Polls opened at 9am and will close at 8pm local time. Experts say the final result is expected to be very close. Mr Sanchez called the snap election after the left suffered a defeat in local elections in May.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez. Photo: Getty
Opinion polls suggest the election is likely to yield victory to Alberto Nunez Feijoo's centre-right Popular Party, but to form a new government it will need to cooperate with Santiago Abascal's far-right Vox Party.
It would be the first time a far-right party has entered government in Spain since the end of General Francisco Franco's dictatorship in the 1970s.
Many Spaniards were upset at being asked to vote in the sweltering summer and while they were on vacation. The postal service reported on Saturday that a record 2.47 million votes were cast by mail , as many people chose to vote from vacation spots.
Mr Sanchez, who took office in 2018, has faced many difficulties and challenges - from the COVID pandemic, the inflation crisis and the war in Ukraine.
Forming a new Spanish government depends on complex negotiations that could take weeks or months and could even end in new elections.
Huy Hoang (according to Reuters)
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