Popular Party (PP) supporters wave flags as they gather to celebrate the result of the polls in front of the party's headquarters in Madrid on May 28, 2023 after local and regional elections held in Spain. Credit: JAVIER SORIANO/AFP via Getty Images

(Reuters) -- Spain's ruling Socialist Party suffered heavy defeats to opposition conservatives in Sunday's local elections, with about 95 percent of votes counted, perhaps underscoring its electoral vulnerability ahead of a general election at the end of the year.

Only three of the 12 regions that held elections will maintain Socialist dominance by very narrow margins, and the rest will probably opt for the conservative Popular Party, albeit with coalitions or informal support agreements with the far-right Vox party.

The map changes completely and is a boost for Alberto Núñez Feijoo, the new leader of the PP, before the elections at the end of the year, said Ignacio Jurado, professor of Political Science at Carlos III University, according to Reuters.

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The Popular Party's (PP) gains indicate that the conservatives could unseat the current left-wing coalition led by the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) if they repeat the results in December's national elections.

The figures showed few clear majorities, except in the Community of Madrid, where the regional president, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, of the PP, probably won re-election with an absolute majority.

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The main setbacks for the Socialists were in the regions of Valencia, Aragon and the Balearic Islands, as well as in one of the most important socialist fiefdoms: Extremadura.

In large cities such as Valencia and Seville, where mayors were also elected, the count was in favor of the PP, which also won an absolute majority in the city of Madrid.

Barcelona was an exception among big cities, with a pro-independence party winning the most votes by such a narrow margin that it will need a deal with the Socialists to unseat the current mayor, leftist Ada Colau.

The tally showed a return to a two-party system dominated by the PSOE and PP after a decade of increased participation by smaller parties such as leftist Podemos and centrist Ciudadanos, which appeared to have largely lost their seats to the PP.

Elections Spain