Spain PM’s shock election call brings unruly coalition to heel

By JENNIFER O’MAHONY and RENATA BRITO
Associated Press

MADRID (AP) — Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s snap general election breaks the coalition he built with the far-left United We Can party, with the aim of bringing to heel the unruly faction whose internecine conflicts damaged the coalition’s results in local elections. On Monday, Sánchez brought forward a national election expected in December to July 23 after the conservative Popular Party and far-right Vox movement dramatically increased their vote share in Sunday’s local and regional elections. Sánchez’s Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party has led a minority central government with the far-left United We Can party since 2019, but internal arguments with his coalition partners have increasingly dominated headlines.