Pedro Sanchéz said Sunday’s election was a binary choice between left and right and could affect ‘balances within Europe’

The last time Spain went to the polls – in November 2019 – the cover of the satirical magazine El Jueves showed a manic and sweating Pedro Sánchez hunched over a fruit machine, desperately hoping that his gamble of calling the second general election of the year would pay off. It did.

Four years later, however, the stakes were even higher for Spain’s socialist prime minister, for his country – and for Europe. Sánchez, a politician known for his willingness to take chances, surprised everyone at the end of May when he reacted to his party’s poor showing in regional and local elections by calling a snap general election.