Was it just a mirage in the July heat? If 2pm voter turnout statistics in today's Spanish general election suggested greater participation than in the last election, the second partial count, at 6pm, with just two hours of polling left, shows the reverse: across Spain, voter turnout is now down by 3.73% on the November 2019 figure at the same time. And in Catalonia, where the 2pm percentage already showed a fall in voter participation, the 6pm figure has now collapsed to 11.10% less than at the last Spanish general election at 6pm.
In Spain at 6pm, the proportion of voters that had cast their votes was 53.12%. In the last elections, held on November 10th, 2019, at the same time, the official turnout was 56.85%, so it has fallen by 3.73 points. A total of 18,591,440 of people had cast their vote across the Spanish state in the nine hours of pollling since 9am. If today's high temperatures are responsible for the fall in afternoon voting, the turnout may be expected to recover slightly in the cooler two hours of polling that remain until 8pm.
Meanwhile, the turnout in Catalonia in the general election this Sunday until 6pm is 48.66%. In the last general election held on November 10th, 2019, at the same time the participation was 59.88%, so it has dropped by 11.10 points. A total of 2,418,287 Catalan voters had gone to the polls by 6pm this Sunday.
By provinces, Girona is where turnout has fallen most compared to 2019, standing at 46.37%, which means a drop of 13.04 points. Followed by Barcelona, where participation is currently 49.14% (-11.34 points). In Lleida it is 44.93%, and has dropped 11.61 points, and finally, Tarragona, where turnout is at 49.27%, and has also dropped 8.50 points.
Part of the Catalan independence movement called for a boycott of the Spanish general election by pro-independence voters, although all the major pro-independence parties strongly rejected the idea.
The final turnout in the November 10th 2019 Spanish general election was 69.96%, although it should be noted that even this was down on the first election held that year in April. The November 10th date was a repeat election after the failure to form a government from the vote held on April 28th, and turnout then was 75.75%.
The polls are open until 8pm. Polling has placed the right-wing People's Party as favourite to finish first in the election, with the likelihood that it will need to pact with far-right Vox in order to form a government.