More cities in Spain turn blue with councils now sworn in

The political map of Spain was changed radically last Saturday when mayors in over 8,000 councils nationally were sworn in.

Events went more or less as expected with the PP taking over more councils than before in the main, capital cities of each of Spain's 50 provinces, along with many smaller-sized authorities.

In Andalucía, the capital cities of the eight provinces in that region all went conservative blue. It had been thought that the PSOE would carry on in Jaén as the biggest party but the PP managed to get the support of a local party's councillors to rule there as well.

The success of the PP in securing deals to govern in so many of Spain's most important cities was being seen this week by observers as a test of how the result of national elections on 23 July will be handled and how the PP may go about negotiating a deal with hard-right Vox especially if the PP emerges as the biggest party nationally as expected.

There was last-minute surprise in Barcelona, Spain's second city, when the Catalan Socialist party (PSC), affiliated to the PSOE, took power there despite not being the largest single party after last month's election.

The small number of PP councillors agreed to support PSC to avoid any pro-Catalan independence party taking control once the PP knew the left-wing Barcelona en Comú party would not join a Socialist coalition.

The PP vote, which it said was in the national interest to keep separatists out, was enough to give PSC minority power in the city.