MADRID, Spain (AP) – Spain’s political landscape has changed dramatically since 2011, when voters ousted the Socialist Party and gave a landslide victory to the right-of-centre Popular Party.

The rise of two influential new parties to challenge the two long-standing traditional parties has injected tension and suspense into today’s ballot, when voters will give their verdict on who they believe will do the best job of ending high unemployment and a string of corruption scandals in the European Union’s fifth-largest economy.

Here’s a look at what’s at stake in the national election:

THE BALLOT

Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy’s Popular Party is seeking a second consecutive four-year term. It currently holds a majority of 186 seats in the 350-seat Lower House of Parliament. The Socialists hold 110 seats. Newcomer parties Ciudadanos and Podemos don’t have any because it’s their first time fielding national candidates.

Spain’s 36.5 million registered voters will elect representatives to the Lower House and to the Senate, a separate chamber without less legislative power.

Polling stations open at 0800 GMT and close at 1900 GMT. Exit polls are expected within minutes of polls closing.

Partial official results will be released periodically throughout the evening, with most results expected by 2300 GMT. Complete results, including postal votes, are expected two days later.

THE ISSUES

Three issues have dominated Spanish politics over the past four years: the nation’s economic crisis, corruption and a separatist drive in the northeastern region of Catalonia bordering France. Rajoy has boasted about his handling of the first, done his best to skirt the second and has vowed to halt the independence push.

His Administration’s biggest success has been in pulling Spain back from an economic abyss in 2012 and returning the economy to steady growth, but the jobless rate still stands at 21 per cent.

Unemployment began climbing during the global financial crisis of 2008 and hit 27 per cent in 2013. Rajoy’s party adopted unpopular austerity measures and labour and financial reforms credited with creating jobs. Although Spain’s economy is now one of the fastest growing in the 28-nation European Union, its unemployment rate is the second highest in the EU after Greece.

Rajoy’s Administration has been hurt by his U-turn on a promise not to raise taxes and the austerity measures that cut national health care and public education. Many Spaniards are also angry about what they perceive as the impunity of politicians and business leaders amid incessant corruption cases.

The question of independence for economically and politically-powerful Catalonia has divided that region and soured political ties with the rest of Spain. Rajoy vows to quash what is seen as the biggest threat to Spanish unity in recent decades. Other parties favour negotiations to devolve more power to Catalonia.