{ "id": "spain-election-2026", "title": "Spain's snap general election", "category": "election", "countries": [ { "iso3": "ESP", "name": "Spain" } ], "status": "Spain votes in a snap general election on Nov 29. On Nov 11 millions joined the first general strike in 14 years, called by CCOO and UGT over housing costs and wages; most recent polls show the PP ahead without a majority, with Vox third.", "summary": [ "Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez of the PSOE called the early vote on Oct 5 after parliament rejected his minority government's housing relief measures, amid protests over rents that spread after an 87-year-old Madrid tenant was evicted following a rent rise and later died. His main challenger is Alberto Núñez Feijóo of the PP; Al Jazeera reports that the PP could govern with Vox, which it describes as far-right and which would be the first such party in Spain's national government since the Franco dictatorship ended in 1975. On Oct 28 a Renfe high-speed train hit a stopped Iryo train near Urda, in Toledo province, killing 69 people, nine months after a derailment near Adamuz, in Córdoba province, killed 46 on the same Madrid-Seville line. Transport Minister Óscar Puente resigned on Nov 3 and dropped out of the election, First Deputy Prime Minister Carlos Cuerpo is running the ministry in the interim, a court is investigating the crash, and AFP reports that the European Public Prosecutor's Office is examining possible misuse of EU funds meant for the line's safety and signalling systems. CCOO and UGT, with smaller unions and tenants' groups, called the Nov 11 strike under the slogan 'wages, housing, prices', seeking pay rises of 4% to 7% and a minimum-wage rise of at least 7% in 2027; Al Jazeera says it is the pair's first general strike since 2012. Feijóo and Vox leader Santiago Abascal urged the unions to call it off, saying it targets the opposition, and UGT leader Pepe Álvarez said their warnings sounded like threats. Of nine nationwide seat projections published from Oct 25 to Nov 5 and listed by the Catalan News Agency, eight give the PP the most seats, none gives it the 176 needed for a majority on its own, and one, by SW Demoscopia for La Séptima, puts the PSOE first. Sumar's successor list, Frente Amplio, gets 5 to 17 seats in those projections." ], "why_it_matters": { "text": "Housing is at the center of the Nov 29 vote: the Bank of Spain estimates the country has 750,000 fewer homes than it needs, and the Spanish Youth Council puts average rent at 1,176 euros a month against an average young person's salary of 1,190 euros.", "source_url": "https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/11/10/spain-braces-for-nationwide-walkout-as-anger-over-housing-costs-boils-over" }, "changed_recently": [ { "text": "According to The Guardian and NPR, millions of workers joined Spain's first general strike in 14 years on Nov 11. The strike shut businesses, factories and much of the rail system in protest at housing costs and wages (CBC, Le Monde in English). The UGT and CCOO unions reported widespread stoppages in strategic sectors (The Hindu), and CNBC reported clashes between protesters and police. The strike came less than three weeks before the Nov 29 snap election (BBC News). PP leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo told El País that whether a coalition with Vox is formed 'does not depend on me'. On Nov 10, the King and Queen attended a state funeral in Toledo for the 69 people killed in the Urda train crash (Euronews).", "sources": [] } ], "key_numbers": [ { "label": "PP / PSOE / Vox vote estimates in a Sondaxe poll for La Voz de Galicia (fieldwork Nov 2-4, 1,200 interviews)", "value": "29.7% / 27.3% / 18.6%", "who_says": "Sondaxe, as reported by Demócrata", "as_of": "2026-11-08", "source_url": "https://www.democrata.es/en/center-of-surveys-and-electoral-polls/general-elections/survey-of-general-elections-after-urda-the-pp-rises-to-29-7-the-psoe-also-to-27-3-and-vox-falls-to-18-6-according-to-sondaxe/" }, { "label": "PP seats across nine nationwide projections published Oct 25 to Nov 5 (a majority is 176)", "value": "117 to 140", "who_says": "Catalan News Agency (ACN) roundup of published polls", "as_of": "2026-11-07", "source_url": "https://www.diaridetarragona.com/espana/275120/encuestas-29-n-consulta-resultados-principales-sondeos-elecciones-generales.html" }, { "label": "People killed in the Oct 28 high-speed train collision near Urda", "value": "69", "who_says": "Reported by Catalan News, Euronews and Al Jazeera", "as_of": "2026-11-04", "source_url": "https://www.catalannews.com/politics/item/spains-transport-minist-oscar-puente-resigns-following-tragic-toledo-train-accident" } ], "expert_views": [ { "name": "Luke Stobart", "role": "Political analyst who writes on social movements and politics in Spain", "view": "He said a general strike before the election forces every party to talk about housing, which could help Sánchez, but that it is unclear whether union leaders and the government can control the message and the protests could backfire on the government.", "outlet": "Al Jazeera", "url": "https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/11/10/spain-braces-for-nationwide-walkout-as-anger-over-housing-costs-boils-over", "date": "2026-11-10" }, { "name": "Joan Miró", "role": "Professor of European Union public policy at Pompeu Fabra University", "view": "He said doubts about postal voting raised by PP and Vox leaders have turned it into a campaign weapon, and that the system has several safeguards.", "outlet": "Catalan News", "url": "https://www.catalannews.com/politics/item/postal-voting-becomes-a-campaign-weapon-for-right-bloc-ahead-of-november-29-election", "date": "2026-11-09" }, { "name": "Pepe Álvarez", "role": "General secretary of the UGT union", "view": "He said Feijóo's and Abascal's warnings over the strike sounded like threats, that UGT will not be intimidated, and called for a state pact reserving at least 1% of GDP for protected housing.", "outlet": "Demócrata", "url": "https://www.democrata.es/en/economy/alvarez-ugt-accuses-feijoo-and-abascal-of-threatening-the-unions-over-the-general-strike/", "date": "2026-11-04" } ], "confidence": { "level": "medium", "reason": "The election date, the Nov 11 strike call and Puente's resignation are reported the same way by Al Jazeera, Euronews, Catalan News and AFP. Polls differ on the size of the PP lead and one puts the PSOE first, the cause of the Urda crash is under judicial investigation, and no figures on strike turnout had been published as of the evening of Nov 10 (US Eastern)." }, "sources": [ { "outlet": "The Guardian", "outlet_country": "UK", "date": "2026-11-11", "url": "https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/nov/11/spain-general-strike-housing-costs" }, { "outlet": "BBC News", "outlet_country": "UK", "date": "2026-11-11", "url": "https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cwvg25nypmrvo?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=rss" }, { "outlet": "CNBC", "outlet_country": "US", "date": "2026-11-11", "url": "https://www.cnbc.com/2026/11/11/spain-protests-general-strikes-election.html" }, { "outlet": "El País", "outlet_country": "Spain", "date": "2026-11-10", "url": "https://english.elpais.com/spain/2026-11-10/alberto-nunez-feijoo-spains-opposition-leader-whether-a-coalition-government-with-vox-is-formed-does-not-depend-on-me.html" }, { "outlet": "Al Jazeera", "outlet_country": "Qatar", "date": "2026-11-10", "url": "https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2026/11/10/spain-braces-for-nationwide-walkout-as-anger-over-housing-costs-boils-over" }, { "outlet": "Catalan News", "outlet_country": "Spain", "date": "2026-11-09", "url": "https://www.catalannews.com/society-science/item/catalonia-faces-a-week-of-strikes-on-the-eve-of-the-election-campaign" }, { "outlet": "Catalan News", "outlet_country": "Spain", "date": "2026-11-10", "url": "https://www.catalannews.com/society-science/item/train-driver-strike-november-10-2026" }, { "outlet": "Euronews", "outlet_country": "France", "date": "2026-11-03", "url": "https://www.euronews.com/2026/11/03/spains-transport-minister-oscar-puente-resigns-over-urda-train-crash-that-killed-69" }, { "outlet": "Catalan News", "outlet_country": "Spain", "date": "2026-11-04", "url": "https://www.catalannews.com/politics/item/spains-transport-minist-oscar-puente-resigns-following-tragic-toledo-train-accident" }, { "outlet": "Arab News (AFP)", "outlet_country": "Saudi Arabia", "date": "2026-11-06", "url": "https://www.arabnews.com/world/eu-investigating-fraud-in-spains-deadly-crash-rail-line-3010180" }, { "outlet": "Demócrata", "outlet_country": "Spain", "date": "2026-11-03", "url": "https://www.democrata.es/en/current-events/feijoo-asks-the-unions-to-call-off-the-strike-after-the-railway-tragedy-don-t-do-it-or-you-will-be-tied-to-pedro-sanchez/" }, { "outlet": "Demócrata", "outlet_country": "Spain", "date": "2026-11-04", "url": "https://www.democrata.es/en/economy/alvarez-ugt-accuses-feijoo-and-abascal-of-threatening-the-unions-over-the-general-strike/" }, { "outlet": "Diari de Tarragona (ACN)", "outlet_country": "Spain", "date": "2026-11-07", "url": "https://www.diaridetarragona.com/espana/275120/encuestas-29-n-consulta-resultados-principales-sondeos-elecciones-generales.html" }, { "outlet": "Demócrata", "outlet_country": "Spain", "date": "2026-11-08", "url": "https://www.democrata.es/en/center-of-surveys-and-electoral-polls/general-elections/survey-of-general-elections-after-urda-the-pp-rises-to-29-7-the-psoe-also-to-27-3-and-vox-falls-to-18-6-according-to-sondaxe/" } ], "updated": "2026-11-11", "page": "https://verorbis.com/e/spain-election-2026/", "interactive": "https://verorbis.com/#e-spain-election-2026", "license": { "text": "Summaries and curation: CC BY 4.0. Cite \"Verorbis\" and link to https://verorbis.com/e/spain-election-2026/.", "third_party": "Numbers from third parties keep their own licenses and credit lines.", "credits": [ "UCDP Candidate Events Dataset (CC BY 4.0), Uppsala Conflict Data Program", "UNHCR Refugee Population Statistics Database (CC BY 4.0)", "World Bank World Development Indicators (CC BY 4.0)", "V-Dem via Our World in Data (CC BY-SA 4.0)", "Harvard Growth Lab, Atlas of Economic Complexity (CC0)", "GDELT Project", "U.S. Energy Information Administration and Federal Reserve, via FRED", "European Central Bank reference rates; US Treasury daily par yield curve; Federal Reserve Bank of New York (EFFR)" ] } }