Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez came out victorious in Spain's snap general election on Sunday, with his Socialist party PSOE winning nearly 30% of the vote. The tally was enough to put the Socialists on top, but far from a majority.
PSOE won 123 seats in the 350-seat parliament, while far-left Unidas Podemos registered 42. The two fell 11 seats short of forming a governing coalition together. Sanchez will have to search for support for smaller parties to make up the difference, including the Basque and Catalan nationalists.
Addressing a jubilant crowd of supporters in Madrid, Sanchez said his party would commit to his key campaign messages of working to end inequality, solving the political conflict with Catalonia and putting an end to corruption.
"We don't want to go backwards, we want a country that goes forward and looks to the future," he said.
But Sanchez also said his victory was critical for Europe, noting that Spain was a place where social democracy could win and where authoritarianism could be defeated.
Sanchez promised to lead his nation with a pro-European government, with the goal of strengthening Europe.