Next Spanish general election

The 2023 general election saw Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and his ruling coalition—formed by the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) and Sumar—re-elected with the support of Together for Catalonia (Junts), in exchange for a controversial amnesty law for those tried and convicted for events linked to the 2017–2018 Catalan crisis and the 2019 protests.^[7][8] This deal sparked widespreadprotests, some of them violent in the days before Sánchez's investiture, seeing clashes near the PSOE's national headquarters in Madrid and the involvement of far-right groups.^[9][10]

Sánchez’s third term was marked by a booming economy and falling unemployment, but also by rising living costs and an affordable housing crisis.^[11][12] During this period, a constitutional reform in 2024 introduced people-first language,^[13] and a bipartisan agreement ended the five-year blockade of the judiciary council.^[14] Political tensions with the People's Party (PP) and far-right Vox intensified, with the government accusing both of "lawfare", disinformation and harassment campaigns.^[15][16] These tensions peaked in April 2024, when Sánchez briefly considered resigning after a controversial judicial investigation into his wife, Begoña Gómez, over alleged influence peddling and embezzlement accusations brought by the far-right-linked group Manos Limpias (Spanish for "Clean Hands").^{[17][18][19][20]} Public services also came under scrutiny after a major blackout across the Iberian Peninsula in April 2025 and repeated failures in Spain's rail network,^[21][22] especially following the Adamuz and Gelida accidents in January 2026 which together caused 47 deaths.^[23][24]

On the international stage, Sánchez's government had to deal with continued EU support for Ukraine in its war against Russia,^[25][26] the tariff policy of the second Trump administration,^[27][28] and Spain's role within NATO amid a debate over the five percent defence spending hike.^[29][30][31] Its strong criticism of the Gaza genocide led Spain to recognize Palestine and worsened relations with Israel,^[32][33][34] sparking pro-Palestinian protests and calls to boycott Israeli participation in international competitions such as the 2025 Vuelta a España^[35][36] and Spain's RTVE joining others' bid to withdraw from the Eurovision Song Contest 2026.^[37][38] The 2026 Iran war saw a clash between Sánchez and U.S. President Donald Trump over the use of joint military bases at Rota and Morón,^[39][40][41] reviving the "No to war" slogan previously used during the 2003 invasion of Iraq.^[42][43] At the same time, the Spanish government sought to address the war's economic impact.^[44]

Several political scandals affected the PSOE government during this period, including the Koldo case—linked to former transport minister José Luis Ábalos and party official Santos Cerdán^[45][46]—and judicial probes involving Sánchez's brother (for alleged cronyism)^[47] and the Spanish Attorney General, Álvaro García Ortiz (for an alleged data leak in a judicial investigation affecting the opposition).^[16][48] Other probes into alleged irregularities in public procurement affected the SEPI holding company and ADIF (Spain's railway infrastructure manager), leading to arrests and police raids.^[49][50][51] The PP was also hit by scandals, including an investigation into the partner of Madrilenian president Isabel Díaz Ayuso for alleged tax fraud, forgery and organized crime;^[52][53] renewed attention on corruption cases from the Rajoy era such as the Montoro and Kitchen cases (alleged cash-for-favours, influence peddling, lobbying, police misconduct, espionage and deep state networks operated by the finance and interior ministries);^[54][55][56] as well as a resume padding controversy.^[57][58][59] Between 2024 and 2026, several parties and institutions were also shaken by sexual misconduct allegations that led to multiple resignations and dismissals, with the political backlash often compared to the MeToo movement.^{[60][61][62][63]}

Relations between the PP and Vox remained ambivalent, as the two parties competed electorally while still depending on each other to govern at all levels of administration.^[64] Vox leader Santiago Abascal forced the break up of all PP–Vox regional governments in July 2024 over a dispute on the distribution of unaccompanied migrant minors.^[65][66][67] Alleged crisis mismanagement by PP-controlled administrations—including environmental disasters such as the 2024 Valencian floods (which led to the resignation of the regional president, Carlos Mazón)^[68][69][70] and major wildfires in August 2025;^[71][72] as well as public outrage over the Andalusian Health Service's mishandling of breast cancer screening^[73][74][75]—was seen as contributing to Vox’s rise in opinion polls, helped by growing anti-political sentiment, denialism, conspiracist ideation and fake news.^[76][77][78] Immigration (particularly following the 2025 Torre-Pacheco unrest),^[79][80] and renewed attempts to restrict abortion,^[81][82][83] further pushed the PP closer to Vox's agenda and raised doubts about Alberto Núñez Feijóo's leadership.^[84][85] At the same time, internal conflicts in Vox led to the expulsion of several high-profile figures as the party tried to broaden its appeal among working-class voters.^[86][87]

Junts withdrew its support from the government in October 2025, accusing it of failing to fulfil key commitments (a move linked to political changes in Catalonia and the rise of the far-right Catalan Alliance).^[88][89] Despite this, Sánchez remained in office because the opposition was unable to push a no-confidence motion.^[90][91] At the end of 2025, the PP tried to capitalize on growing dissatisfaction with Sánchez's government by calling early regional elections in Extremadura and Aragon.^[92][93] Although this move produced several PSOE defeats, it was also seen as backfiring on the PP because its regional branches failed to meet expectations while Vox made the largest gains and strengthened its leverage.^[94][95][96] Vox's rise appeared to slow in the 2026 Castilian-Leonese election, where the PSOE unexpectedly performed better than predicted amid growing awareness on the Iran war.^[97][98]

Under the 1978 Constitution, the Spanish Cortes Generales are conceived as an imperfect bicameral system.^[99][100] The Congress of Deputies holds greater legislative power than the Senate, having the ability to grant or withdraw confidence from a prime minister and to override Senate vetoes by an absolute majority.^[101] Nonetheless, the Senate retains a limited number of specific functions—such as ratifying international treaties, authorizing cooperation agreements between autonomous communities, enforcing direct rule, regulating interterritorial compensation funds, and taking part in constitutional amendments and in the appointment of members to the Constitutional Court and the General Council of the Judiciary—which are not subject to override by Congress.^[102]

The term of each chamber of the Cortes Generales—the Congress and the Senate—expires four years from the date of their previous election, unless they are dissolved earlier.^[103] The election decree shall be issued no later than 25 days before the scheduled expiration date of parliament and published on the following day in the Official State Gazette (BOE), with election day taking place 54 days after the decree's publication.^[104] The previous election was held on 23 July 2023, which means that the chambers' terms will expire on 23 July 2027. The election decree must be published in the BOE no later than 29 June 2027, setting the latest possible date for election day on 22 August 2027.^[6]

The prime minister has the prerogative to propose the monarch to dissolve both chambers at any given time—either jointly or separately—and call a snap election, provided that no motion of no confidence is in process, no state of emergency is in force and that dissolution does not occur before one year after a previous one.^[105] Additionally, both chambers are to be dissolved and a new election called if an investiture process fails to elect a prime minister within a two-month period from the first ballot.^[106] Barring this exception, there is no constitutional requirement for simultaneous elections to the Congress and the Senate.^[107] Still, as of 2026, there has been no precedent of separate elections taking place under the 1978 Constitution.

Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez repeatedly voiced his will for the next general election to be held when due in 2027,^[108][109] particularly following corruption allegations in June 2025 that led to the resignation in June 2025 of his party's organization secretary, Santos Cerdán.^[110][111] However, his government's political strategy, uncertainty over the 2026 General State Budget, as well as Sánchez having previously promised to exhaust legislative terms before ultimately calling snap elections—in 2019 and 2023—led to speculation that an early election could not be ruled out.^[112][113] Uncertainty over Junts's support to Sánchez was commented as a possible trigger of a snap election,^[114][115] while the outbreak of war in Iran fueled comments of a "Super Sunday" in June 2026, together with the regularly scheduled Andalusian election.^[116][117]

Voting for each chamber of the Cortes Generales is based on universal suffrage, comprising all Spanish nationals over 18 years of age with full political rights, provided that they have not been deprived of the right to vote by a final sentence.^[118][119]

The Congress of Deputies has a minimum of 300 and a maximum of 400 seats, with electoral provisions fixing its size at 350. Of these, 348 are elected in 50 multi-member constituencies corresponding to the provinces of Spain—each of which is assigned an initial minimum of two seats and the remaining 248 distributed in proportion to population—using the D'Hondt method and closed-list proportional voting, with a three percent-threshold of valid votes (including blank ballots) in each constituency. The remaining two seats are allocated to Ceuta and Melilla as single-member districts elected by plurality voting.^[120] The use of this electoral method may result in a higher effective threshold depending on district magnitude and vote distribution.^[121]

As a result of the aforementioned allocation, each Congress multi-member constituency would be entitled the following seats (as of 11 December 2025):^[e]

209 Senate seats are elected using open-list partial block voting: voters in constituencies electing four seats can choose up to three candidates; in those with two or three seats, up to two; and in single-member districts, one. Each of the 47 peninsular provinces is allocated four seats, while in insular provinces—such as the Balearic and Canary Islands—the districts are the islands themselves, with the larger ones (Mallorca, Gran Canaria and Tenerife) being allocated three seats each, and the smaller ones (Menorca, Ibiza, Formentera, Fuerteventura, La Gomera, El Hierro, Lanzarote and La Palma) one each.^[f] Ceuta and Melilla elect two seats each. Additionally, autonomous communities may appoint at least one senator each and are entitled to one additional seat per million inhabitants.^[124][125]

The law does not provide for by-elections to fill vacant seats; instead, any vacancies arising after the proclamation of candidates and during the legislative term are filled by the next candidates on the party lists or, when required, by designated substitutes.^[126]

The tables below show the composition of the parliamentary groups in both chambers at the present time.^[127][128]

Spanish citizens with the right to vote may run for election, provided that they have not been criminally imprisoned by a final sentence or convicted—whether final or not—of offences that involve loss of eligibility or disqualification from public office (such as rebellion, terrorism or other crimes against the state). Additional causes of ineligibility apply to the following officials:^[135]

• Members of the Spanish royal family and their spouses;
• Holders of a number of senior public or institutional posts, including the heads and members of higher courts and state institutions;^[k] the Ombudsman; the State's Attorney General; high-ranking officials of government departments, the Office of the Prime Minister and other state agencies; government delegates in the autonomous communities; the chair of RTVE; the director of the Electoral Register Office; the governor and deputy governor of the Bank of Spain; the heads of official credit institutions; and members of electoral commissions and of the Nuclear Safety Council;
• Heads of diplomatic missions abroad;
• Judges and public prosecutors in active service;
• Members of the Armed Forces and law enforcement bodies in active service.

Other ineligibility provisions also apply to a number of territorial officials in these categories within their areas of jurisdiction, as well as to employees of foreign states and members of regional governments.^[135]

Incompatibility rules include those of ineligibility, and also bar running in multiple constituencies or lists, holding office if the candidacy is later declared illegal (by a final ruling), and combining legislative roles (deputy, senator, and regional lawmaker) with each other or with:^[136]

• A number of senior public or institutional posts, including the presidency of the National Commission on Markets and Competition; and leadership positions in RTVE, government offices, public authorities (such as port authorities, hydrographic confederations, or highway concessionary companies), public entities and state-owned or publicly funded companies;
• Any other paid public or private position, except university teaching.

The electoral law allows for parties and federations registered in the interior ministry, alliances and groupings of electors to present lists of candidates. Parties and federations intending to form an alliance are required to inform the relevant electoral commission within 10 days of the election call, whereas groupings of electors need to secure the signature of at least one percent of the electorate in the constituencies for which they seek election, disallowing electors from signing for more than one list. Concurrently, parties, federations or alliances that have not obtained a mandate in either chamber of the Cortes at the preceding election are required to secure the signature of at least 0.1 percent of electors in the aforementioned constituencies.^[137] Amendments in 2024 required a balanced composition of men and women in the electoral lists through the use of a zipper system.^[138]

A special, simplified process is provided for election re-runs, including a shortening of deadlines, electoral campaigning, the lifting of signature requirements if these had been already met for the immediately previous election and the possibility of maintaining lists and alliances without needing to go through pre-election procedures again.^[139]

Below is a list of the main parties and alliances which will likely contest the election:

Candidacy		Parties and alliances	Leading candidate		Ideology	Previous result				Gov.	Ref.
						Congress		Senate
						Vote %	Seats	Vote %	Seats
	PP	List People's Party (PP)		Alberto Núñez Feijóo	Conservatism Christian democracy	33.1%	137	34.5%	120
	PSOE	List Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) Socialists' Party of Catalonia (PSC)		Pedro Sánchez	Social democracy	31.7%	121	32.2%	72		[140]
	Vox	List Vox (Vox)		Santiago Abascal	Right-wing populism Ultranationalism National conservatism	12.4%	33	10.6%	0
	Un Paso al Frente[a]	List United Left (IU) – Communist Party of Spain (PCE) – The Dawn Marxist Organization (La Aurora (OM)) – Ecosocialists of the Region of Murcia (ESRM) – Initiative for El Hierro (IpH) – Republican Left (IR) Unite Movement (MS) More Madrid (MM) Greens Equo–Green Party (VQ–PV) Catalonia in Common (Comuns) – Barcelona in Common (BComú) – Green Left (EV) Commitment Coalition (Compromís) – Més–Compromís (Més) – Valencian People's Initiative (IdPV) – Greens Equo of the Valencian Country (VerdsEquo) More for Mallorca (Més) Aragonese Union (CHA)		TBD	Progressivism Green politics Democratic socialism	12.3% [b]	31	11.1% [b]	0		[141] [142] [143]
	Podemos–AV	List We Can (Podemos) Green Alliance (AV)		Irene Montero	Left-wing populism Democratic socialism						[144] [145]
	ERC	List Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC) Republican Left of the Valencian Country (ERPV)		Gabriel Rufián	Catalan independence Left-wing nationalism Social democracy	1.9%	7	—N/a[l]
	Junts	List Together for Catalonia (JxCat) Democrats of Catalonia (DC) Left Movement (MES)		Míriam Nogueras	Catalan independence Populism	1.6%	7	1.8%	1
	EH Bildu	List Basque Country Gather (EH Bildu) – Create (Sortu) – Basque Solidarity (EA) – Alternative (Alternatiba)		Mertxe Aizpurua	Basque independence Abertzale left Socialism	1.4%	6	—N/a[l]
	EAJ/PNV	List Basque Nationalist Party (EAJ/PNV)		Maribel Vaquero	Basque nationalism Christian democracy	1.1%	5	1.3%	4		[146]
	BNG	List Galician Nationalist Bloc (BNG) – Galician People's Union (UPG) – Galician Movement for Socialism (MGS) – Abrente–Galician Democratic Left (Abrente–EDG) – Galician Workers' Front (FOGA)		Néstor Rego	Galician nationalism Left-wing nationalism Socialism	0.6%	1	0.8%	0
	CCa	List Canarian Coalition (CCa) Independent Herrenian Group (AHI) United for Gran Canaria (UxGC) United for Mogán (JPM) The Strength of Santa Lucía (La Fortaleza) Assembly of Neighbors of San Mateo (AVESAN) Socialist Group for Lanzarote (ASL) Tejeda for the Change (Tejeda por el Cambio) Local Platform for Santa Brígida (PVSB) Guía Now (AG) Democratic Centre Coalition (CCD)		Cristina Valido	Regionalism Canarian nationalism Centrism	0.5%	1	0.3%	0
	UPN	List Navarrese People's Union (UPN)		Alberto Catalán	Regionalism Conservatism Christian democracy	0.2%	1	0.3%	1
	ERC– EH Bildu	List Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC) Basque Country Gather (EH Bildu)		Mirella Cortès	Left-wing nationalism	—N/a		4.2%	7
	EFS	List Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) Unite Movement (SMR) United Left (EU) Now Ibiza (Ara Eivissa)		Juanjo Ferrer	Progressivism	—N/a		0.0%	1
	ASG	List Gomera Socialist Group (ASG)		Fabián Chinea	Insularism Social democracy	—N/a		0.0%	1
	AHI	List Independent Herrenian Group (AHI)		Javier Armas	Insularism Canarian nationalism Centrism	—N/a		0.0%	1

The reorganization of the political space to the left of the PSOE—which split in December 2023 following Podemos's breakup^[144]—was commented as a key element in securing any prospective re-election of Sánchez's government.^[147] The component parties of the Sumar alliance looked for a recomposition of the platform under a new brand,^[148][149] with second deputy prime minister and labour minister, Yolanda Díaz, stepping aside as the leading candidate for the next general election.^[150] Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC)'s spokesperson in Congress, Gabriel Rufián, proposed a broad front of left-wing parties—either directly or through coordination—that also included peripheral nationalists such as ERC, EH Bildu and the Galician Nationalist Bloc (BNG).^[151] The PSOE and Sumar were also commented as probing a prospective electoral alliance or cooperation agreement in over 30 of the smaller constituencies—mostly comprising those electing between three and five seats—where the latter's votes would not translate into seats but in which the former could compete for an additional seat with the PP or Vox.^[152]

The 2024 European Parliament election in Spain saw the electoral breakthrough of social media personality Luis "Alvise" Pérez who, running on a right-wing populist platform with his Se Acabó La Fiesta party (Spanish for "The Party is Over", SALF), secured 4.6% of the share.^[153] Alvise announced in July 2024 that he was considering to run in the next general election,^[154] but his public standing was damaged by an internal party crisis—which saw the defection of SALF's two other MEPs, amid accusations of bullying and blackmail^[155][156]—and several legal cases against him, including allegations of illegal financing, data leakage and harassment, which are the subject of ongoing investigations by the Supreme Court.^{[157][158][159]} On 12 October 2025, Alvise formally launched his candidacy to the next general election at the Palacio Vistalegre arena.^[160][161] By 2026, SALF was reportedly recruiting a number of former Vox members into their candidacies in several regions.^[162]