With housing topping voters’ concerns, the prime minister is hoping the affordability crisis can help him defy the polls and extend his time in power.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez on Monday called a snap election for Nov. 29, a vote that could signal the demise of the EU’s last major Socialist government and remove one of Europe’s chief critics of U.S. President Donald Trump from the political front line.
Already weakened by the corruption cases battering his Socialist Party, Sánchez took a further knock this summer when he faced fierce blowback over his handling of the ongoing migrant crisis in the North African exclave of Ceuta.
But the bitter topic of unaffordable housing — something that tops the list of voters’ concerns in Spain and which has sparked nationwide protests — has finally prompted Sánchez to call an early election in an apparent bid to seize a campaign battleground he believes could work to his advantage.
Lawmakers on Friday rejected two bills intended to address a housing crisis that has ignited major protests across the country since last week over the eviction of 87-year-old Maricarmen Abascal from the Madrid apartment where she had lived since 1956.
Although Sánchez has established a reputation as a master of the political bounce-back, he faces a steep climb to turn this latest crisis to his advantage.
Polls overwhelmingly suggest that the country will vote in an administration led by the center-right People’s Party, currently supported by 34% of the electorate, compared with 26% backing the Socialist Party. The PP would likely partner with the far-right Vox party, which is projected to score 18%, according to POLITICO’s Poll of Polls.
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In calling for an election, Sánchez warned of the surge of the far right.
“You, the Spanish people, must decide what role you wish to play in this era, and what role you want Spain to play,” he said in his address to the nation.
“You must decide whether to join the far-right wave that drives regression wherever it governs, or whether you want Spain to remain a bastion of openness, social justice, and environmental responsibility,” he added.
Mixed track record
Sánchez used the televised address announcing the snap elections to highlight what his minority coalition government had achieved since coming to office in 2023.
The prime minister emphasized the strides Spain has made on the economic front, becoming “the fastest-growing economy in the entire European Union, leading in job creation,” and underscored the continued investments in green energy that have made the country a renewables powerhouse.
He also highlighted his own role on the international stage, where he has gained prominence as one of the Western leaders to most forcefully condemn bothTrump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the conflicts in Gaza and Iran, and clashed with tech giants such as Elon Musk.
Sánchez said Spaniards could be proud of a government that “denounces genocidal figures while others remain silent and fights the tyrants, oligarchs, and speculators who seek to destroy our children’s future to line their own pockets.”
While insisting that his government had “transformed Spain into a global benchmark for peace, feminism, and prosperity, allowing us to achieve the best economic, social, and environmental results of any democratic government in our country’s history,” Sánchez also acknowledged that many Spaniards felt “dissatisfaction.”
Average citizens are not feeling the impact of Spain’s strong growth and record employment figures. Inflation outpaces salary gains, leaving most households with little additional purchasing power as prices and housing costs surge.
Moreover, episodes like last year’s Iberian blackout tarnished the prestige of the country’s green energy network, and the international response to the ongoing Ceuta migrant crisis has raised doubts about Spain’s heft on the global stage.
Sánchez admitted his government had made mistakes and “not managed to achieve everything we set out to do.”
“Many injustices remain to be corrected, many social goals to be attained, and many problems to be solved — particularly regarding inequality in public services and access to housing,” he said. “But the fact is that to do more, we need to renew and expand public support in order to undertake the deep reforms required for citizens to reduce these levels of inequality.”
Polls favor conservatives
Although Sánchez has established a reputation as a master of the political bounce-back, he faces a steep climb to turn this latest crisis to his advantage.
The PP, which has called for snap elections almost from the moment Sánchez renewed his hold on power at the end of 2023, reacted to the news with the short tweet: “AT LAST.”
The snap election caught Spain’s fractured far-left parties scrambling to regroup. That’s a problem for Sánchez’s Socialists, who need the groups to their left to unite behind a viable electoral alliance in order to form a fresh coalition government.
With Deputy Prime Minister Yolanda Díaz declining to run for reelection, the Sumar group — junior partners in Sánchez’s coalition government – is still searching for a leader, which is expected to be unveiled on Oct. 17, when the party rebrands as the “Broad Front.”
Health Minister Mónica García is the frontrunner to be lead candidate, with Culture Minister Ernest Urtasun running as the main figure in Catalonia.
It remains unclear whether that project will be able to incorporate Spain’s other major far-left party, Podemos, or figures such as longtime housing activist and former Barcelona Mayor Ada Colau, who has signaled a willingness to return to frontline politics.