With 95.7% of the vote counted on Sunday evening, the results of the Extremadura regional elections were as follows:
- People’s Party (PP): 29 seats (+1)
- PSOE: 18 seats (-10)
- Vox: 11 seats (+6)
- Unidas por Extremadura: 7 seats (+3)
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s scandal-hit socialists (PSOE) endured a crushing defeat, which saw far-right Vox make big gains. The PSOE won just 18 seats in the 65-seat assembly, down from 28, their worst-ever regional result in Extremadura.
The socialists, who lead the minority national coalition, have been rocked by corruption and sexual misconduct allegations and the vote in the rural southwestern region was seen as an indicator of the party’s wider prospects.
The right-wing PP’s candidate for re-election as president of the Junta de Extremadura, María Guardiola (main image), won 29 seats, falling just four short of an absolute majority in the Assembly, which requires 33 seats.
Guardiola improved upon her 2023 results by gaining one more representative. ALSO READ: Extremadura becomes third region of Spain to be jointly governed by PP & Vox.
The clear victory, however, is not enough for her to secure the investiture on her own, and she will once again need the support of the Vox party, either through their votes or their abstention. Santiago Abascal’s party also improved its numbers compared to the last elections in the region, gaining 11 seats, six more than in 2023.
The PP sees these results as ‘a strong rebuke’ to socialist PM Sánchez, predicting that the same scenario will be repeated in the various regional elections scheduled for 2026. Next year, elections will be held in Aragon, Castilla y León and Andalusia.
The PP said that Sunday’s elections send Spain ‘a clear message of a changing of the guard’, claiming that it wasn’t just the socialist candidate for the Extremadrua regional government, Miguel Ángel Gallardo, who lost, but rather Pedro Sánchez.
The PSOE had governed the Extremadura region for decades but the PP took control with Vox’s support in 2023.
Regional governments in Spain control key policy areas such as education, healthcare, infrastructure, and culture.
Subscribe to the Weekly Newsletter from Spain in English.
#ExtremaduraDecide | Guardiola gana pero no convence: se queda lejos de la mayoría absoluta y necesitará pactar con Vox
— RTVE Noticias (@rtvenoticias) December 21, 2025
🖊@alexcabcolhttps://t.co/5BQi2MKMxj
Click here to get your business activity or services listed on our DIRECTORY.