SPAIN’S prime minister has called an early general election for April after Catalan MPs joined opposition legislators to vote down his government’s budget for 2019.

The election is likely to highlight deep political divisions in the country.

The defeat for the minority socialist government led by Pedro Sanchez will see Spain go to the polls for the third time in less than four years.

Sanchez was already under pressure from his own party ranks to cut his term short.

In his announcement, Sanchez complained that the right-wing parties – the PP and Ciudadanos – had blocked numerous bills in parliament, including important measures to reduce inequality.

Following an urgent meeting of his cabinet, he said during a televised appearance from the seat of government in Madrid, the Moncloa Palace: “Between doing nothing and continuing without a budget, or giving the chance for Spaniards to speak, Spain should continue looking ahead. Spain needs to keep advancing, progressing with tolerance, respect, moderation and common sense.”

At the end of a speech during which he highlighted the deeds of his eight months in power, Sanchez added: “I have proposed to dissolve parliament and call elections for April 28.

The 46-year-old ousted predecessor Mariano Rajoy in June last year, when he won a no-confidence vote triggered by a damaging corruption conviction affecting the conservative Popular Party (PP).

But the simple majority of socialists, anti-austerity and regional nationalist parties that united at the time against Rajoy crumbled in the past week after Sanchez refused to accept talks over Catalonia’s self-determination as part of dialogue with supporters of independence.

Without mentioning Catalonia directly, Sanchez said he remained committed to dialogue with different parts of the country and blamed the conservatives for not supporting his negotiations.

Opinion polls indicate that the election is not likely to produce a clear winner, a situation that is a long way away from the traditional bipartisan politics that dominated Spanish politics for decades.

Although Sanchez’s socialists appear to be ahead, they do not seem to have enough support to form a government alone.

They are unlikely to get over the line even if they come to an agreement with the anti-establishment Podemos (We Can) party, so a third partner will probably be needed.

However, the prospect of

Catalan-independence-supporting parties joining any ensuing coalition could be jeopardised by the ongoing trial of politicians and activists for their roles in the Catalan breakaway bid two years ago.

The backdrop has become more complicated after a far-right party made recent gains in a regional assembly, the first significant win of the far-right in post-dictatorship Spain.

A substantial win for Vox in April could make the populists a potential kingmaker, possibly empowering a right-wing coalition with PP and the centre-right Ciudadanos party.