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Politics · Spain snap electionContinuing story · report 1 of 2

An evicted 87-year-old, a failed housing vote, and now a dissolved Spanish parliament

Royal Decree 806/2026 is in force and Spain votes on 29 November. Pedro Sánchez is betting housing anger can beat a polling deficit, while tenants wait with no replacement protections.

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  1. Update 1An evicted 87-year-old, a failed housing vote, and now a dissolved Spanish parliamentYou are here
  2. Update 2Maricarmen died without returning home. Spain’s housing fight is still unsettledNewer

María del Carmen Abascal, 87, lived in the same Madrid flat in the Retiro district for about 70 years. On 23 September she was removed from it on a stretcher, a wheelchair user, after the company that bought the building more than tripled her rent. She went to hospital. A return deal was reported on 29 September, with an eight-year tenancy and rent capped at 30% of her net income, but as of the latest account we have she was still hospitalised and no homecoming is established. 69 Her eviction set off the protests that ended in a dissolved parliament. She is no relation to Vox leader Santiago Abascal; the shared surname is coincidence.

On 5 October we reported tens of thousands marching over housing costs in Madrid, clashes in Valencia, and only that Sánchez was said to be weighing a snap election. That is now settled. He announced the vote in a national address the same day, and the decree followed. 8

What the decree does

Royal Decree 806/2026, dated 5 October, dissolves the Congress and Senate elected in July 2023 and calls both chambers to the polls on Sunday 29 November. It was published in the official gazette (BOE no. 248) on 6 October and took effect that day. 79 It was issued after the Council of Ministers deliberated on 5 October, on the prime minister's proposal. 80

That corrects an early account. A garbled translated clip from Guardian News suggested the extraordinary Council would meet "tomorrow". 7 It met on the day of the announcement. The government stays a full government until the vote, not a caretaker one. 86

The decree also settles a conflict between outlets over the campaign. DW said it would last 55 days. 1 BBC said two weeks from 13 November. 4 BBC was closer. The decree sets a 15-day campaign, from 00:00 on Friday 13 November to 24:00 on Friday 27 November, then a reflection day on the 28th. 104 The 55 matches the span from announcement to polling day. That is our arithmetic, not a figure anyone has called the campaign.

From eviction to election

  1. Wed Sep 23

    Maricarmen Abascal is forcibly evicted from her Retiro home.

    26
  2. Fri Oct 2

    Congress rejects the two housing decrees, 178–172 and 184–166.

    42
  3. Mon Oct 5

    Sánchez announces the election; the Council of Ministers adopts the dissolution decree.

    80
  4. Tue Oct 6

    Decree published in the BOE and takes effect; parties have ten days to register coalitions.

    79
  5. Oct 21–26

    Candidacies are registered.

    85
  6. Fri Nov 13

    Official campaign opens at 00:00 and runs 15 days.

    104
  7. Sun Nov 29

    General election.

    79
  8. Wed Dec 23, 10:00

    New chambers hold their constitutive sessions.

    86

The renters in the gap

The two decrees Congress killed are the reason for the election, and their loss leaves tenants exposed while the campaign runs. The PP, Vox and Junts voted against; reports describe the measures as including a ban on evicting vulnerable tenants until 2030 and two-year lease extensions, though those terms are not independently verified. 40 BBC said the government banned evictions until 2030 after Abascal's case. 4 That ban sat inside a decree Congress then rejected, so it should not be read as protection in force. The decrees are reported repealed, the exact legal cutoff is unavailable, and no replacement is verified.

The PP and Vox argued the decrees did not protect owners and that thousands of flats had left the market. 1

The arithmetic of the bet

Sánchez leads a PSOE–Sumar minority that has passed no budget since 2023 and faces corruption allegations and criticism over the Ceuta crisis. The Guardian puts about 70,000 crossings from Morocco in 48 hours; BBC says most of the 70,000-plus July arrivals were returned. 6 He frames the vote as a choice between joining the far-right wave and keeping Spain a bastion of openness, social justice and environmental responsibility. 6 Analyst Javier Carbonell of the European Policy Centre says weak mobilisation on the left is hurting him, and that Sánchez hopes housing will change that. 5

The only polling we have predates the call. A 40dB poll for El País and Cadena SER (fieldwork 25–28 September) had the PP at 31.6%, PSOE 27.4%, Vox 18.4%, Sumar 5.6% and Podemos 2.7%. PP plus Vox reach about 50%, against 35.7% for PSOE, Sumar and Podemos combined. 126 The state pollster CIS, which tends to run friendlier to the PSOE than private firms, had the Socialists at 32.8% and the PP at 23.7% in September. 114 No poll taken after the announcement was out by the evening of 6 October.

These are projections, not results. They do point one way: the PP leads but is not on course for the 176 seats of 350 that an absolute majority needs, so a PP–Vox government is the likeliest outcome, with Carbonell expecting Abascal to become vice president. 5 Reuters and the Guardian note that would be Spain's first far-right government since Franco's death in 1975. 3

Por fin decidirán los españoles. No unos pocos, no uno solo, todos los españoles.

Alberto Núñez Feijóo, PP leader 107

Feijóo's pledge, reported by DW, is 600,000 jobs and 1 million flats under a PP government. 1 No costing or delivery mechanism appears in anything we have seen, so it is a campaign promise, not a plan. Vox's Abascal calls the race "muy incierta" and recalls 2023, when PP and Vox led surveys and Sánchez still formed a government. 107 Madrid's Isabel Díaz Ayuso urged people not to vote by post, alleging possible "adulteraciones"; the reporting offers no evidence for that. 107

The left is the weakest part of the bet. Sumar says its new Frente Amplio, with IU, Más Madrid and the Comuns so far, is ready, but it has named no candidate. A presentation is planned for 17 October. Yolanda Díaz had already stepped back as lead candidate, and Podemos has offered open primaries. 127

Known

  • The Cortes are dissolved; Royal Decree 806/2026 was published on 6 October and the election is on 29 November. 79
  • The official campaign is 15 days, 13–27 November, followed by a reflection day. 104
  • Pre-call polling has the PP first and PP plus Vox near 50%; no post-announcement poll exists yet. 126

Unknown

  • Whether the left unites behind one slate and candidate.
  • Whether any housing protections are restored before polling day, and whether Maricarmen Abascal returns home.
  • Whether the PP needs Vox, and on what terms.

Next

  • Sumar's Frente Amplio presentation on 17 October, inside the coalition-registration window.
  • Candidacy registration, 21–26 October, and the first polls taken after the call.
As aired 14 lines
  1. On October 5 we reported Sánchez was weighing an election. Today, a decree dissolved Spain's parliament.
  2. Spain now votes months ahead of schedule, and pre-call polls point to a Popular Party–Vox coalition, which would be the country's first far-right government since Franco. Can housing anger rescue a prime minister who trails in the polls?
  3. Congress rejected two emergency housing decrees, 178 to 172 and 184 to 166, with the Popular Party, Vox and Junts voting against. Behind them stood María del Carmen Abascal, 87, a wheelchair user evicted from the Madrid home she had lived in for about 70 years after the buyer more than tripled her rent. She was hospitalised, and no return home is established. She is no relation to Vox's Santiago Abascal.
  4. Tens of thousands marched in Madrid the day after both decrees fell, and five people were detained in Valencia outside a real estate summit. Sánchez called the election two days later. The extraordinary Council of Ministers met that same day, October 5, not the next.
  5. Royal Decree 806/2026 dissolves both the Congress and the Senate elected in 2023 and calls elections to both chambers. It took effect when published in the official gazette on October 6. The government is not in caretaker status until after the vote.
  6. The campaign lasts 15 days, not 55. One account gave 55 days, another two weeks from November 13. The decree sets 15 days, from November 13 to 27. The 55 matches the span from the announcement to polling day.
  7. Parties have ten days from October 6 to register coalitions, and candidacies are registered October 21 to 26. After the campaign comes a reflection day, then voting, and the new chambers meet December 23. Madrid gains a seat, rising to 38 deputies; Cádiz loses one.
  8. The defeated measures reportedly included a ban on evicting vulnerable tenants until 2030 and two-year lease extensions, though neither term is independently verified. That ban is not protection in force, and no replacement is verified. The Popular Party and Vox argued the decrees did not protect owners.
  9. Sánchez's minority coalition with Sumar has passed no budget since 2023, and it faces corruption allegations and criticism over the Ceuta crisis, when about 70,000 people crossed from Morocco in 48 hours. He is betting housing anger will mobilise left voters. He calls the vote a choice between joining the far-right wave and keeping Spain a bastion of openness, social justice and environmental responsibility.
  10. Before the call, the Popular Party led with 31.6 percent, the Socialists had 27.4, Vox 18.4, Sumar 5.6 and Podemos 2.7. The Popular Party and Vox together reach about 50 percent, against 35.7 for the left. These are projections, not results.
  11. The state pollster's September survey tells a different story: the Socialists at 32.8 percent, the Popular Party at 23.7. It typically tilts toward the Socialists relative to private polls. The Popular Party is not on course for an absolute majority of 176 of 350 seats, so a coalition with Vox is seen as likeliest, with Santiago Abascal expected to become vice president.
  12. Feijóo welcomed the call, saying Spaniards will finally decide, not a few, not one, but all of them. He pledges 600,000 jobs and 1 million flats under a Popular Party government, a campaign promise with no costing or delivery mechanism in the record.
  13. Vox's Santiago Abascal calls the race very uncertain, recalling 2023, when his party and the Popular Party led the polls but Sánchez still formed a government. Madrid's regional president, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, urged people not to vote by post, alleging possible tampering; no evidence for that appears. Junts, which helped kill the decrees, accuses Sánchez of using people's suffering over housing for electoral ends.
  14. On the left, Sumar's Frente Amplio says it is ready but has named no candidate, with a presentation planned for October 17. Yolanda Díaz had already stepped back, and Podemos offers open primaries. No poll taken after the call exists yet, so whether housing anger can rescue Sánchez remains unknown.

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  1. r1First published.