Spain calls early election after housing crisis roils government
The prime minister's decision comes amid voter outrage at the eviction of an 87-year-old-woman. Though she was subsequently allowed to return home, her treatment led to mass protests.
MADRID — Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez of Spain called for early elections Monday, days after his left-wing governing coalition, which lacks a majority in parliament, lost a parliamentary vote to pass a package of emergency housing measures.
Sánchez and other left-wing politicians are seeking to frame the early election around Spain’s housing crisis, after thousands of people protested in recent days against soaring rents and home prices. But the conservative Popular Party and the far-right Vox party are expected to focus instead on the migration crisis, and on Sánchez himself, a deeply unpopular figure among right-wing voters.
The snap election will be held Nov. 29, months ahead of schedule, Sánchez said on Monday.
Sánchez, one of Europe’s longest-serving leaders, had become a hero to the global left for standing up to the Trump administration over the war in Iran, and for supporting renewable energy and inclusive immigration policies. At home, his popularity was dented first by corruption accusations directed at his innermost circle, and then by a major migration crisis spurred by the sudden surge of tens of thousands of migrants into a Spanish territory in North Africa.
The defeat of the housing measures, which Sánchez had hoped would soothe public anger at rising evictions and soaring rents — symbolized by the recent eviction of María del Carmen Abascal, an 87-year-old woman in Madrid — amounted to the final straw. The loss showed that his government was essentially paralyzed and unable to pass legislation that its liberal base deemed vital.
But it also handed Sánchez an issue that could rally his left-wing base during the campaign, as he tries to defeat conservatives who currently outperform his Socialist Party in polls.
“To carry out the far-reaching reforms to reduce inequality,” Sánchez said in a press briefing Monday, “we must mobilize to secure a much larger progressive majority in parliament — one capable of taking on the elites, achieving new social advances, and continuing to transform Spain.”
Sánchez said voters would have to choose between keeping Spain as “a bastion of social justice” or “the far-right wave that brings regression wherever it governs.” That was a reference to Vox, which could join a right-wing government led by the Popular Party, the main conservative opposition group.
The Popular Party celebrated Sánchez’s announcement as a victory, as it had been calling for months for an early election. “FINALLY,” the party said on social media Monday morning. “We will deliver justice, recover lost time, money and hope, and rebuild our country,” the party said in a video.
Sánchez’s decision comes amid voter outrage at the eviction of Abascal. Though she was subsequently allowed to return home, her treatment led to mass protests and a tent encampment in central Madrid — and to the failed parliamentary vote last week.
Polls in Spain have consistently shown broader support for right-wing parties in recent months. According to current projections, Sánchez’s left-wing bloc is falling well short of the numbers needed for a parliamentary majority. But after nearly a decade of leading the country, Sánchez has built a reputation for political comebacks.
Sánchez’s decision to call an early election added to the shakiness that has been troubling European assets in financial markets recently. On Monday, the euro dropped to about $1.12, its lowest level since May 2025 against the U.S. dollar.
This article originally appeared in the New York Times.
