Spain all set for snap polls on April 28

Spain is all set to vote on Sunday, April 28, for the 2019 general elections - the third to be held in the last four years.

Voting for the 350-seat parliament is being held in the backdrop of tensions over Catalonia, following the failed bid for Catalan independence in 2017.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez was forced to announce the snap polls in February this year after his 2019 budget proposals were rejected across political lines, including by pro-independence Catalan parties whose support kept Sanchez's government afloat.The major parties which will be contesting the elections for the 350-seat parliament are the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE), the conservative People's Party (PP), left-wing populist Podemos, centrist-populist Ciudadanos (or Citizens) and far-right Vox party, according to Al Jazeera.

Incumbent Prime Minister and PSOE leader Pedro Sanchez will be seeking re-election during Sunday's elections.

The elections will be held for the third time in four years. Sanchez has led the country for less than a year, after coming into power in 2018 following a vote of no-confidence against the previous regime.

While it is unlikely that any one party will be able to win enough seats to declare a majority, opinion polls indicate that Sanchez's party is projected to win 129 seats, while PP may secure around 78. Citizens may land 46 seats, while Podemos and Vox are projected to win 35 and 30 seats each, respectively.

There is a probability of the formation of two blocs following the declaration of the results. PSOE, Podemos and regional nationalists is the first potential coalition while the second probable bloc is made up of PP, Ciudadanos, Vox. The major division between the two potential blocs is their differing stance on the Catalan issue.

If no working majority is formed, another round of general elections will be held in the European country.