EVEN if acting president Mariano Rajoy were to form a coalition with centre-right Ciudadanos, between the two they would only make up 163 seats out of the necessary 176, meaning the only possible option would be a huge 'Establishment' government made up of Spain's two largest parties which have dominated the scene for decades, the PSOE (socialists) and the PP.
Mathematically-speaking, a coalition between the PP, Ciudadanos and a combination of Catalunya's minority nationalist parties would give 180 seats, but politically, this is impossible because of the PP's radical opposition to the independence bid.
With Ciudadanos and the nationalist Basque party PNV and its Canary Island counterpart, Coalición Canaria, Rajoy would still be six seats short.
As for whether there is any likelihood of the PSOE joining forces with the PP, its leader Pedro Sánchez has always been against the idea.
“We don't want to form a coalition with them – we want to kick them out,” Sánchez, 43, said before the elections.
After the results, when asked, Sánchez said: “Plenty of discussions will be needed,” hinting that the giant coalition of 213 seats may not be out of the question.
If Rajoy does not achieve this, he will have to wait for the internal presidential vote where a simple majority is all that is needed for his to carry on leading the country.
He would need Ciudadanos to agree to vote him in, meaning with his own party's votes in favour he would have 163 – and then convince the socialists to abstain rather than voting against him.
If Ciudadanos does not agree to vote for Rajoy, he would need to persuade all 40 members of to abstain along with the socialists.
Could other parties oust Rajoy?
Socialist leader Pedro Sánchez may get himself into the presidential hotseat if he can convince Podemos, with their 69 seats, and Ciudadanos to team up with the PSOE.
In terms of political ideology, the three are relatively close and much more so than to the PP – but Ciudadanos' Albert Rivera said before the elections that he had no intention of supporting 'a coalition of losers'.
Read more at thinkSPAIN.com