Pedro Sanchez announced in a televised address on Monday that Spain will hold an early general election on November 29, seeking a broader progressive majority after Congress rejected two emergency housing decrees on Friday, October 2. Sanchez said Spain needed to renew popular support to overcome vested interests and deliver social reforms, while acknowledging his government had made mistakes and fallen short of its promises.
The defeated decrees would have banned evictions of vulnerable tenants until 2030, extended a rent freeze on existing leases by two years, and tightened rules on short-term rentals. They were struck down by right-wing MPs, and the defeat followed weekend protests in 50 Spanish cities over housing costs, including clashes with police in Valencia. Public anger had been building since the September eviction of an 87-year-old woman from her Madrid home.
The gamble is considerable. Sanchez’s Socialist Party trails in opinion polls, and analysts see a People’s Party-led coalition with Vox support as the likeliest outcome, which would bring a far-right party into central government for the first time since the Franco era. Sanchez, prime minister since 2018, has a record of defying bleak polls, most recently in 2023.