Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez set a general election for 29 November after parliament rejected emergency housing measures, about eight months before the previous latest date.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez announced on Monday that a general election will be held on 29 November, about eight months earlier than the latest date previously expected. The vote follows parliament’s rejection of two decree laws aimed at protecting tenants.
Sanchez, whose Socialist party governs with the Sumar alliance and lacks a majority, said in a televised address that he needed a broader progressive majority to overcome what he called the resistance of the elites. He told Spaniards the time had come to decide the future they wanted. AP reported he framed the election around housing after protests in several cities.
Those protests followed the eviction of an 87-year-old woman in Madrid who could not afford a sharp rent rise. The government had sought emergency rental measures and lost the votes on Friday.
Opposition leader Alberto Nunez Feijoo of the People's Party said Spaniards would finally be able to decide. BBC News reported that most polls have the conservatives as the largest party, likely needing Vox to form a government.
The election date is 29 November. Campaign rules and candidate lists had not been fully set in the Monday announcements.
People Sentiments Mixed
- Housing protesters have demanded action after the Madrid eviction of an 87-year-old tenant.
- Feijoo said Spaniards would at last be able to decide.
- Sanchez said he needed a broader progressive majority.