Spanish vote delivers hung parliament

Spanish elections delivered a hung Parliament for the second time in six months. Acting Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy's centre-right People's Party (PP) has again emerged with the single biggest bloc of seats but fell short of a majority. The PP won 137 seats, up from 123 in December but short of the 176 needed for an outright majority. Spain's other main party, the Socialist PSOE won 85 seats, down from the 90 they had in the



December election. The left-wing Unidos Podemos alliance and centre-right Ciudadanos are third and fourth.

Spain now enters another round of backroom talks to see which parties can form a governing coalition, a task that eluded them despite months of negotiations following the December's inconclusive poll. It has once again left the euro zone's fourth-largest economy at risk of another lengthy political stalemate.