Spain Holding Historic General Election

President of Ciudadanos party, Albert Rivera (C), talks to the media after casting his vote at a polling station in L`Hospitalet de Llobregat at Barcelona, Spain, during the Spanish general elections on December 20, 2015. EPA/BGNES

Two newly-established parties are set to shake the status quo in Spanish politics as citizens are casting ballots in a general election on Sunday.

Most polls show ruling Popular Party (PP) of Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy has a narrow lead.

But Rajoy and the biggest opposition party, socialist PSOE, are expected to lost many votes to leftist Podemos ("We Can") and centrist Ciudadanos ("Citizens"), two parties which rose to popularity during the crisis years.

Despite Spain's struggle to emerge out of the recession, a vast part of Spain's 36 million eligible voters are expected to back one of the two parties, calling into question the mainly bipartisan model that has been in place since the years of dictator Francisco Franco.

Opinion polls suggest a coalition government will be inevitable. Some parties, like Ciudadanos, however, have ruled out sharing power.

Voting day ends at 20:00 local time (21:00 EET).

Hours into the vote, no incidents have been reported as of 14:00 local time. 

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