part of the problem and become part of the solution" after he takes power in December, The Associated Press reported. "When you do things right, you get results," he said.

Spain is the fifth European country to vote in new leaders because of the euro zone crisis, following Greece, Portugal, Ireland and Italy, Reuters reported.

More from GlobalPost: Spain likely to oust Socialist party in Sunday's election

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