MADRID — The Socialist Party of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez endured a major defeat on Sunday in an election in the Spanish region of Aragón, while the far right made substantial gains.

The conservative People’s Party (PP), which governs the north-eastern region, came first with 34.3 percent support, but its 26 seats represented a loss of two and left it well short of a majority in the 67-seat chamber.

With 99 percent of votes counted the Socialists secured 24.3 percent, good for 18 seats but representing a loss of five, equaling their worst-ever result in the region. Aragón is known as “Spain’s Ohio” because, like the U.S. state, it tends to serve a barometer of the national electoral mood.

Meanwhile, the far-right Vox secured 14 seats with support of 17.9 percent, double what it won in the last election in 2023 and echoing its strong performance recently in national polls.

The party campaigned hard in Aragón’s rural areas, pitching to farmers unhappy with EU regulations.

“This is not the result we wanted,” said the Socialist candidate, Pilar Alegría. “An uncertain horizon has opened up in Aragón.”

Sunday’s was the first of three elections scheduled in the coming months in PP-held regions in Spain, and will be followed by Castilla y León in March and Andalusia in June.

Both the PP and the Socialists used the regional election to discuss broader national issues.

The PP presented the election as a referendum on the tenure of Sánchez, whose coalition has been rocked by scandals affecting his party and allies. Two January train crashes that killed 47 people and triggered rail chaos around the country have compounded Sánchez’s woes.

His Socialists, meanwhile, presented the Aragón vote as a chance to push back against a radical right-wing tide that is sweeping Spain and other parts of the world. 

In a highly fragmented parliament, the PP’s only option to continue in government now appears to be a coalition or a less formal alliance with Vox. 

The snap election was called by regional President Jorge Azcón after Vox withdrew its support for his conservative government. With many voters jumping from the PP to Vox, the far-right party is now in a strong position to seek concessions for backing the PP.