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BLOOMBERG
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez is lagging in all opinion polls as he heads into the only televised election debate with his conservative rival, even after he closed some of the gap in recent weeks.
With Sanchez and Alberto Nunez Feijoo were expected to face off in a TV debate on Monday at 10 pm in Madrid, five polls the conservative candidate in a solid first place.
Four surveys predict he will be able to form a coalition government with hard-right party Vox, while four show Sanchez gaining in support, but still trailing far behind his adversary.
Feijoo has declined invitations to hold debates including other national candidates, choosing instead to ride a wave of momentum following regional and municipal elections in late May in which his People’s Party crushed Sanchez’s Socialists.
Newspaper El Pais has the only poll showing the right-wing block falling short of the 176 majority, by seven seats. Feijoo has said that he will seek to govern by himself, though such a strategy looks unlikely to succeed based on the current poll numbers.
For that to happen, at least one major party would need to abstain in a confidence vote in parliament to clear the way for him to take power.
Four of the five polls show Sanchez gaining a few seats, but remaining a long way from reaching a majority. Sanchez has gone on a media blitz in recent days, sitting down with journalists he had avoided during his five year government as he tries to win over voters.