By IRNA
Madrid : Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero’s ruling Socialist Party has won Spain’s general election.
With nearly all the votes counted, the Socialists had won 169 seats, short of the 176 needed for an absolute parliamentary majority.
Mariano Rajoy’s conservative Popular Party (PP) was set to win 153 seats.
Zapatero thanked jubilant supporters for a “clear victory” and pledged to open a “new period” in Spanish politics after a bitter campaign.
Rajoy, the prime minister’s leading rival, congratulated Zapatero.
“I have called the candidate of the Socialist Party and I have wished him luck for the good of Spain,” he said.
Pio Garcia Escudero, the PP’s campaign coordinator said Sunday’s elections results had also been good for the PP, which previously held 148 seats.
The elections were marred by Friday’s killing of the former Socialist councilor, Isaias Carrasco, in the Basque Country.
Police have blamed Basque separatists for the shooting, which brought election campaigning to an early close, but so far no group has claimed responsibility.
IRNA reporter in Madrid said that after a decade of good growth, Spain’s economy is stuttering.
“Inflation is at a 10-year high and unemployment is the highest this century.”
He said that the Spanish housing boom is dwindling, exacerbated by the global credit crunch.
Spain’s 35 million voters were electing 350 members of the Cortes, or lower house of parliament, and 208 members of the 264-member upper house, the Senate.
The remaining 56 Senate seats are decided by indirect election by assemblies in Spain’s 17 autonomous regions.