No general election in Spain regardless of Catalan vote outcome: PM Rajoy

MADRID, Dec. 11 (Xinhua) -- Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy said Monday that whatever the results in the Catalan regional elections on Dec. 21, he had no intention of calling a general election in Spain.

Polls predict that the Dec. 21 vote will be very close between parties in favor and against Catalan independence, although Rajoy's Peoples' Party is expected to lose votes and seats and take less than six percent of the total vote.

However, speaking at a meeting organized by Europa Press, Rajoy insisted people should not pay too much attention to opinion polls, and said that even if a bad result did happen, it would not force him to the national polls before the scheduled date of June 2020.

"There doesn't have to be any early general elections as a result of the elections in Catalonia," he said.

"Mandates usually last for four years, unless there are exceptional circumstances," said Rajoy, who refused to say whether he would be a candidate for a third mandate, explaining it was a decision he would take "in the future". Enditem