MADRID/BERLIN ¨C The far-right Vox party lost seats in Spain¡¯s elections on Sunday, staving off the prospect of a first hard-line nationalist-backed government since Gen. Francisco Franco¡¯s dictatorship and pointing to limitations in the European far-right¡¯s bid for the mainstream.
Polls had predicted a win for the center-right People¡¯s Party (PP) with Vox as the likely kingmaker, but they failed to win a majority, leaving Catalan and Basque pro-independence parties holding the balance of power in a hung parliament.
Vox¡¯s share of seats fell to 33 from 52 despite campaign endorsements from a who¡¯s who of nationalist leaders, including Italy¡¯s Giorgia Meloni and Hungary¡¯s Viktor Orban.
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