Sánchez’s criticism was aimed both to his left, at Unidas Podemos, and to his right, at the People’s Party and Ciutadans: “For the Spanish government to not depend on [Catalan and Basque] pro-independence parties, their abstention was needed.”

Everything seemed set for another Socialist-led executive when Sánchez won a snap general election last April, with the only doubt being whether anti-austerity Unidas Podemos would enter the government or if it would rather offer its support without demanding government posts. After months of negotiations, both parties failed to translate the left-wing parliamentary majority into a left-wing government.

Last-minute attempts

For months, the Socialists and Unidas Podemos accused each other of failing to seek compromises while publicly assuring their commitment to coming to an agreement preventing another trip to the polls.

Other parties joined the discussion at the last minute, with Ciutadans leader Albert Rivera offering to abstain if Sánchez promised he would not use his presidential powers to pardon the Catalan political prisoners.

The uncertainty ended  on Tuesday evening when Spain’s king confirmed that he would not put forth Sánchez as a presidential candidate — a formality required in order to be appointed head of government by lawmakers in Congress.

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