Voting opens as Spain picks between Sanchez or right's return

Spanish Prime minister and socialist candidate, Pedro Sánchez, votes at a polling station in Madrid's city centre, alongside his wife, in a snap general election. Voters across Spain head to the polls on Sunday to decide whether to hand Sanchez a fresh four-year mandate or bring the right back into power with its far-right coalition ally.

As many Spaniards are on holiday, more than 2.47 million -- a record number -- of the 37.5 million registered voters have cast an absentee ballot, Spain's postal service said on Saturday. Polling stations opened at 9:00 am local time and will close at 8:00 pm, with the results expected a few hours later.