Sanchez Calls Snap Spain Election After Housing Defeat — SkimNews
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- Pedro Sanchez announced a snap general election for November 29, 2026, two years ahead of the August 2027 deadline, after parliament rejected his housing relief measures on October 2.
- The Catalan separatist party Junts — on whose support Sanchez's minority government depends — voted against the bill, arguing the proposals on automatic tenancy renewals and eviction restrictions were hastily drawn up and would worsen the housing crisis.
- Tens of thousands of protesters marched in Madrid and other cities on October 3, with a tent-city occupation in central Madrid running for over a week, fueled by the September eviction of 87-year-old Maricarmen Abascal from a flat she'd lived in for seven decades after an investment company sought a 275% rent increase.
- Average rents in Spain have nearly doubled over the past decade and asking home prices have risen roughly 90%, per Idealista, while Spain's PP-led opposition polls ahead of the Socialists though short of a majority.
- Sanchez, in office since 2018, defended his record of above-EU economic growth and falling unemployment but faces separate pressure over corruption allegations involving people close to him and criticism over his handling of a migrant influx in Ceuta.
- PP leader Alberto Nunez Feijoo welcomed the early vote, arguing "if eight years have not been enough, why would four more be?"; polls suggest his party would likely need far-right Vox support to govern.
Why it matters: Sanchez gambles his 2018 mandate on a snap vote barely seven weeks away, betting voters will reward his economic record over the housing crisis that triggered the chain of events — but the opposition PP is polling ahead, and even a plurality would force it into an uncomfortable alliance with Vox to govern.
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