Spain election 2019: How threat to Franco's grave sparked far-right comeback – REVEALED

No single party is anywhere near securing a majority, although Socialist Pedro Sanchez is likely to remain in office. Chances of a deadlocked parliament and a second election are high – but Vox – led by Santiago Abascal – look certain to put in a strong showing, boosted in part by the row over the legacy of Franco. Franco remains an enormously controversial figure in Spain, having taken control of the country in 1939 after a civil war between his right-wing Nationalist forces and Republicans, which resulted in the deaths of up to 500,000 people.

Mr Sanchez has vowed to exhume the remains of fascist dictator Francisco Franco from the Valley of the Fallen, a huge mausoleum near Madrid, in order to turn it into a place of “reconciliation”.

Speaking in June, he said: “We don’t have a date yet, but the government will do it.

“Spain can’t allow symbols that divide Spaniards.”

However, the proposal has left plenty unimpressed, Isabel Vargas-Zuniga, a 22-year-old law student, saying during a visit to the tomb: “I think this move is a very bad idea.

“You should not bother the dead and we should not play with history.”

Her friend Juan Bosco, 30, said he would be voting Vox, saying: “I like them because they are brave and say the things lots of other people think but don’t dare say. They don’t follow political correctness.”

Pilar Gutierrez, the daughter of Franco’s planning minister, is president of Movimiento por Espana, which is campaigning for Pope Francis to make Franco a saint.

She said earlier this week: “We have an obligation to defend a person who was good for us.

“Franco doesn’t just belong to his family. He belongs to all the Spanish people who admire him and honour him and do not want this exhumation to take place.”

Voting started at 9 am (0800 BST) and ends at 8pm in mainland Spain for what will be the country’s third national election in four years, each of which has brought a further dislocation of the political landscape.

Mr Sanchez told reporters after voting in a polling station near Madrid: “After many years of instability and uncertainty, it’s important that today we send a clear, defined message about the Spain we want.

“And from there a broad parliamentary majority must be built that can support a stable government.”

If Sanchez manages to stay in office, he may need the help of far-left anti-austerity party Podemos and other small parties, as well as Catalan separatists.

Opinion polls, which ended on Monday, have suggested it will be harder for a right wing split between three parties – the centre-right Ciudadanos, conservative People’s Party (PP) and Vox – to clinch a majority.

Voting in Barcelona, Ciudadanos leader Albert Rivera renewed calls to oust Sanchez, whose more conciliatory tone towards Catalan separatists has angered the right, which called Sanchez a “traitor” throughout a campaign often dominated by the secession crisis.

“These are not any normal elections. At stake is whether we want to remain united, if we want to continue being free and equal citizens, if we want a Spain that looks to the past or the future, a country of extremes or of moderation.

source: express.co.uk