Spain's opposition Socialist Party leader Alfredo Rubalcaba has announced he will step down after leading his party to heavy losses in European parliamentary elections.
Rubalcaba's Socialists and Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy's ruling Popular Party each lost about a third of their European seats in a backlash by voters, angry over economic crisis and corruption.
Rubalcaba said on Monday he had called an extraordinary Socialist Party congress from July 19-20 to elect a new leadership of Spain's main opposition party, which was driven from power in 2011.
"I assume my responsibility for electoral results that were bad," he told a news conference after his party lost nine European Parliament seats in Sunday's vote.
The Socialists now hold just 14 seats in Strasbourg out of Spain's total of 54.
Rubalcaba described the results as "very worrying".
"Later I will hand over power to another secretary general to be chosen by the congress," he said.
As in austerity-hit Greece, smaller insurgent parties that tapped into voter discontent with traditional politics were the main winners in Sunday's vote in Spain.
"Podemos", a new left-wing party born out of Spain's "Indignant" movement against economic equality which occupied squares three years ago and has been compared to Greece's radical left-wing Syriza party, won five seats.
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