Spain elections: hung parliament after conservatives fail to secure expected majority

Conservative People's party and prime minister Pedro Sanchez's Socialists both declare victory, with weeks of negotiations likely ahead

Spain's opposition conservative party secured the most number of seats in national elections but looked unlikely to secure a coalition rightwing majority after a vote that had raised fears of the far right entering government for the first time since the country returned to democracy after General Franco's death five decades ago.

Although the polls had consistently predicted that the opposition conservative People's party (PP) would cruise past the Spanish Socialist Workers party (PSOE) to secure an emphatic win in Sunday's election, early results quickly established that the race was going to be much tighter.