Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez set a snap election for 29 November after parliament rejected two housing decrees and protests followed an eviction in Madrid.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez called an early general election for 29 November after his government lost two parliamentary votes on housing measures. The BBC said he announced the vote in a televised address on Monday and spoke of a need to renew and broaden support for the government. A regular election was not due until summer 2027 at the latest.
Parliament on Friday rejected two decree laws aimed at tenants in the rental market. The BBC said the package included a suspension of evictions of vulnerable tenants until 2030, an extension of some leases, higher taxes on tourist apartments and limits on purchases by funds the government called vulture funds.
Protests intensified after the eviction of 87-year-old Maricarmen Abascal from a Madrid apartment where she had lived since 1956, Politico reported. Housing has ranked among voters' top concerns.
Sanchez has been prime minister since June 2018. His Socialists finished second in 2023 and govern in coalition. Politico said polls at the time of the announcement put the centre-right People's Party near 34 percent and the Socialists near 26 percent.
The campaign will run until 29 November. No official candidate lists had been published in the first hours after the announcement.