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Sanchez’s Socialists Set to Win First Place in Catalan Elections, Poll Shows

Spain’s Socialist party is headed for a comfortable win in Catalonia’s regional elections May 12, but will fall well short of a majority, according to a poll by newspaper El Mundo.

Socialist candidate Salvador Illa is set to win between 41 and 43 seats in the local legislature, up from the current 33, according to a poll of some 3,000 voters by Sigma Dos published in El Mundo Monday. A majority requires 68 lawmakers. Smaller polls in three other publications Monday also show the Socialist party with similar estimates.

Second place will go to self-exiled separatist Carles Puigdemont’s Junts per Catalunya, with 28 to 31 seats, while the left-wing pro-independence party of regional President Pere Aragones would come in third, with 27-30 seats. Both parties are staunch rivals but also Socialist allies in the national parliament in Madrid. Puigdemont has been living in Brussels for seven years.

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