With more than 99.5% of Spain's general election votes counted, polls showed that the right-wing Popular Party (PP) is leading with 136 seats out of 350 in parliament, with the other right-wing Vox party securing 33.

While the right-wing parties garnered a total of 169 seats, they are still far from a needed majority of 176 to form a one-colored government.

On the other side, the Socialists have won 122 seats, while the new left-wing movement, Sumar, won 31. Together, both parties gathered 153 seats.

The pre-final results leave the door open for both sides to start negotiations on striking coalition deals with other regional parties to fill in the remaining number of needed seats.

As per Spanish media, the potential game changer for the left-wing coalition could be Catalunya's independence-seeking party Junts, which has won seven seats.

Si Junts se abstiene, Pedro Sánchez puede ser presidente del Gobierno.

Pero si Junts vota que no a la izquierda y luego también vota que no a la derecha, nadie tendrá más síes que noes. Y a elecciones otra vez.

— Juanlu Sánchez (@juanlusanchez) July 23, 2023

Commenting on the current results, Socialist Spanish PM Pedro Sanchez said Spain's right-wing parties "were beaten" in Sunday's early general election.

"The backward-looking bloc that wanted to roll back all the progress we made over the past four years has failed," Sanchez said.

🗳 #EleccionesGenerales | Suena la canción de 'Verano Azul' en la sede del PSOE en la calle Ferraz de Madridhttps://t.co/bkzdw4nEof pic.twitter.com/gwiApWCTRj

— Cadena SER (@La_SER) July 23, 2023

"The regressive block made up of the Popular Party and Vox were beaten," he added from the balcony of his party's headquarters in Madrid.

"There are many more who want Spain to keep advancing than those who want to step backwards."

On his part, PP leader Alberto Nunez Feijoo claimed his party's victory, telling supporters gathered outside of the party's headquarters in Madrid that he will try to "form a government."

Over 6,000 polling stations closed in Spain earlier, marking the end of the general elections.

Spain assumed the presidency of the European Union three weeks ago, making the tilt to the right a blow to Europe's majority left.

A Sigma Dos survey conducted days before the election projected that Alberto Nunez Feijoo's PP would gain 145-150 seats, falling short of the 176-seat absolute majority necessary to rule alone.

Three more surveys conducted soon before the election, the results of which cannot be legally released until after the polls close, all showed the PP winning but without an overall majority, implying that it would require cooperation from the far-right Vox to establish a government.

A GAD3 survey published after voting closed indicates that based on 10,000 voter intentions during the election campaign, the PP is projected to win 150 seats while Vox is projected to win 31. 

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Another survey indicated the leftist alliance led by Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez's Socialists will receive 149 seats in the 350-seat lower chamber and no single party would win a majority.

The Spanish snap election has been a stark reminder of Europe's shift toward the far-right.

At 6:00 pm local time (16:00 GMT), the turnout was 53%, down from 56.85% in the last election in November 2019.

Leader of Vox, Santiago Abascal, expressed willingness to create "an alternative" to the current PM's left-wing coalition government. 

Read more: An explainer: How will the general election shape Spain's future?

An important moment for Europe

Feijoo called it a "very important" moment not only for Spain but for Europe and the world. 

Vox's right-wing party would not be the first in Europe in a new trend in countries like Hungary, Finland, and Italy.

Sanchez expressed that the PP-Vox government would bring Spain into "a dark time warp that will leave us who knows where."

Vox seeks to repeal laws against gender violence, abortion, and euthanasia, as well as prohibit independence-seeking parties and safeguard traditions like bullfighting.

Former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown called Vox's plan "chilling" in an op-ed in France's Le Monde, saying its entry into government "would push Europe one step further into a right-wing abyss."

Since Sanchez took office in 2018, Spain's economy has outpaced most of its EU rivals, rising by 5.5 percent last year, with inflation falling below 2.0 percent, which is unusual in Europe.

He has also increased the minimum wage, increased pensions, and made commuter train travel free.

However, his government's reliance on Catalan and Basque independence-seeking parties to enact laws, as well as his occasional collaborations with Bildu, the successor to the political branch of ETA, has harmed his support, as per analysts. 

Another huge setback was a rape statute that allowed over 1,000 convicted sex offenders to have their sentences reduced.

Feijoo, 61, has promised to repeal many of Sanchez's legislation, including one that allows anybody 16 and up to alter their ID card gender with a simple declaration.

If the PP and Vox fall short of a working majority, the Socialists will have a better chance of forming a government since they have more choices for forming partnerships.

Analysts could not rule out the prospect that neither group will be able to obtain a functional majority, forcing a new election, as what happened in 2019.

Read more: Meet the four main candidates in Spain's general election