Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez calls early elections amid housing crisis

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez announced early national elections Monday after his government suffered a parliamentary defeat over measures addressing the housing crisis.

Right-wing opposition parties blocked two emergency decrees that included measures to reduce evictions and real estate speculation. The formal dissolution of Parliament still requires approval by the Cabinet, which Sánchez convened for later Monday.

The announcement followed protests across Spain over housing affordability. Public anger intensified after the televised eviction of an 87-year-old woman in Madrid last month.

Sánchez relies on an unstable majority

Sánchez has led a minority government with left-wing partner Sumar since 2023. The coalition depends on several smaller parties to pass legislation, limiting its ability to govern in Parliament.

The prime minister also faces legal cases involving his Socialist Party, his wife and his brother. All deny wrongdoing. Another challenge is the summer crossing by tens of thousands of mostly Moroccan migrants into Spain’s North African territory of Ceuta, where a humanitarian crisis remains two months after the initial events.

Housing will shape the campaign

Oriol Bartomeus, a political science professor at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, said Sánchez had chosen a moment when housing could favor his party and frame the election as a left-versus-right contest.

Sánchez will face Popular Party leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo, who wants to take control of the government. After the announcement, Feijóo said Spaniards would finally decide who should lead the country and described the vote as a contest against Sánchez.

Sánchez, 54, has been prime minister since 2018. Internationally, he is known for defending migrants, diplomatic efforts supporting Palestinians and criticism of the American and Israeli war against Iran; Spain has also recorded one of the developed world’s fastest-growing economies in recent years.