Spain pulls far right Vox party from pre-election debate

Spain's election board blocked on Tuesday the far-right Vox party from participating in the only confirmed debate between leading contenders for the April 28 election.

The ruling shows the complexity of Spain's shift from decades of two-party rule to a fragmented political landscape where no one party looks set to win a majority and Vox has gone from relative obscurity to major force in less than a year.

Vox has never won more than 5 per cent of votes in national elections, but achieved a surprise victory in regional elections last year and is predicted by polls to win around 10 per cent in this month's parliamentary vote.

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That was why Spain's Atresmedia network chose it to join the four major national parties for a scheduled April 23 debate over other movements like Catalan and Basque nationalists.

But the electoral commission said that was a violation of electoral law. Several smaller parties had demanded inclusion in the debate, based on previous electoral performance.

Atresmedia said it would comply - though it did not agree.

"Atresmedia maintains that a debate between five candidates is of the greatest journalistic value and most relevance for voters," the network said in a statement after the ruling.

Vox reacted defiantly, tweeting that separatist parties had swayed the decision. "It's clear who calls the shots still in Spain: the separatists. Until April 28. Because a great victory for #LongLiveSpain will see those parties who wish to destroy our co-existence, constitution and homeland banned."

The vote looks set to be one of Spain's most bitterly-fought in decades. It will probably be split between five parties for the first time since a return to democracy 40 years ago, polls show, making coalition negotiations or even repeat elections a possibility.