A month on from Spain’s general election, the slate of local, regional, and European polls on May 26 has changed the complexion of the government formation process. The effect on the center-left Socialist Party (PSOE) and left-wing Unidas Podemos was especially spectacular: while the former swept to victory at all levels of the Spanish state, the latter saw its vote share depleted considerably. In April’s general election, Unidas Podemos had exceeded expectations, even though it lost over a third of its MPs. But this time around, Pablo Iglesias’s party suffered heavy losses across the board.

Arguably a yet bigger blow for the Spanish left came with the loss of several major municipal administrations — the so-called fearless cities. Splinter and affiliate groups of Podemos, along with other forces, missed out on reelection in such cities as Madrid, Santiago de Compostela, and Zaragoza. One of the few crumbs of consolation was the result obtained by the Anticapitalista mayor “Kichi” in Cádiz, who secured another term in office. As for Barcelona’s mayor Ada Colau, she faces complicated talks with independentist and unionist center-left groups, having been beaten by just 5,000 votes following an impressive term in office and a strong campaign.

This also matters for national politics. Indeed, Podemos’s poor results in the regional and European contests are generally seen to have weakened its negotiating position in coalition talks with the ruling PSOE. As a clear picture of the numbers began to emerge on May 26, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s party declared it was time for the liberal-rightist Ciudadanos to “raise the cordon sanitaire” it had set down against the PSOE during the general election, while establishment pressure for such a centrist pact has continued to mount. Disgraced Popular Party (PP) stalwart and former regional president of Madrid, Esperanza Aguirre, even called on her party to abstain in a confidence vote, in order to free Sánchez of needing to make a deal with Podemos or Catalan or Basque nationalists. The PSOE itself took such an abstentionist line in 2016, allowing the PP’s Mariano Rajoy to lead a minority government.