Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez of Spain called on Monday for an early election, days after his left-wing governing coalition, which lacks a majority in Parliament, lost a vote to pass a package of emergency housing measures.
The decision sets the stage for an election on Nov. 29, months ahead of schedule. Mr. Sánchez and his left-wing allies are seeking to frame it as an opportunity to resolve Spain’s housing crisis by ushering in a strong left-wing government.
The conservative Popular Party, which has topped recent opinion polls, and the far-right Vox party are focusing instead on issues like immigration, amid a crisis spurred by a surge of migrants this summer into Ceuta, a Spanish territory in North Africa.
The vote is also set to be a referendum on Mr. Sánchez himself, one of Europe’s longest-serving leaders and a deeply unpopular figure among right-wing voters in Spain.
Mr. Sánchez has become a hero to the global left for standing up to the Trump administration over the war in Iran and for supporting renewable energy and inclusive immigration policies. At home, his popularity was dented by corruption accusations directed at his innermost circle, and, in July, by the sudden arrival in Ceuta of tens of thousands of migrants coming from Morocco.
The final straw was the defeat on Friday of housing measures that Mr. Sánchez had hoped would soothe public anger over rising evictions and soaring rents — symbolized by the recent eviction of María del Carmen Abascal, an 87-year-old woman in Madrid. The loss showed that his governing coalition was essentially paralyzed and unable to pass key legislation.
But it also handed Mr. Sánchez an issue that could rally his left-wing base.
“To carry out the far-reaching reforms to reduce inequality,” Mr. Sánchez said in a press briefing on Monday, “we must mobilize to secure a much larger progressive majority in Parliament — one capable of taking on the elites, achieving new social advances and continuing to transform Spain.”
Mr. Sánchez said that voters would have to choose between keeping Spain as “a bastion of social justice” or “the far-right wave that brings regression wherever it governs.” That was a reference to Vox, which could join a right-wing government led by the Popular Party, the main conservative opposition group.
The Popular Party celebrated Mr. Sánchez’s announcement as a victory, as it had been calling for months for an early election. “Finally, the Spanish people will decide,” the party’s leader, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, said on Monday.
“Housing is now out of reach, there are too few doctors and too many strikes, educational standards are declining — and immigration is out of control,” he added.
Santiago Abascal, the leader of Vox, said that his party was “ready” for a return to the polls.
“We’re going into an election with Ceuta invaded and with a candidate who is aligned with Morocco’s interests,” Mr. Abascal said in a TV interview on Monday, echoing a conspiracy theory that Mr. Sánchez is beholden to Morocco.
Recent polls have shown a rise in support for Vox. The party has placed third with around 18 percent in recent polls, while the Popular Party has been projected to win more than 30 percent. The Socialist Party is polling at around 26 percent.
But after eight years in power, Mr. Sánchez has built a reputation for political comebacks.
Pablo Simón, a political science professor at the Carlos III University of Madrid, said Mr. Sánchez was likely to campaign on the argument that a right-wing coalition would threaten social rights, including housing.
“That could mobilize some left-wing voters,” Mr. Simón said. Still, he added, a “renewed left-wing government” is “unlikely.”
Voters from both the left and the right welcomed the snap election.
Gonzalo Matías, a 28-year-old civil servant from Madrid, said he hoped the left would win a majority in Parliament. Mr. Matías called Mr. Sánchez “the best asset the left has” and praised his focus on human rights and social justice.
Chavela Quesada, an 82-year-old pensioner, said she believed the election was “the best news Spain could have received, because the country is sinking.” She called the current government “incompetent,” adding: “Everything they have done has been wrong: immigration, the invasion of Ceuta, everything is horrible.”
The early election added to recent shakiness in European financial markets. On Monday, the euro dropped to about $1.12, its lowest level since May 2025 against the U.S. dollar.
Despite the political turmoil, Spain is currently one of Europe’s economic bright spots. The country’s economy is expected to grow 2.1 percent this year, which is three times the rate forecast for the wider eurozone, according to Goldman Sachs.
While Mr. Sánchez has taken a tough approach to migrants illegally entering Spain from North Africa, his government’s relative openness to immigration from places like Latin America has supported economic growth. Spain’s unemployment rate is just below 10 percent, the lowest it has been since 2008.
Eshe Nelson contributed reporting from London and José Bautista from Madrid.
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