The lack of support for the traditionally dominant parties in the municipal elections has opened multiple spaces for emerging groupings that take advantage of the opportunity and become competitive groupings at the local level.

The opinion polls continue to show former minister Rodrigo Chaves as the winner against former president José María Figueres, but the distance between them has reduced significantly, while groups have emerged openly calling for abstention or spoilt vote.

A few days before the election, the outcome of which is uncertain, Costa Rica is experiencing a crisis situation resulting from a combination of economic imbalance and serious political instability not seen since the explosion of the debt crisis in 1984. It is difficult to know how it will get through these turbulent times.