Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez Calls Snap Election Following Nationwide Housing Protests

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez has called an early election for November 29 after failing to quell mounting social protests. Mr Sanchez’s minority government, already struggling following a series of mishaps including deadly floods and a migration crisis, faced recent nationwide demonstrations over housing costs.

The situation escalated after an 87-year-old woman with a disability was evicted from her apartment, which galvanized the protest movement. Although the government responded with an emergency package of housing measures, it failed to secure sufficient votes in parliament.

“It’s time you, the Spanish people, decide which future you want for yourselves and for the country,” Mr Sanchez stated during an address on Monday in Madrid. “You must decide what role you wish to play in this era, and what role you want Spain to play.”

Recent polls indicate that the centre-right People’s Party leads with 33.9 per cent support in a SocioMetrica survey. Alberto Nunez Feijoo, leader of the People's Party, has indicated his party could potentially govern alongside the radical-right Vox, which recorded 18 per cent support in the survey. Meanwhile, Mr Sanchez’s Socialists polled at 25.7 per cent.

“We are ready,” Mr Feijoo declared on Friday after the housing plan was defeated. “We can’t continue down the path we’re on.”

Since coming to power in 2018 without a stable parliamentary majority, Mr Sanchez has navigated a succession of crises, including the Covid-19 pandemic, the fallout from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, deadly floods in the Valencia region, and an unprecedented European blackout last year.

At 54 years old, Mr Sanchez has been a prominent European voice opposing the Iran war and accusing Israel of carrying out a genocide in Gaza and violating international humanitarian law. His latest term, which began in 2023 and was scheduled to run until July 2027, has proved particularly difficult as he failed to pass a single budget and faced multiplying corruption investigations involving both his party and his family. Additionally, the arrival of about 80,000 undocumented migrants in Ceuta this summer fueled further social discontent.

The contested housing proposal aimed to freeze rents, make rental contracts indefinite, prohibit the eviction of vulnerable people, and regulate short-term tourist apartments. However, opposition parties, including the Catalan group Junts, argued that increased market intervention would only worsen the issue.

The People’s Party already governs most of Spain’s biggest cities and regions, frequently in coalition with Vox, and both parties have prioritized removing Mr Sanchez from office. During his speech, Mr Sanchez cautioned against handing “over the reins of the country to a far-right coalition that has proposed nothing – whose sole objective is to repeal and curtail the rights and freedoms we have built over the last eight years.”