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Spain votes on 29 November: Sanchez campaigns in the shadow of a deadly train crash
Spain holds a snap general election on 29 November, called by Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez after right-wing parties rejected two housing decrees. A train crash on 28 October killed 69 and the transport minister resigned. Polls put the Socialists at 26% to 29%, behind the PP and Vox combined.
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Spain will hold a snap general election on 29 November 2026, and the campaign, which began at midnight on 12 November, is being fought under the shadow of a high-speed train crash that killed 69 people. Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, the 54-year-old Socialist leader, called the vote in October after right-wing parties rejected two of his emergency housing decrees. Opinion polls taken before and after the crash show his Socialist party, the PSOE, behind the conservative Popular Party and the far-right Vox combined, and a PP and Vox coalition is seen as the most likely next government if nothing changes. This report is for information only.
The vote in numbers
The reports available give only a few poll figures. The PSOE is polling at about 26% to 29%, roughly where it was before the election was called. The left-wing Podemos is at 1.9% in the latest polls, down from more than a quarter of voters at its 2015 peak. The accounts give no figures for the PP, Vox or Sumar and no seat projections.
| Item | Figure |
|---|---|
| Election date | 29 November 2026 |
| Campaign started | Midnight on 12 November, about 2.5 weeks |
| PSOE in polls | About 26% to 29% |
| Podemos in polls | 1.9% |
| Undecided voters | More than a million, according to one strategist |
| Train crash deaths | 69 |
More than a million voters are said to be undecided. One strategist, Ivan Redondo, said that if four in five left-leaning voters in small provinces backed the PSOE, the result could change, which is the reason behind Sanchez's call to left-wing voters in those provinces to vote tactically, under the slogan "all on red".
Spain elects its Congress of Deputies, which has 350 seats, so a party or bloc needs 176 for a majority. Seats are allocated by province using a proportional system, and small provinces return few seats, which tends to favour larger parties there and is why the left's strategists are urging tactical voting. Sanchez has led the government since 2018. At the last general election, in July 2023, the PP won the most seats, but Sanchez formed a government with the support of Sumar and smaller parties. Election day, 29 November, is a Sunday.
The crash and its fallout
On 28 October a high-speed train crashed into a stationary train near Urda, south of Madrid, killing 69 people. It was Spain's second deadly rail collision this year, and before this year there had never been a fatal crash on its dedicated high-speed lines. The accounts available do not state a cause. Transport Minister Oscar Puente resigned six days later, at the end of a parliamentary grilling about the management of high-speed rail, and Sanchez called the resignation an act of dignity and said the government had acted with absolute transparency. A state funeral was held in central Spain, which Sanchez did not attend.
The right is expected to put both crashes at the centre of its campaign. Sanchez had planned to run on public anger over housing costs, and has since presented the crash as a lesson about public services and argued that a right-wing government would be worse for Spaniards.
Housing, the left and the other issues
Housing is the second pillar. On Wednesday a nationwide general strike over rents and housing costs, the first in 14 years, drew crowds in the major cities, and accounts of the turnout differ widely: one report says more than 100,000 people took part, while another cites a union figure of more than 3 million. The PSOE did not organise or join the strike but the government praised it. On Thursday a smaller interim parliament passed the government's housing decree, which the PP has promised to repeal if it wins. Protests had been fuelled in September by the eviction of an 87-year-old woman, Maricarmen Abascal, who later died.
Other issues are immigration, corruption convictions in Sanchez's inner circle, and a surge of migrants into Ceuta. The left is split: talks on a united platform broke down last month, a lawmaker to the left of Sanchez is running with a "Broad Front", and Podemos, led by Irene Montero, refused to join it or to ally with the government. Vox is drawing some disillusioned left-wing voters, according to the pollster Paco Camas of Ipsos, and many on the left are weighing abstention.
Sanchez has used the line "two colours, one project of regression" to describe a PP and Vox government. Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is due to visit Spain on Monday to support the PSOE campaign. The electoral authorities set the rules for the campaign and the vote, and the Central Electoral Board publishes the results. Whether the undecided voters turn out, and in which provinces, will decide how many seats the right needs, since Spain's system gives small provinces more weight per vote than large ones.
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About the Author
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Subhash Gupta
Desk Editor
Subhash Gupta is a writer at Wirony, contributing articles that are reviewed and verified by the editorial team before publication. The publication prioritises accuracy, editorial…
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