In the regional elections held in northeastern Spain, the ruling Socialist Party faced yet another significant setback.

Spain’s right-wing People’s Party has solidified its position in the northern region of Aragon, while Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s Socialists continue to struggle following recent electoral defeats. VOX has also strengthened its results in the regional elections.

In the autonomous community of Aragon, Sánchez’s party lost more than five percentage points, achieving its worst result in history with 24.3%.

The Spanish media has interpreted this as another blow to Sánchez’s faltering government, which no longer holds a majority in the Madrid parliament. The ruling party, the PSOE, had already suffered a defeat in the Extremadura regional elections last December, plummeting by 14 percentage points to 26%.

The conservative People’s Party (PP), which has governed in Aragon until now, regained its status as the strongest force with 34.3%, but it is now more reliant on the VOX party. The latter increased its share by approximately 6.5 percentage points to 17.9%, doubling its number of parliamentary representatives, as reported by the electoral commission in the regional capital, Zaragoza, after nearly all votes were counted.

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.https://t.co/mMGEQKYCaq

— POLITICOEurope (@POLITICOEurope) February 9, 2026

The VOX party doubled its representation in the Aragon regional elections, building on national results and undermining the support for the region’s conservative leaders.

Interim regional president Jorge Azcón led the voting with 34% support, despite a slight decline in his backing.

Azcón’s attempt to call for early elections in the hope of securing a single-party majority—similar to the risky move made by María Guardiola, the leader of the PP in Extremadura last year—has instead bolstered the right. Coalitions between the PP and VOX have governed several regions, including Aragon, Extremadura, and Valencia, until the right retreated from migration policy debates in 2024.

Without an absolute majority, Azcón must now prepare for complex coalition negotiations with the more assertive VOX, whose leaders are vying for high-ranking cabinet positions.

Socialist candidate Pilar Alegría received 24%, marking the party’s worst result in the region compared to 29.5% in the previous elections, as the PSOE continues to be burdened by a series of corruption scandals involving high-profile figures.

„This is not the result we wanted. It is not a good result,” Alegría stated.

The VOX party emerged as the main winner, rising from 11% to 18%. The left-wing nationalist Aragonese Assembly also doubled its support, increasing to 10%.

Sánchez’s party and government are in freefall

The election results highlight the pressure on the Socialists led by Pedro Sánchez ahead of future national elections.

The elections in Aragon are being closely monitored across Spain. This small Pyrenean region has been seen as an electoral bellwether for decades. Since Spain’s return to democracy in 1977, the party that has garnered the most votes there in every general election has also won the most votes nationally—though not always the power.

This pattern persisted in 2023, when the PP secured the most votes nationally, but Sánchez retained his position by forming a minority government supported by Catalan and Basque nationalist parties.