Spanish regional elections to test PM Rajoy

Almost 4.5 million people will go to the polls Sunday in regional elections in Spain’s turbulent Basque region and in northwestern Galicia.

Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has refrained from revealing whether his government will seek a national bailout during campaigning for the elections even though most Spaniards believe it to be inevitable.

With 2.7 million voters, Galicia is a traditional Popular Party stronghold and the homeland of Rajoy, so an upset there would rock the PP regionally and nationally.

About 1.8 million Basque voters are likely to oust Socialist leader Patxi Lopez from the 75-seat legislature in the prosperous northern region that borders France. The Basque region has been wracked by decades of separatist violence.

Most observers believe Rajoy will announce details of a bailout soon after the elections.

(AP)