The voting process for the elections, which began at 9:00 local time (10:00 GMT), chose the local representatives for 12 of the country's 17 autonomous governments (Aragon, Asturias, Canary Islands, Balearic Islands, Cantabria, Castilla La Mancha, Madrid, Valencia, Extremadura, La Rioja, Navarra, and Murcia). will choose the 8,131 mayors of the autonomous cities of Ceuta and Melilla in North Africa as well as their councils.

During the election campaign, political parties discussed health, the economic crisis, and drought. They also discussed immigration issues. Especially the nomination of a few ETA terrorists and the allegations that votes were purchased via mail.

In the municipal elections, more than 60 thousand city council members and 736 members of the self-government parliament will be chosen.

The results of today's local elections are anticipated to provide insight into Spain's new political landscape because general elections are anticipated to take place at the end of the year.

The Socialist Workers Party (PSOE) and its junior partner, which is the main opposition right-wing People's Party (PP), increased the candidate list by 260 percent compared to the previous local elections four years ago. The People's Party is the first in the history of the nation's democracy and the largest partner of the coalition government that was established at the beginning of 2020. Prior to the general elections at the end of the year, the vote percentages that the extreme right-wing Vox party will acquire will be crucial.

Additionally, the vote of the EH Bildu party, which is active in the Basque country and has put forth 37 candidates with a history of ETA-related convictions, will be observed.

In local elections, there are also around 800,000 Muslim voters.

With its first-ever all-Muslim candidate list, the political party "Dignity and Citizenship Movement" (MDyC), which is active in the city of Ceuta, made history in Spain.

The mayorship and autonomous administration of Madrid, where the PP currently holds the majority; the mayorship of Barcelona, where Ada Cola is running for re-election for the third time; and the autonomous administrations of Valencia, Aragon, and Extremadura are the most puzzling outcomes of the local elections, in which roughly 243 thousand more voters will cast their ballots than four years ago.

One of the first elected officials to cast a ballot was Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, who did so at the Nuestra Senora del Buen Consejo School in the Spanish city of Madrid for the municipal elections in which 35.1 million people were registered to vote.

At 20:00 local time (21.00 CEST), voting will be over.

The Associated Press provided the news' images.