SPAIN’s political forces are mobilizing forces before the snap elections on November 29 and Pedro Sanchez, the prime minister, has started playing all his cards, even the ace of hearts.
“Let them hear it loud and clear: I love you,” he told his wife, Begoña Gomez, from the stage of the Tomas y Valiente cultural center in the Fuenlabrada district of Madrid, a traditional socialist stronghold where the PSOE Federal Committee met to ratify the lists for Congress and the Senate.
Then he hugged and kissed her on stage surrounded by cameras, cheered and applauded by supporters.
“They have tried to break us in every way and have achieved just the opposite. Today we are more united and stronger than ever. So listen to this loud and clear: I love you,” the prime minister said to his wife standing a trial.
Gomez and her Moncloa assistant, Cristina Alvarez, face a jury trial on allegations of influence-peddling and misuse of public funds.
Gomez is accused of using her position as the prime minister’s wife to advance her career at Madrid’s Complutense University, where she co-directed a chair. Alvarez is accused of using her government-paid role to help with Gomez’s professional work.
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Gomez denies wrongdoing.
Her political opponents, however, are keeping up the pressure. Alicia Garcia, the PP’s spokesperson in the Senate, said of the case that “the time for accountability is approaching”.
The embrace came amid a volatile political climate in Spain, where the housing crisis has led to a snap election.
It began with the eviction of Maricarmen Abascal, an 87-year-old woman, from her home, which sparked nationwide protests. Sanchez then put two housing decrees before parliament, but both were rejected. After that defeat, he called a snap election.
Maricarmen did not live to see what politicians will finally do about housing; she died in October. But now that the election has been called, voters across Spain will decide on November 29 what kind of housing rules the country wants.
Tributes have been paid to Maricarmen, including a minute’s silence in parliament.
The public’s anger is most visible on the streets. There have been nationwide protests, and in Madrid’s Puerta del Sol people have been camped for more than three weeks over government policy on housing and other issues, such as the situation of teachers.
The competition
Several parties are at each other’s throats.
The latest casualty is PSOE spokesperson Montse Minguez, who had to resign after criticism over her partner’s rental properties, which were seen as clashing with the party’s housing message.
But the divisions on the left run deeper. Podemos and Frente Amplio, which is itself made up of Sumar, Izquierda Unida, Mas Madrid and the Comuns, failed to agree joint Congress lists in most areas, including Madrid.
Irene Montero is Podemos’ lead candidate in Madrid, while Ada Colau heads Frente Amplio’s list in Barcelona. Podemos has an agreement with ERC, the left-wing Catalan pro-independence party, and Montero and Gabriel Rufian are expected to campaign together.
The PSOE and Frente Amplio have, however, agreed joint Senate lists in several constituencies. Even so, the left still has a lot of work to do if it is to overtake its rivals.
The common foe
On the other side of the spectrum, the People’s Party (PP), led by Alberto Nuñez Feijoo, is a political powerhouse in its own right, and Feijoo is now warming to the other main party on the right, Vox.
On October 13, Feijoo said Vox was not the PP’s ‘enemy’ and that the real enemy was Pedro Sanchez’s politics.
It was a bid to present a common foe the right could unite around.
Vox welcomed Feijoo’s remarks, saying the PP was ‘starting to respect’ it, and added that it too saw ‘Pedro Sanchez’ as the enemy ahead of the November 29 election.
Several polls suggest that the PP and Vox, which campaigns for much tougher immigration rules, could be the big winners of the snap election.
The bone of contention
Housing remains the biggest question of the election.
Sanchez and the broader left argues for state action and protections, while Feijoo has promised to strengthen the welfare state and says he will ‘arrive, work and solve’.
Pensions are also on the table. Both leaders now promise increases in line with inflation. Sanchez says his government will approve the 2027 increase before the end of the year, even though it is acting in a caretaker role.
Feijoo says that, if elected, he would also raise pensions in line with inflation and protect the public system. They disagree on how secure the system is and whether it needs reform.
On migration and Ceuta, Sanchez is trying to keep relations with Morocco warm and has defended Spain’s migration policies.
Feijoo takes a harder line and wants Morocco’s ambassador summoned to explain exactly what happened in Ceuta.
The Ceuta crisis is still making headlines, and the government’s critics have seized on its handling of it.
On Saturday, El Mundo led with a report saying Spain’s intelligence service, the CNI, told a judge that the government knew about the crisis two days before the mass entry into Ceuta.
Who wins?
The polls are divided. Most poll averages point to a strong showing for the right.
New polls are still coming in. Whoever wins will face a pressing task: calming the anger of protesters who have not gone home for more than three weeks, demanding the basic rights they need to live with dignity.
Nick Clegg enteres the race (sort of)
Miriam Gonzalez Durantez, wife of former British deputy prime minister Nick Clegg, has launched her own political party in Spain.
The party, Democracia21, is running in alliance with Ciudadanos and UCIN in a bid to revive a centrist option.
Ciudadanos once attracted significant support but did not contest the 2023 general election.
If either of the big parties needs a centrist partner to build a coalition, this is where it may look, since smaller parties sometimes hold the key to forming a government.
What will happen on November 29
On November 29 Spaniards will elect parliament. Like the UK, they won’t directly elect the prime minister.
Spain’s Parliament has two chambers. The Congress of Deputies, composed of 350 seats, represents voters, chooses the prime minister and has the main power to pass laws.
The Senate represents Spain’s territories and reviews those laws, suggesting changes or objections. Congress usually has the final say.
According to the National Statistics Institute, 38,728,356 voters are eligible to participate in these elections.
Political parties present their candidates in closed and blocked lists, so that on election day the voter cannot select individual candidates or alter the order of the lists, but chooses the ballot of the chosen party and puts it in the corresponding envelope.
The Senate works differently: there, you vote for individual candidates rather than a party list. There are 209 directly elected senators.
The total number of senators is not fixed, because each regional parliament also appoints one senator plus one more for every million inhabitants.
All Spanish citizens aged 18 or over who are registered to vote can take part, whether they live in Spain or abroad.
Foreign residents who are not Spanish nationals cannot vote in the general election. EU citizens, and nationals of some countries with reciprocal agreements such as the UK, can vote only in local elections.
A brief look at the political parties in Spain
PSOE (Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party): Led by Pedro Sanchez, the centre-left party backs the welfare state, public housing and migrant regularisation.
It is running alone for Congress but has agreed joint Senate lists with other left-wing parties.
PP (People’s Party): Led by Alberto Nuñez Feijoo, the centre-right party is pro-business and supports building more homes.
It opposes Catalan independence and the government’s migrant regularisation plan. It has no nationwide election pact with Vox.
Vox : Led by Santiago Abascal, the nationalist right-wing party calls for tougher migration rules and deportations, and opposes rent controls.
It is running separately from the PP for Congress.
Frente Amplio (Broad Front): The left-wing coalition, whose election candidate is Ada Colau, prioritises affordable housing, public services, workers’ rights, equality and climate action.
It has joint Congress lists with Podemos only in the Canary Islands and Valencia, and joint Senate lists with the PSOE in many areas.
Podemos: Led by Ione Belarra, with Irene Montero as its election figure, the party supports rent controls, stronger tenant protections and expanded social rights.
It has an electoral pact with ERC in Catalonia and is running separately from Frente Amplio in most areas.
ERC (Republican Left of Catalonia): Led by Oriol Junqueras, with Gabriel Rufian as its election candidate, the left-wing Catalan party supports independence and greater self-government.
Podemos candidates will join ERC’s list in Catalonia, and Rufian will campaign with Montero elsewhere.
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