Exit poll predicts conservative victory across Spain and Socialist win in Catalonia

The conservative People's Party are poised to sweep to victory in Sunday's election across Spain, winning a projected 145-150 seats in the Spanish congress according to the exit poll broadcasted by Forta group of regional public televisions, which include Catalan public broadcaster TV3. In total, they are expected to win 34.2% of the votes.

Such a result would represent a huge victory for the conservative party, as they went into the election holding just 89 seats. 

This wouldn't be enough to win a majority alone, but combined with the far-right Vox, they may just about reach the requisite 176 seats to form a majority between them, as the exit poll predicts Vox winning 24-27 MPs, with 11.2% of the overall vote share. 

It's going to be a tense night as we find out the true results, as the polls are inconclusive as to whether or not the right-wing bloc will win a majority, as combined they are expected to take 169-177 seats in congress.

Meanwhile, the Socialist party, leaders of the current Spanish government, are likely to be in for a bad night, falling from 120 to winning 113-118 seats, winning the support of just 28.9% of the population. 

The left-wing platform Sumar, which has subsumed the until-now junior coalition partner Podemos, is expected to win 28-31 congressional seats, with 13.3% of citizens giving them their ballots. In the previous election, Podemos had won 35 seats. 

Pro-independence Esquerra Republicana and Junts per Catalunya are both projected to win 9 seats, while the far-left pro-independence CUP are predicted to win 1 seat. 

Elsewhere, exit polls predict Basque parties EH Bildu and PNV to take 6 and 5 seats respectively, Galician party BNG could take 1-2 seats, Canaries Coalition are expected to win 1 seat, while Teruel Existe may win 1 seat but they could also lose representation in the congress.

Meanwhile, another exit poll, that of newspaper El Periodico, predicts a hung parliament in Madrid. Their poll predicts the People's Party winning the election with 133-137 seats, while Vox would get 34-38 MPs, meaning a combined 167-175 - below the 176 needed for a majority. 

The left-wing bloc is projected to win 145-153 seats combined, again below the threshold for a majority, with 109-113 for the Socialists and 36-40 for Sumar. 

Elsewhere, that exit poll foresees 9-10 seats for pro-independence Esquerra and 7-8 for Junts.   

Socialist victory in Catalonia

Catalonia, meanwhile, is expected to buck the Spanish trend, as the same exit poll forecasts a Socialist victory in Catalonia, with the party winning 13 of the 48 Catalan congressional seats. 

Tied in second place with 9 MPs each are the two main pro-independence parties, left-wing Esquerra and center Junts.

Unlike across Spain where the conservatives are the most-voted party, in Catalonia the People's Party is expected to come in fourth with 8 to 9 seats, followed by leftwing Sumar, with 6.

Far-right Vox is set to pick up 1 to 2 seats, while far-left pro-independence CUP is expected to win 1.