Spanish Prime Minister, Mariano Rajoy, got one surprise he wasn't expecting on the campaign trail in his home region of Galicia Wednesday night when he was punched in the face by a 17-year-old boy.
The incident marks a chaotic end to the final days of campaigning in the country's general election this weekend. It looks set to be one of the most intriguing and important polls since Spain's transition to democracy.
With the country finally emerging from years of hardship borne of a crippling financial crisis and the implementation of severe austerity, the emergence of new political forces is set to transform Spain's political landscape.
CNBC takes a look at the issues involved.
After the domination of two main political parties – Rajoy's Partido Popular (PP) and the Partido Socialista Obrero Español (PSOE) – for decades, the political status quo in Spain is set to change irrevocably.
"Polls are pointing at a very fragmented parliament… this is the base consensus by all pollsters," Antonio Barroso, political analyst at Teneo Intelligence, an advisory firm, told CNBC in a phone interview.
The emergence of both the left wing Podemos – Spanish for 'we can' – and the centrist Ciudadanos, which translates as 'citizens', means that the outcome of the election is uncertain.
While the PP are expected to win the election, they may well lose their outright majority, with a minority or coalition government two potential outcomes.
"I think we are going through an unprecedented period of political change in Spain," Barroso said.
"The political party system is in flux because this is a country that had a two party system for the last thirty years… now you have two new entrants that basically have changed the game," he added.
Spain's property bubble spectacularly burst in 2008, and the ensuing economic crisis has hit people hard.
"We wouldn't be in this situation without the crisis," Barroso said. "The crisis… has basically awakened consciousness about the imperfections of the political system," he added.
In October 2015, Spain's unemployment rate was 21.6 percent compared to 23.9 percent a year earlier, according to Eurostat.
While that decrease is welcome and the economy is showing signs of recovery, Spain still had the second highest unemployment rate in Europe after Greece, while youth unemployment is still incredibly high, at 47.7 percent in October.
"Mr Rajoy's trump card is the economy – not because Spain is roaring back to life but because of fears that a left-wing government could endanger the recovery," Nicholas Spiro, Managing Director of Spiro Sovereign Strategy, told CNBC via email.