Briefing
The President of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sánchez, announced the dissolution of the Cortes Generales and the bringing forward of the parliamentary election to 29 November 2026 in a statement from the Palacio de la Moncloa on 5 October 2026. The government cited the defeat in Congress over two housing policy decreesas the immediate trigger; Sánchez said the political situation made it impossible to continue the parliamentary term as before. Before the dissolution decree was published, the president informed the King Felipe of his decision, as required by constitutional convention.
Under current law, the official decree dissolving parliament and calling the election is published in the Boletín Oficial del Estado (BOE); elections take place 54 days after publication, placing them on 29 November 2026. The statutory timetable means the official campaign will begin on 13 November 2026 and end on 27 November 2026. The newly elected Cortes must hold its inaugural sitting within the prescribed period after the election, expected by 24 December 2026.
Opposition parties and other groups reacted immediately: the leader of the Partido Popular, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, announced that he would make a statement from the party headquarters in Madrid and indicated that he would election campaign . Regional and trade union groups, as well as other parliamentary parties, expressed differing views on the decision; some called for a swift political resolution, while others criticised the timing.
The legal basis and process are governed by the Ley Orgánica del Régimen Electoral General and the relevant rules on publication in the BOE. For readers in Spain, the deadlines formally begin on the day of publication in the BOE; until then, the Cortes remain in a transitional phase, subject to the restrictions that apply to a dissolved parliament. The government justified the move by citing the need for a clear parliamentary majority to implement social measures.
Editor: Mira Cadena (Article created with AI assistance).