Spain’s Socialists Routed in Local Vote as Protests Spread

Spain’s Socialists suffered their worst electoral defeat in more than 30 years as voters punished Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero’s party for soaring unemployment and spending cuts that aimed to shield the country from Europe’s debt crisis.

With 91 percent of votes counted, the opposition People’s Party won 38 percent of the vote in municipal elections, compared with 28 percent for the ruling Socialists, the Interior Ministry said. The Socialists lost control of Barcelona, the country’s second-biggest city, for the first time since 1979. Regional election results weren’t yet available.