Spanish Prime Minister hopes stable government will be formed after general election

Sanchez, the leader of the ruling Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE), was the first of the leaders of major Spanish parties to cast his vote. He arrived at the polling place in Pozuelo de Alarcon, a Madrid suburb, around 20 minutes after it opened.

"Our country is democratic, and I wish to Spaniards to cast votes and to enjoy this day of democracy. [I wish] that ... after many years of instability and uncertainty it will be clear what kind of Spain we want to see; that we will be able to secure the needed parliamentary majority; that we will have a stable government that will look into the future and will be able to secure the necessary progress, which our country needs in terms of social justice, national consensus and purity of politics. Let the Election Day be a day of open doors toward the future," Sanchez said.

Spain is holding snap general election on Sunday, in which voters will choose 350 members of the lower chamber of the Spanish parliament and 208 members of its upper chamber out of the total 266. As many as 36.89 million people, of whom 2 million people reside abroad, are eligible to cast votes.

Opinions polls have showed that PSOE is likely come first in the race for the seats in the lower chamber, while it will probably fail to secure the needed absolute majority of 176 mandates.