EXPLAINER: COVID-19, far-right are top themes in Madrid vote – Associated Press

MADRID (AP) Residents in Madrid, one of Europes worst-hit regions in the pandemic, are voting Tuesday for a new regional assembly in an election that tests the depths of resistance to lockdown measures.

The early election was called by a conservative regional chief who is trying to cling to power after her center-right coalition crumbled. Isabel Daz Ayuso has made a name for herself by resisting the strictest measures against the virus and criticizing the national governments handling of the pandemic.

Heres whats at stake during the May 4 vote:

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WHY IS MADRIDS LOCAL ELECTION IMPORTANT?

By keeping Madrids bars, restaurants, museums and concert halls open, Daz Ayuso has invigorated support for her conservative Popular Party. She has also made inroads among voters recently seduced by the patriotic populism of Vox, an upstart far-right party.

Restaurateurs have come up with dishes and menus with her name and her portrait is ubiquitous on the citys billboards and on mail-in ballots. Daz Ayuso says the election is about choosing between her promise of freedom and the lefts socialism and communism, in reference to her two rivals who are part of the ruling national coalition.

Her resistance to sweeping coronavirus closures has constantly pitched the 42-year-old conservative against Prime Minister Pedro Snchez of the Socialists and the anti-austerity United We Can Party leader, Pablo Iglesias. Iglesias quit his Cabinet position last month to run against Daz Ayuso in the regional vote.

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WHAT DOES THE HEALTH DATA SAY?

The virus ravaged the Madrid regions nursing homes, especially last year. More than 5,000 elderly died before they could be taken in by a hospital system that buckled amid the first wave of infections.

Since then, keeping the countrys economic engine up and running has become key goal for Daz Ayuso, even if that meant having to add hospitals and more beds to treat COVID-19 patients.

Daz Ayuso has firmly resisted curbing travel in and out of Madrid. Instead she has relied on mass screenings with coronavirus antigen tests and setting up large venues to speed up vaccinations.

As a result, the region that is home to 14% of the countrys 47 million people has seen more than 19% of the countrys 3.5 million infections and of a national confirmed death toll of over 78,000.

The 14-day accumulated caseload on Friday stood at 384 new infections per 100,000 residents, way beyond the national average of 229 new cases per 100,000.

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WHAT DO THE POLLS SAY?

Although a few pollsters are predicting that an absolute majority of the regional assemblys seats will go to Daz Ayusos conservatives, most estimates hint at a win of over 40% of the vote. That would potentially double the number of Popular Party lawmakers since the last election in 2019.

The polls also place the far-right Vox party as the most likely choice for an alliance that would allow Daz Ayuso to form a government.

A smaller possibility is that the center-left camp, fragmented into three parties, will clinch enough votes to form a governing alliance.

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WHAT ARE THE CONSEQUENCES?

Most political analysts agree that any solid victory for Daz Ayuso will pave the way for more antagonism between the Socialist-led national government and the conservative party that has dominated Spains political landscape until recently.

It would also mean a rebuke of the recent strategy by the Popular Partys national leader, Pablo Casado, who has tried to distance his party from Voxs far-right ideology.

Whatever emerges from the ballot, the winner will have the challenge of putting Madrid back on its feet after a tough year with COVID-19 that included a winter blizzard which paralyzed the city for days.

The region, rampant with inequality, has been a stronghold of the Popular Party since 1991.

The left-wing parties want more investment to solve the social and economic crisis, especially propping up the regions public education and health systems following years of austerity and privatization.

Daz Ayuso has promised to lower taxes to attract more companies and boost consumption, as well as building more than 6,000 units of social housing.

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Follow all AP stories on the pandemic at https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic.

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EXPLAINER: COVID-19, far-right are top themes in Madrid vote - Associated Press