Casablanca – Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has called early general elections for November 29, ending his government’s current parliamentary term about nine months earlier than expected after his government lost a key parliamentary vote on housing measures.
Sánchez announced the decision Monday morning from the Moncloa Palace after a weekend of consultations following a major defeat in Congress over his government’s housing measures.
“After informing the Head of State, I have decided to convene an extraordinary Council of Ministers this morning to dissolve Parliament and call general elections, which will be held on Sunday, November 29, in accordance with the legally established deadlines,” Sánchez said in a televised statement.
He added that “it is time for Spaniards to decide what future they want for themselves and for their country.”
The election announcement came three days after Congress rejected two government decrees aimed at addressing Spain’s housing crisis. The measures included protections against evictions and other steps intended to improve access to housing.
The decrees were defeated after the conservative Popular Party (PP) and Vox joined forces with the Catalan separatist party Junts to vote against them, according to Spanish public broadcaster RTVE. The defeat reflects the government’s difficulty in securing enough support in a fragmented parliament.
The vote followed weeks of growing protests over housing costs. Demonstrations and encampments spread across Spanish cities after the eviction of an 87-year-old woman in Madrid became a focus of public anger over the housing crisis.
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Spanish newspaper El País reported that the housing defeat, combined with the protests, pushed Sánchez toward an early election after negotiations with Junts failed. The newspaper said the decision would allow voters to determine the country’s political direction after months of difficulties for the minority government.
La Vanguardia described the decision as the end of a legislature that had effectively lost its parliamentary majority after Friday’s vote, with housing now expected to be a central issue in the election campaign.
The election will take place 54 days after the formal dissolution of parliament, in line with Spain’s electoral law. RTVE reported that November 29 is the earliest possible date under the legal timetable.
The vote will pit Sánchez’s Socialist Party (PSOE) against the opposition PP, led by Alberto Núñez Feijóo, as well as Vox and several smaller parties. Sumar, a junior partner in Sánchez’s coalition, has said it is ready to contest the election as part of a new alliance with left-wing parties.
Feijóo was due to address the media Monday morning following Sánchez’s announcement.
