A general election was held in Spain on 23 July 2023 to elect the members of the 15th Cortes Generales under the Spanish Constitution of 1978. All 350 seats in the Congress of Deputies were up for election, as well as 208 of 266 seats in the Senate. It was the first time since 1839 that a general election in Spain was held in the month of July.
The second government of Pedro Sánchez formed after the November 2019 Spanish general election consisted of a left-wing coalition between the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) and Unidas Podemos, the country's first such nationwide government since the Second Spanish Republic. The government's tenure was quickly overshadowed by the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, along with its political and economic consequences (including the economic recession resulting from the extensive lockdowns implemented to curb the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus), as well as the impact of the Russian invasion of Ukraine (which exacerbated an ongoing inflation surge) and the 2021 volcanic eruption in La Palma. The opposition People's Party (PP) saw party leader Pablo Casado being replaced by Galician president Alberto Núñez Feijóo after an internal push in February 2022 by Madrilenian president Isabel DÃÂaz Ayuso, a rising star within the party following her 2021 regional election victory. Far-right Vox had been supporting PP-led cabinets at the regional and local level in exchange for programmatic concessions andâÂÂeventuallyâÂÂgovernment participation; whereas the liberal Citizens party, which had lost most of its support since 2019, chose not to run.
Despite speculation about a snap election, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez consistently expressed his intention to complete his term as scheduled in 2023, after the Spanish presidency of the Council of the European Union. Poor results of the left-wing bloc in the May 2023 regional and local elections, with losses to the PP and Vox in all but three regions, led to a surprise early dissolution of parliament in what was described as a gamble by Sánchez to wrong-foot the opposition and prevent a six-month lame duck period. In the closest election since 1996, the PP saw the biggest increase in support and secured 137 seats in the Congress, but fell short of expectations which had placed it at around 140 to 160 seats. The PSOE placed second and overperformed polls by improving upon previous results, gaining over one million votes and scoring its best result since 2008 in terms of votes and vote share. Vox saw a decrease in its popular vote and seats, while the Sumar platform under the second deputy prime minister, Yolanda DÃÂazâÂÂthe successor of the Unidas Podemos alliance after the resignation of Pablo Iglesias in 2021âÂÂwon 31 seats in the Congress, a decrease in the popular vote and seats of its constituent parties but also above expectations going into the election.
As neither bloc achieved a majority, the balance of power was held by the Together for Catalonia (Junts) party of former Catalan president and fugitive Carles Puigdemont, despite losses among Catalan independence parties. Following a failed attempt by Feijóo to secure investiture in the ensuing government formation process, Sánchez struck a deal with Junts and most of the parliamentary regionalist and peripheral nationalist parties, going on to win re-election on 16 November with an absolute majority: the first time since 2011 that a repeat election was not needed, as well as the first time since that date that a candidate was elected in the first ballot of investiture.
The outcome of the November 2019 general election led the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) and the Unidas Podemos alliance to set aside their differences and reach a preliminary deal within days. After securing the consent of the Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC)âÂÂdespite tensions following the Supreme Court's prison sentences to Catalan independence leaders and the Spanish government's handling of the October 2019 protestsâÂÂPedro Sánchez was re-elected prime minister in January 2020, forming Spain's first nationwide coalition cabinet since the Second Republic, with Podemos leader Pablo Iglesias as second deputy prime minister.
From March 2020, Sánchez's government had to deal with the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, declaring a state of alarm and imposing nationwide lockdown to curb the spread of the virus ("flattening the curve"). The National Health System was quickly overwhelmed and the country saw high infection and death rates, especially in nursing homes. The sudden halt of non-essential economic activity triggered a recession, prompting the government to approve several relief packages known as the "social shield". Anti-lockdown protests emerged in May 2020, particularly in the wealthiest areas of the Madrid region, which had been the hardest hit in the country. Although restrictions were lifted by the summer, later waves of infections led to new limits and curfews, including a partial lockdown of Madrid in September and a six-month state of alarm that gave regions more control over restrictions. The authorities' initial response was widely criticized as slow and ineffective, and in 2021 a divided Constitutional Court ruled the two states of alarm unlawful, arguing that a state of exceptionâÂÂrequiring prior, rather than later, parliamentary approval to enforce lockdownsâÂÂshould have been used instead.
Spain became the second-largest recipient of the Next Generation EU recovery funds after successful negotiations, and the government presented a national plan focused mainly on energy and digital transitions. This period also saw reconstruction efforts in La Palma after the 2021 Cumbre Vieja volcanic eruption; Spain's participation in military aid to Ukraine following the 2022 Russian invasion; and an inflation surge that triggered an global energy crisis, which saw the European Commission granting Spain a temporary mechanism to cap gas prices (the "Iberian exception"). Other major events included the 2022 Melilla incidentâÂÂin which 37 migrants died in a crowd crushâÂÂthe 2022 NATO summit in Madrid, and Spain's presidency of the Council of the European Union in 2023. A major cabinet reshuffle in July 2021 saw the departure of several senior PSOE figures such as Carmen Calvo and José Luis ÃÂbalos from the government.
In an attempt to ease tensions from the 2017âÂÂ2018 Catalan crisis, Sánchez granted partial pardons to jailed pro-independence leaders in June 2021. His government also passed a major labour market reform (limiting temporary employment and strengthening collective bargaining) in a narrow 175âÂÂ174 vote, seeing a decisive voting mistake by a PP member. Social reforms saw the legalization of euthanasia, the "Trans Law" allowing gender self-identification, and a reform of the abortion law that expanded rights and introduced paid menstrual leave. A new Education Law (the LOMLOE) was approved to reduce school segregation and limit grade retention, while a Democratic Memory Law sought to provide justice for victims of Franco's dictatorship. Animal welfare legislation was expanded, though the exclusion of hunting dogs and bullfighting drew criticism. Among the most controversial bills were an overhaul of the sedition and embezzlement offencesâÂÂseen by the opposition as a concession to Catalan partiesâÂÂand the "Only Yes Means Yes" sexual consent law, which contained a loophole that led to reduced sentences for hundreds of offenders. Concurrently, the ongoing blockade of the judiciary council (which stalled judicial appointments for years) prompted attempts at judicial reform, which triggered an institutional crisis in December 2022 when the Constitutional Court temporarily blocked the passage of the proposed legislation.
Seeking to counter competition from the far-right Vox party under Santiago Abascal and to attract former Citizens (Cs) voters, the opposition People's Party (PP) adopted a confrontational stance toward Sánchez. The Madrid regional government of Isabel DÃÂaz AyusoâÂÂcriticized for its triage protocols and selective lockdown measures during the pandemicâÂÂfrequently clashed with the national government. Ayuso's polarizing profile made her one of Sánchez's main political rivals, culminating in a snap Madrid election in May 2021 in which she achieved a decisive victory and severely weakened Cs. This success also triggered a conflict with PP leader Pablo Casado over control of the regional party, which escalated after disappointing results in the 2022 Castilian-Leonese election and Ayuso's accusations that Casado was trying to undermine her through a smear campaign. The crisis eventually led to Casado's removal and the election of Galician president Alberto Núñez Feijóo as new PP leader in a show of unity. This period also saw the exposure of the so-called Kitchen case, an alleged police espionage and deep state network operated by the interior ministry during Rajoy's premiership.
With influence over several regional PPâÂÂCs governments formed after the 2019 regional elections, Vox pushed for some of its most controversial proposals, including a "parental pin" in Murcia (allowing parents to veto school activities they considered "contrary to moral principles"), and an anti-abortion plan in Castile and León that would have required doctors to pregnant women the chance to hear the fetal heartbeat or undergo a 4D ultrasound (ultimately dropped to prevent a constitutional conflict). Amid growing political polarization, and seeking to capitalize on anti-lockdown protests and public anger at the Spanish government, Vox tabled two no-confidence motions against Sánchez in 2020 and 2023. Both failed by wide margins, but they highlighted the PP's shift from outright opposition under Casado in the first to a conciliatory abstention under Feijóo in the second.
Pablo Iglesias resigned from the government to run against Ayuso in the 2021 Madrid election, but his poor result led him to leave politics. Labour minister Yolanda DÃÂaz then emerged as his likely successor as his alliance's candidate for prime minister, using her popularity to reorganize Unidas Podemos by bringing together several left-wing partiesâÂÂsuch as En Comú Podem, CompromÃÂs and Más Madrid/Más PaÃÂsâÂÂunder the Sumar umbrella (). The case in March 2023 (a cash-for-favours scheme involving a PSOE lawmaker from the Canary Islands), controversy over EH Bildu including former ETA members on its candidate lists, and a vote-buying scandal (particularly affecting Melilla), complicated the political landscape and contributed to losses for left-wing parties in the May 2023 local and regional elections. This prompted Sánchez to call a surprise snap election for 23 July, a move widely seen as an attempt to catch the opposition off guard and avoid a prolonged lame-duck period.
Under the 1978 Constitution, the Spanish were conceived as an imperfect bicameral system. The Congress of Deputies held greater legislative power than the Senate, having the ability to grant or withdraw confidence from a prime minister and to override Senate vetoes by an absolute majority. Nonetheless, the Senate retained a limited number of specific functionsâÂÂsuch as ratifying international treaties, authorizing cooperation agreements between autonomous communities, enforcing direct rule, regulating interterritorial compensation funds, and taking part in constitutional amendments and in the appointment of members to the Constitutional Court and the General Council of the JudiciaryâÂÂwhich were not subject to override by Congress.
Voting for each chamber of the was based on universal suffrage, comprising all Spanish nationals over 18 years of age with full political rights, provided that they had not been deprived of the right to vote by a final court ruling. Amendments in 2022 abolished the "begged" voting system (), under which non-resident citizens were required to apply for voting. The begged vote system was attributed responsibility for a major decrease in the turnout of Spaniards abroad during the years it was in force.
The Congress of Deputies had a minimum of 300 and a maximum of 400 seats, with the electoral law fixing its size at 350. Of these, 348 were elected in 50 multi-member constituencies corresponding to the provinces of SpainâÂÂeach of which was assigned an initial minimum of two seats and the remaining 248 distributed in proportion to populationâÂÂusing the D'Hondt method and closed-list proportional voting, with a three percent-threshold of valid votes (including blank ballots) in each constituency. The remaining two seats were allocated to Ceuta and Melilla as single-member districts elected by plurality voting. The use of this electoral method resulted in a higher effective threshold depending on district magnitude and vote distribution.
As a result of the aforementioned allocation, each Congress multi-member constituency was entitled the following seats:
208 Senate seats were elected using open-list partial block voting: in constituencies electing four seats, voters could choose up to three candidates; in those with two or three seats, up to two; and in single-member districts, one. Each of the 47 peninsular provinces was allocated four seats, while in insular provincesâÂÂsuch as the Balearic and Canary IslandsâÂÂthe districts were the islands themselves, with the larger ones (Mallorca, Gran Canaria and Tenerife) being allocated three seats each, and the smaller ones (Menorca, IbizaâÂÂFormentera, Fuerteventura, La Gomera, El Hierro, Lanzarote and La Palma) one each. Ceuta and Melilla elected two seats each. Additionally, autonomous communities could appoint at least one senator each and were entitled to one additional senator for every million inhabitants.
The law did not provide for by-elections to fill vacant seats; instead, any vacancies arising after the proclamation of candidates and during the legislative term were filled by the next candidates on the party lists or, when required, by designated substitutes.
Spanish citizens of legal age and with the right to vote could run for election, provided that they had not been sentenced to imprisonment by a final court ruling or convictedâÂÂwhether final or notâÂÂof offences that involved loss of eligibility or disqualification from public office (such as rebellion, terrorism or other crimes against the state). Additional causes of ineligibility applied to the following officials:
Other ineligibility provisions also applied to a number of territorial officials in these categories within their areas of jurisdiction, as well as to employees of foreign states and members of regional governments. Incompatibility rules further extended to a range of senior public officials and to those elected on candidacies later declared illegal, as well as prohibiting the simultaneous holding of the positions of deputy and senator or of a national and regional parliamentary seat.
The term of each chamber of the âÂÂthe Congress and the SenateâÂÂexpired four years from the date of their previous election, unless they were dissolved earlier. The election decree was required to be issued no later than the twenty-fifth day prior to the scheduled expiration date of parliament and published on the following day in the Official State Gazette (BOE), with election day taking place on the fifty-fourth day from publication. The previous election was held on 10 November 2019, which meant that the chambers' terms would have expired on 10 November 2023. The election decree was required to be published in the BOE no later than 17 October 2023, with the election taking place on the fifty-fourth day from publication, setting the latest possible date for election day on 10 December 2023.
The prime minister had the prerogative to propose the monarch to dissolve both chambers at any given timeâÂÂeither jointly or separatelyâÂÂand call a snap election, provided that no motion of no confidence was in process, no state of emergency was in force and that dissolution did not occur before one year after a previous one. Additionally, both chambers were to be dissolved and a new election called if an investiture process failed to elect a prime minister within a two-month period from the first ballot. Barring this exception, there was no constitutional requirement for simultaneous elections to the Congress and the Senate. Still, as of , there has been no precedent of separate elections taking place under the 1978 Constitution.
Following his party's defeat in the 2021 Madrid election, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez commented that there were still "32 months to go" for the next general election, implying he was working on a January 2024 date. This prompted comments on the maximum legal duration of the , as a January or even February 2024 election date could only be considered if their four-year term was counted from the chambers' first assembly or from the prime minister's investiture, instead of from the previous general election. In August 2022, Sánchez himself dispelled any doubts by announcing that the election would be held in December 2023, a position that he reiterated the next March when he commented that there were still "nine months left" in the legislative term.
On 29 May 2023, following Sánchez announcement of a general election for 23 JulyâÂÂthe first time such an election was called for a July month since 1839âÂÂpolitical parties from across the spectrum were caught by surprise. PP leaders in particular were reportedly upset as the election call prevented them from capitalizing on their local and regional election gains. The were officially dissolved on 30 May 2023 with the publication of the corresponding decree in the BOE, setting election day for 23 July and scheduling for both chambers to reconvene on 17 August.
The tables below show the composition of the parliamentary groups in both chambers at the time of dissolution.
The electoral law allowed for parties and federations registered in the interior ministry, alliances and groupings of electors to present lists of candidates. Parties and federations intending to form an alliance ahead of an election were required to inform the relevant electoral commission within ten days of the election call, whereas groupings of electors needed to secure the signature of at least one percent of the electorate in the constituencies for which they sought election, disallowing electors from signing for more than one list of candidates. Concurrently, parties, federations or alliances that had not obtained a mandate in either chamber of the at the preceding election were required to secure the signature of at least 0.1 percent of electors in the aforementioned constituencies. Additionally, a balanced composition of men and women was required in the electoral lists, so that candidates of either sex made up at least 40 percent of the total composition.
A special, simplified process was provided for election re-runs, including a shortening of deadlines, electoral campaigning, the lifting of signature requirements if these had been already met for the immediately previous election and the possibility of maintaining lists and alliances without needing to go through pre-election procedures again.
Below is a list of the main parties and electoral alliances which contested the election:
In September 2021, citizen collectives of the Empty Spain ( or España Vaciada), a coined term to refer to Spain's rural and largely unpopulated interior provinces, agreed to look forward to formulas to contest the next elections in Spain, inspired by the success of the Teruel Existe candidacy (Spanish for "Teruel Exists") in the November 2019 general election. By November 2021, it was confirmed that over 160 collectives and associations from about 30 Spanish provinces had committed themselves to finalize the electoral platform before January 2022. It then contested the 2022 Castilian-Leonese election, with mixed results: the Soria Now! platform succeeded in the province of Soria, but it was a disappointment elsewhere.
On 30 May 2023, Citizens's leadership announced that the party would not contest the general election, following its poor results in the regional and local elections. This decision was criticized by a number of its elected representatives, including incumbent MP and former leadership contender Edmundo Bal. The Regionalist Party of Cantabria also decided not to run following the party's negative results in that year's Cantabrian election.
The key dates are listed below. All times are CET, while the Canary Islands use WET (UTC+0) instead.
An Ipsos poll published in July 2023 showed that most of the respondents saw economic issues as most important, followed by unemployment and healthcare. BBC News reported that LGBTQ rights were also distinguished during the campaign period.
Vox campaigned on lowering the income tax, reducing public spending, and introducing tougher anti-migration laws. Vox was also in favour of reducing powers of Spain's autonomous communities, rolling back abortion, LGBTQ, and women's rights, and pulling Spain out of the Paris Agreement. Sonia Gallego of Al Jazeera said that Vox's rhetoric "will put it on a collision course with those separatist movements, not just in the Basque Country but Catalonia as well". Vox received support from Brothers of Italy, led by Giorgia Meloni, during the campaign period.
PP campaigned on lowering taxes and introducing policies that would boost foreign investments, with Feijóo trying to portray himself as a moderate. Feijóo was also faced with criticism from Sumar due to his past ties with drug trafficker Marcial Dorado when he served in the Galician government in the 1990s. Feijóo responded by saying that Dorado "had been a smuggler [but] never a drug trafficker" when he knew him. PP and Vox also campaigned on ending Sanchismo, a derogatory term to refer to the policies introduced by Sánchez and his coalition government, with Feijóo stating that it was his main priority. Both parties also accused Sanchez of overly relying on separatist parties to pass key legislation and pardoning jailed leaders. The catchphrase "Let Txapote vote for you" () was popularized within this context.
PSOE's Sánchez portrayed the election as a "showdown between the forces of progress and the forces of reactionary conservatism". He also criticized the relationship between PP and Vox. PP criticized PSOE's relationship with minority and pro-independence parties, as well as the government's anti-sexual assault law (popularly known as the "Only yes means yes law"), introduced in August 2022 and attributed responsibility for unwittingly leading to the release of at least 104 convicted sexual offenders owing to retroactivity of favourable provisions; Pedro Sánchez apologized for the loopholes in the law.
Sumar campaigned on criticizing Vox and focusing on issues regarding climate change and introducing a shorter workweek. In order to challenge social inequality, DÃÂaz proposed a â¬20,000 "universal inheritance" policy for those over 18 years old which could be spent on studies or creating a business. As part of its campaign policy, Sumar also campaigned on increasing taxes on the rich.
The table below shows registered voter turnout on election day, without including non-resident citizens.
The election results showed that PP won 33.1 percent of popular vote and 137 seats in the Congress of Deputies, while PSOE won 31.7 percent of popular vote and 121 seats in the Congress of Deputies. Despite the PP gaining 48 seats and increasing its vote share by over 12 points, its result was well below expectations to reach above 150 or 160 seats and insufficient to secure a right-wing majority to govern. Conversely, the PSOE overperformed polls by improving upon previous results, gaining almost 1 million votesâÂÂthe most votes gained by the prime minister's party in Spain after a full first term in officeâÂÂscoring its best result since the 2008 Spanish general election in terms of votes and vote share.
Vox won 33 seats, losing 19 seats that it won in the previous election, while Sumar won 31 seats. In part due to a campaign led by the Assemblea Nacional Catalana encouraging pro-Catalan independence voters to boycott the election, pro-independence parties lost 46% of the votes they won in November 2019, materializing in the loss of 9 seats and in the anti-capitalists of the Popular Unity Candidacy (CUP) being expelled from Congress.
During the campaign period, news agencies mentioned that in case of a PP victory, it would have to rely on Vox for a parliamentary majority, despite Feijóo saying that he would prefer a minority government instead. The election results later showed that even PP and Vox together would not have enough seats to form a majority, considering that they won 170 seats in total. Both PP and PSOE, short of a majority, claimed victory. The results raised the prospect of no government forming and a snap election being called, which would constitute a record third straight time in which regular general elections were inconclusive and required a following snap election. The Catalan party JuntsâÂÂled by former Catalan president and fugitive Carles PuigdemontâÂÂwas widely seen as being the kingmaker, with both blocs having to rely on their favourable vote to form a government, likely coupled with further concessions on Catalan independence. Due to the underperformance of the right-wing bloc, Feijóo's leadership was questioned by the Spanish right-wing; Feijóo went from offering a pact to the PSOE to warning of a rupture if Sánchez was confirmed prime minister with the support of separatists. The election of the president of the Congress of DeputiesâÂÂor speakerâÂÂon 17 August saw the PSOE candidate Francina Armengol winning in a vote which was seen to boost Sanchez's hopes of re-election.
King Felipe VI summoned the political parties for a round of talks on 21 and 22 August to decide whether to nominate a candidate for investiture. The king faced a difficult choice as, for the first time in the democratic era, two candidatesâÂÂSánchez and FeijóoâÂÂwere equally intent on being nominated. Feijóo's intentions were unchanged by his recent parliamentary setback, despite calls from some factions within his party asking him to "leave the fiction" of insisting that he had the required support for his investiture.
Despite Feijóo's investiture being widely expected to fail, the King nominated him as candidate on 22 August. He justified his decision by stating that the PP had won the most seats and that, since no other clear majority for investiture had been evidenced during the round of talks, the tradition of nominating the leader of the largest party should continue, while allowing for the fact that other candidates could be nominated if their investiture attempt was unsuccessful.
Following Feijóo's defeat, King Felipe VI summoned all parties to a new round of talks on 2 and 3 October, after which he nominated Pedro Sánchez as the next candidate to attempt the investiture. Upon his nomination, Sánchez commented that he was "not going to a false investiture", adding that everything agreed to secure the investiture would be "within the Constitution" and that agreements would be "transparent and known", considered to be a reference to criticisms of the amnesty proposed by pro-Catalan independence parties.
Legislation
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