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Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has called a snap election for 29 November after parliament narrowly rejected measures intended to improve conditions for tenants and curb soaring rents, according to the BBC.
The vote, in which right-wing parties opposed the proposals, confirmed that Sánchez’s left-wing coalition no longer had a parliamentary majority. The measures included provisions aimed at preventing tenant evictions, improving rental contract conditions and stopping investors from buying residential property.
Sánchez had said until recently that he planned to serve out the legislature and hold an election next summer. But growing public anger over housing has given him an opportunity to bring the vote forward and shift attention from other difficulties facing his government.
His Socialist Party has been affected by corruption cases involving former senior party figures Santos Cerdán and José Luis Ábalos. Former Socialist prime minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero has also faced allegations that he benefited financially from a government bailout of an airline; he has denied wrongdoing.
Sánchez’s wife, Begoña Gómez, is due to stand trial over allegations of misuse of funds and influence peddling. Both Gómez and Sánchez strongly deny the accusations.
The government has also faced difficulties managing a migrant crisis in the Spanish exclave of Ceuta in North Africa, where more than 70,000 migrants arrived in July. Most have since returned across the border to Morocco.
Addressing supporters on Monday, Sánchez urged voters to “mobilise and ensure that parliament gives us a much bigger, progressive majority” to defend social rights and continue transforming Spain.
The conservative People’s Party and far-right Vox oppose the government’s housing proposals. They have also criticised Sánchez’s administration over its reliance on Catalan and Basque nationalist parties, while arguing that direct intervention in the housing market can have counterproductive effects.
Housing is the biggest concern for Spaniards, according to polls, and could help mobilise left-wing voters. However, surveys show the Socialists trailing the People’s Party, leaving Sánchez with a difficult challenge in his bid to remain in power.
