A mood of gloom and resignation dominated as people went to the polls against a background of soaring unemployment, cuts in public spending and a debt crisis that has put Spain in the front line of the euro zone's fight for survival.

Pre-election opinion polls gave the conservative People's Party (PP), led by Mariano Rajoy, an unassailable lead over the ruling Socialists, who have led Spain from boom to bust in seven years in power.

Voters are angry with the Socialists for failing to act swiftly to prevent the slide in the euro zone's fourth-largest economy and then for bringing in austerity measures that have cut wages, benefits and jobs.

People now seem resigned to further slashes in spending on health and education in the midst of a European debt crisis that has toppled the governments of Ireland, Portugal, Greece and Italy and pushed Spain's borrowing costs ever higher.

Voting stations close at 8 p.m. (2 p.m. ET) on November 20 and complete election results are expected a few hours later.