DOMINANT ANGLE
Madrid is dissecting the debacle of Friedrich Merz: beyond the record score of the AfD, the Spanish press sees the German double election as an irreversible erosion of the chancellor's political capital.
Dominant angle identified — does not reflect unanimity of this country’s media
KEY POINTS
- 01
The CDU gets 4.9% in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, below the 5% threshold, its worst regional result since 1949 and its first exclusion from a Landtag
- 02
The AfD reaches 38.1-38.2% in this state, compared to 16.7% in 2021, practically doubling its score in four years
- 03
In Berlin, Die Linke wins 25.4% of the vote with its candidate Elif Eralp, a historic first in the capital, ahead of the CDU (19.7%) and the AfD (15.4%)
ANALYSIS
Madrid, September 21, 2026. The Spanish press sees the double German regional election on Sunday, September 20, 2026, as a verdict first and foremost for Friedrich Merz, before being a snapshot of the German electorate. In Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, the Alternative for Germany (AfD) wins with 38.1% of the vote -- it had obtained 16.7% in 2021, notes HuffPost España, which talks about a party that has "practically doubled" its score. Chancellor's CDU falls to 4.9%, below the 5% threshold, a result that ElDiario.es describes as the "worst result in history" for the party in a regional election, and the worst since 1949 according to Reuters, cited by HuffPost España. The conservatives are excluded from the Schwerin Landtag for the first time.
In Berlin, it's Die Linke that wins with 25.4%, a historic first in the capital led by lawyer Elif Eralp, ahead of the CDU (19.7%) and the AfD, which made strong gains at 15.4%. The outgoing SPD-Die Linke coalition loses its majority, according to projections relayed by HuffPost España.
Merz himself acknowledged the shock: "We cannot disguise the result in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, it's a disaster," he said, cited by ElDiario.es, adding that "trust in the institutions of our country is declining" under the pressure of the extremes. The Chancellor nonetheless announced that he would remain in office, counting on "firmness, constancy, and patience". The economic podcast of Expansión notes that the Financial Times emphasizes, for its part, that Merz "does not resign despite the debacle of his party".
The Spanish press insists on the lack of a governmental outlet for the AfD: despite its victory in Mecklenburg, the other parties continue to refuse any alliance, leaving the social democrat Manuela Schwesig, credited with 35.5%, in a position to retain the presidency of the Land. ElDiario.es had anticipated, before the vote, that this election threatened to "shatter the little political capital that remains" for Merz, two weeks after a similar defeat in Saxony-Anhalt. It is this cumulative fragility of the Chancellor, more than the sole raw result of the AfD, that structures the Spanish reading of the two elections.
SOURCES (3)
- HuffPost EspañaMEDIUM
- ElDiario.esMEDIUM
- ExpansiónMEDIUM
