SPAIN'S Socialist prime minister, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, was last night heading for at least a narrow victory in his country's general election, which was marred by the brutal killing of a former councillor in the Basque country.
Fair weather drew out the voters, with Spain's interior ministry saying that, by 6pm, 61 per cent of the electorate of almost 35 million had cast a vote.
Despite the relatively high turnout, participation was nearly 2 per cent lower than the
previous general election, in 2004, held in the aftermath of the Madrid train bombing.
In the late afternoon in west Barcelona, there was still a strong flow of voters, though nothing like the queues of the morning. Most people thought Mr Zapatero would win, though many said they had voted for minority parties. "I voted because it is important to strengthen our young democracy. Almost half of my life, I have been unable to vote," said Adelina Espi.
Over the past four years, economic growth in Spain has averaged nearly 4 per cent and the country has been producing most of the jobs created in the euro area. But the country is now preparing for slowdown – Spain's growth is expected to fall from 3.8 per cent last year to between 2 per cent and 3 per cent this year.
During Mr Zapatero's time in office, unemployment has fallen by more than 3 per cent, yet latest government figures show it is, like inflation, on the rise. Many Spaniards are also concerned over immigration levels.
The year's elections brought out more than 1.5 million first-time voters, many of whom favour Mr Zapatero's liberal attempt to modernise the country, with social policies such as legalising gay marriage, and particularly welcome his decision to withdraw Spanish troops from the war in Iraq.
A narrow victory for Mr Zapatero means Basque and Catalan parties are expected to hold the balance of power.
Turnout in the Basque country was 54.8 per cent, much lower than elsewhere in Spain. This was despite Sandra Carrasco, 19, whose father was murdered in the Basque town of Mondragón on Friday, saying: "I call on those who want to show solidarity with my father and with our pain to turn out to vote en masse."
The Basque separatist group Eta had previously called on people to abstain from voting.
