madrid, spain —
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez on Monday called for early elections in an apparent effort to seize control following nationwide protests over the housing crisis sparked by the eviction of an 87-year-old woman.
The elections scheduled for November 29 will bring the current parliamentary term to an end more than six months earlier than planned.
“After reporting to the head of state, we convened an extraordinary cabinet meeting this morning and decided to dissolve parliament and hold general elections,” PSOE leader Sánchez said in a televised address from his official residence in Madrid, Moncloa.
The announcement comes after the Sánchez government last week failed to win parliamentary support for two proposed laws aimed at addressing the country’s housing crisis.
The measure was proposed in response to growing public anger over the eviction of 87-year-old María del Carmen Abascal (known simply as Maricarmen in Spain) from Madrid’s Retiro district, whose case has become a symbol of the country’s housing crisis.
Maricarmen had lived in the same house for more than 70 years, but was evicted when the rent rose from 500 euros ($560) to 2,650 euros ($2,970). Thousands of people took to the streets in outrage, and she became the face of the ruthlessness of Spain’s housing crisis.
Hundreds of people have been camping in central Madrid’s Puerta del Sol for more than a week in protest against the crisis, with rallies taking place elsewhere in Spain.
The Madrid Tenants Union, one of the groups organizing the protests, claimed that around 950,000 people took part in demonstrations across the country over the weekend.
Sanchez, who has been prime minister for more than eight years, called the general election three days after the right-wing party in parliament rejected a bill aimed at easing the housing crisis.
Analysts expect Mr. Sánchez to focus on housing to gain public support. The conservative People’s Party, which opposed the planned housing reforms, is leading in opinion polls.
“We need to renew the support of the people,” Sanchez said on Monday. “We need to mobilize and win a much larger progressive majority in Parliament that will allow us to break through vested interests, bring new social progress and continue to transform Spain.”
Mr. Sánchez’s PSOE socialist party has suffered several setbacks in local elections this year, and its reputation has been tarnished by a series of corruption scandals involving close associates.
That criticism was further intensified by the migrant crisis in Ceuta, which saw tens of thousands of migrants cross into the Spanish territory bordering Morocco in the summer.
“I understand that there is some dissatisfaction today in the social majority,” he says. “You are outraged to see their interests trampled upon in Congress for the benefit of a select few.”
In calling for a snap election, he acknowledged that the government had made some “mistakes” but insisted it was facing an unprecedented challenge from abroad. He mentioned the war in Ukraine and the conflict in the Middle East, and also emphasized that Spain is becoming one of Europe’s strongest economies.
Sanchez is one of the few centre-left leaders in Europe, where right-wing populism is on the rise, taking firm positions on issues such as the establishment of a Palestinian state, the responsibility of social media companies and the US campaign against Iran.
Spain denied US bombers the use of bases on its territory. Sanchez has been an outspoken critic of U.S. airstrikes, sparking anger and threats from the White House. But rather than back down, Sanchez and his government doubled down and won public support for opposition to the Trump administration.
In March, President Trump threatened to cut off trade with Spain. “We can use their base if we want, we can fly in and use it. No one will tell us not to use it,” he said.
In contrast to many countries in Europe, Sánchez also said immigration is essential to sustaining economic growth, and earlier this year moved to regularize the status of hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants in Spain.
“I trust my fellow countrymen,” Sanchez continued. “I know that you are courageous and compassionate people who rise to the challenge and have no hesitation in being the first and last on the right side of history.”
Over the past eight years, Sanchez has formed a series of coalitions with left-wing parties and small separatist parties, but they have struggled to pass legislation and often lag behind on legislation. The government has not been able to pass a budget for three years.
Opinion polls show that the election is most likely to result in a coalition government led by the centre-right People’s Party (PP) and supported by the far-right Vox party. If Box joins the next government, it will be the first far-right figure to join Spain since democracy was restored following the death of dictator Francisco Franco in 1975.
