Spain's Socialists in big election win

Spain's governing Socialist Party won yesterday's election, boosting their number of seats to close to an absolute majority, an exit poll for Television Espanola indicated.

The exit poll published by Spanish state television gave Prime Minister José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero 172-176 seats in the 350-seat lower house, and the conservative opposition Popular Party 148-152 seats.

An absolute majority requires 176 seats. With numbers like these, Mr Zapatero may not need to court smaller parties to pass laws over the next four years.

Governing is sure to be harder than in the past legislature as Spain's decade-long economic boom loses steam and the Basque separatists of ETA start killing again.

The economy dominated the election campaigns as 300,000 people joined the jobless queues in the space of nine months, most of them from the construction sector.

Several analysts have cut their 2008 growth forecasts to about two percent after 3.8 per cent growth last year.

The point-blank shooting of a former town councillor on Friday, blamed by all parties on ETA, pushed the focus back onto Spain's restless regions and was expected to boost turnout as voters fought back by exercising their democratic rights.

High turnout tends to benefit the left, whose supporters are typically more apathetic about voting.

In 2004, voters turned out en masse and brought the Socialists to power three days after train bombs that the PP initially blamed on ETA, but which turned out to be the work of Islamist militants.

Since then, the PP has constantly trailed Mr Zapatero in opinion polls.