New elections in Spain: Sánchez is looking for his momentum

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez is bringing forward the parliamentary elections scheduled for summer 2027 to November 29th. It is the consequence of a painful vote defeat in parliament last Friday, when a right-wing majority made up of the conservative Partido Popular (PP), the right-wing extremist VOX and the Catalan independence party Junts per Catalunya thwarted reforms of the housing and rental markets.

“To achieve more, we need a broader majority,” Sánchez said on Monday. It is time for “Spanish people to decide what future they want for themselves and for their country,” he added during an official speech at the government headquarters in Moncloa. Previously he had King Felipe VI. informed of his decision to end the legislature. A cabinet meeting officially approved the decision.

His coalition government has achieved a lot, said Sánchez, but there are still many injustices that need to be eliminated. To do this, he wants to “renew and expand the support of the population”.

In the last ten days, Spain has seen social protests on a scale not seen in a long time. After the eviction of the 87-year-old disabled pensioner Maricarmen in Madrid, hundreds of thousands took to the streets across the country for the second time in a row at the weekend against the housing crisis and for tougher political interventions in the rental market. In surveys, two thirds of the population are in favor of capping rents and an end to evictions - there are around 25,000 every year. They are also calling for tough action against speculative real estate funds. Even among right-wing voters, more than half share these demands.

Sánchez now wants to use this discontent for himself and his coalition. Despite all the polls, he is striving for “a significantly broader progressive majority” with which “the elites can be overcome, new social progress can be achieved and Spain’s transformation can be continued.”

It is now up to the Spaniards to decide whether they want to join “the right-wing extremist wave that represents a step backwards wherever it governs” or whether they instead want “Spain to continue to stand for openness, social justice and ecological responsibility.” In Spain, five regions are already governed by alliances between the PP and VOX. They deny climate change, cut funding for non-governmental organizations that advocate for the environment, women's and LGTBI rights, and make cuts in social services and education. However, subsidies for bullfighting and hunting, for example, will be increased.

The government will re-adopt the failed decrees at the upcoming cabinet meeting. They will then come into force again after publication in the Official Journal and must be adopted by Parliament no later than 30 days later. Once dissolved, only the Diputación Permanente meets - a standing committee in which the supporters of the decrees have a slight majority. The housing issue will probably become the central election campaign issue.

In view of the rumor that Sánchez could, as is now happening, dissolve parliament and call new elections, Spanish media commissioned surveys at the weekend. In all of them, PP and VOX are clearly ahead - usually with an absolute parliamentary majority.

However, this is due less to the popularity of right-wing politics than to disillusionment and abstention on the left. Sánchez now wants to reverse this trend. Something he managed to do three years ago. At that time too, he unexpectedly brought forward the elections and began to catch up against all the polls. The PP won, but together with VOX they did not achieve a parliamentary majority. Sánchez became head of government and has ruled since then with a difficult majority made up of small left-wing parties from the regions as well as Basque and Catalan nationalists. The latter finally turned their backs on him in the vote last Friday.

The left to the left of Sánchez's Socialists is coming under pressure from the early elections. The Sumar electoral alliance, which has so far been a junior partner in the left-wing coalition, will no longer exist. The left-wing forces, such as Podemos or the post-communist United Left, as well as regional parties such as En Comú in Catalonia, Compromis in Valencia or Más Madrid in the capital region, have been negotiating a “Frente Amplio” (Broad Front) for months. Who is included under this name and who tops the list should be announced by October 17th at the latest.

Everything depends on the success of this alliance. Only if they win seats as a third party in as many provinces as possible can an election victory for the right be prevented.