New Spanish polls show right keeping majority despite Sánchez housing push
Two new polls say Spain's two main right-wing parties would win a majority in the snap election on November 29. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has built his campaign around housing, but his Socialists gained only a little. Unions have called a national general strike over housing for November 11, weeks before the vote.
Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez called an early election hoping to turn anger over housing costs in his favor, but the first polls since his announcement suggest the plan has not worked yet.
A quick poll by 40dB for El País and Cadena SER, taken Wednesday and Thursday, put the conservative Popular Party first with 31.9% and Sánchez's Socialists second with 28.1%, up 0.7 points, while the far-right Vox party rose to 18.9%. Together the Popular Party and Vox would have 50.8% of the vote and between 186 and 214 seats, well above the 176 needed for a majority, El País reported.
A separate NC Report poll, published by La Razón and taken from October 1 to 6, gave the Popular Party 34.1% and the Socialists 25%, Libertad Digital reported. It projected 207 to 212 seats for the two parties on the right.
Sánchez still does better on one measure, since in the 40dB poll 32.2% of people said they prefer him as prime minister, compared with 29.3% for Popular Party leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo.
The left is also split, because the parties to the left of the Socialists, including Sumar and Podemos, have lost a great deal of support since 2023, and El País reported they would win more seats running together than apart.
Housing is the central fight. Spain's two biggest unions, UGT and CCOO, called a nationwide general strike over housing for November 11, which will be their first joint general strike in 14 years, Reuters reported. Spain is short about 750,000 homes, according to the Bank of Spain, and average rent equals about 98.7% of a young person's average monthly pay, according to the Youth Council of Spain.
The election was called after the eviction of an 87-year-old woman in Madrid set off protests, and after parliament rejected the government's decrees to limit evictions and rent increases. Sánchez also hopes to move attention away from corruption cases involving his party and family, Reuters reported.
What we know: Spain votes on November 29, and polls show the right ahead.
What we don't: Whether the housing strike and campaign will change the race.
Where outlets agree El País and Libertad Digital both report new polls in which the Popular Party and Vox together would win an absolute majority in parliament.
Where they differ El País says its 40dB poll puts the Socialists at 28.1%, while Libertad Digital says the NC Report poll puts them at 25%.