Sánchez Calls Snap Election for November 29 After Housing Defeats and Weeks of Protest

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has announced that the country will hold an early general election on November 29, bringing forward a vote that had not been expected until the summer of 2027 at the latest. The decision follows a string of parliamentary defeats for his minority government, most immediately the rejection of two decree laws designed to tackle Spain's escalating housing crisis.

The announcement, made in a televised address on Monday, came after mounting speculation over the weekend that Sánchez would go to the country. The trigger was Friday's vote in which parliament refused to approve the government's housing measures, leaving the left-wing coalition without a legislative path to deliver reforms it had promised to voters.

At the centre of the political storm is an eviction that has become a national symbol of housing inequality. Maricarmen Abascal, an 87-year-old woman, was forcibly removed from her Madrid apartment on September 23 after a legal loophole allowed her landlord to raise her rent from €500 (£428; $572) to €2,650. The figure was later reduced to €1,650, still roughly €300 more than her monthly pension. She was carried out on a stretcher from the home she had lived in for more than 70 years and was subsequently admitted to hospital.

Her case ignited public anger across the country. On Saturday, tens of thousands of demonstrators filled the streets of Madrid, Valencia and Barcelona, demanding stronger protections for tenants. Abascal's lawyer has since said she will be allowed to return to her home, but the incident has intensified pressure on the government to act on an issue that has become one of the most politically sensitive in Spain.

In response to the protests, Sánchez's coalition introduced two decree laws. The first sought to suspend evictions of vulnerable tenants until 2030, extend by two years rental leases due to expire before 2028, raise taxes on tourist apartments, and restrict purchases of residential properties by entities the government describes as "vulture funds." The second, more contentious measure would have introduced the automatic renewal of rental contracts, a long-standing demand of left-wing parties and tenant organisations such as the Sindicato de Inquilinas.

Both decrees were voted down. The political right argued that state intervention in the housing market would reduce the supply of rental properties and drive prices even higher. Juan Bravo of the conservative People's Party said last week that "housing doesn't get cheaper with decrees, it gets cheaper with more homes" — a line that encapsulates the opposition's preference for supply-side solutions over rent controls and eviction moratoriums.

In his address, Sánchez said that pushing his reforms through required "a broader progressive majority" capable of overcoming "the resistance of the elites." He acknowledged that his government had made mistakes and had not accomplished everything it set out to do, noting that "a lot of problems to solve" remain, "particularly in the areas of inequality, of public services and access to housing." The frankness of the concession appeared designed to rally left-leaning voters rather than defend the government's record.

Housing is far from the only difficulty facing Sánchez. His party has been embroiled in a series of corruption scandals in recent months, and the government has come under sustained pressure over the cost of living and immigration. In April, his wife, Begoña Gómez, was charged with corruption following a two-year criminal investigation. She is accused of using her relationship with the prime minister to advance her professional interests — allegations that have dominated opposition attacks and weighed on the government's standing.

Sánchez has led Spain since June 2018. His Socialist party finished second in the most recent general election, in 2023. Although the People's Party won the largest number of seats, it fell short of a majority. Sánchez was able to remain in office by assembling a coalition with left-wing partners and securing the support of Catalan and Basque nationalist and pro-independence groups — an arrangement that has left him dependent on fragile parliamentary arithmetic ever since.

That fragility was exposed repeatedly in recent weeks. His coalition consists of the Socialists and the junior Sumar alliance, and it does not command a majority in the Congress of Deputies. Without reliable allies, the government found itself unable to convert its housing agenda into law, turning a policy failure into a broader question about the viability of the administration.

Most opinion polls suggest the conservatives are likely to emerge as the largest party at the next election. However, they would probably need the backing of the hard-right Vox party to form a government, a prospect that would mark a significant shift in Spanish politics and could complicate relations with European partners.

The opposition has framed the election as a decisive moment. People's Party leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo said after Monday's announcement: "At last, Spaniards will be able to decide." He described the vote not as "just another election" but as a choice between "decline or change, lies or change, incompetence or change, division or change, corruption or change."

With the campaign now effectively under way, housing is set to dominate the debate. For Sánchez, the election is a gamble that voters will reward a government that tried to act — albeit unsuccessfully — on an issue that has mobilised hundreds of thousands of people. For the opposition, it is an opportunity to convert public frustration over rents, evictions and the cost of living into a mandate for change.