Spain, Sánchez heading towards early elections after housing decrees rejected

The Spanish Congress of Deputies rejected two government decree-laws on housing in recent days. The first was voted down 178 to 172; the second 184 to 166. A double parliamentary defeat that, according to two Spanish newspapers, is said to be pushing Pedro Sánchez to consider the possibility of early elections.

El País reports that the premier could announce as early as today, Monday, October 5, whether to proceed with an immediate bringing forward of the vote. La Vanguardia, citing sources from Moncloa and the president’s aides, goes further into detail: Sánchez’s entourage reportedly puts the probability of early elections at 70%, against 30% attributed to continuing the legislature. Among the dates considered for a possible vote is November 29, 2026.

The two outlets agree that the decision remains solely in the hands of the head of government, but differ in details: El País focuses on the timing of the announcement, while La Vanguardia quantifies in percentage terms the internal leanings within the executive. Neither source reports direct confirmation from Sánchez.

The rejection of the two housing decrees comes at a moment when the Spanish government had staked that issue as a test of its parliamentary majority. The double negative vote in Congress strips the government of a legislative tool on a topic sensitive to public opinion, and now opens the scenario of negotiations over the election date which, according to the cited sources, could conclude as early as today.

November 29 remains for now the only concrete date to have emerged from the sources consulted by the two newspapers, in a scenario the Spanish government has not yet publicly confirmed.