2019 Spanish General Election Sunday April 28,2019

The 2019 Spanish General Election is scheduled to be held on Sunday April 28,2019 to elect 350 members of the Lower House of Parliament and 208 of 266 members of the Upper House of Parliament

Spain will hold its third general election in four years on Sunday, April 28 against the backdrop of regional tensions following a failed bid for Catalan independence in 2017, and a rising far right

Spain’s general election in 2015 resulted in a hung parliament that the main parties could not resolve, leading to a fresh vote in 2016 that saw Rajoy re-elected as prime minister.

It's the first nationwide vote since the referendum on seceding from Spain, which led to Madrid sacking the Catalonia Government and briefly imposing direct rule on the region. 

Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, the leader of the Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE), called the election in February. This came after Catalan pro-independence parties, on whose support Sanchez’s minority government relies, joined forces with the center-right opposition and rejected the Govt's 2019 Budget proposals

 

Pedro Sanchez came to power in June 2018 after winning a confidence vote against Rajoy, whose conservative People's Party (PP) was embroiled in a corruption scandal.

The PSOE leader won with the help of Catalan separatist parties, and with only 84 deputies in the 350-seat parliament, he relied on their support to pass legislation.

His right-wing opponents were infuriated at Rajoy's removal and painted the PSOE's alliance with separatists, in the wake of Catalonia's attempt to secede, as a threat to the territorial integrity of Spain

Who’s in the running?

The main political parties are as follows:
- The left-wing Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE)
- The center-right People’s Party (PP)
- The far-left Unidos Podemos (United We Can) party
- The centrist Ciudadanos (Citizens’ Party, or Cs)
- The populist, far-right Vox party

There is a plethora of other smaller parties and alliances, including rival blocs that advocate independence in Catalonia: the Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC) and Sovereigntists, and Together for Catalonia (JxCat).

Opinion polls have consistently showed that the PSOE leads by a wide margin and is seen with between 28 to 31% of the votes. The PP is trailing with around 20-24% of the vote. Ciudadanos is seen with around 15% and Podemos with around 12-13%. The Vox party is seen getting around 9-11% of the vote.

It is unlikely that any single party will win a majority in the 350-seat parliament, meaning the party leader with the best chance of forming a government will get the first opportunity to try and build a coalition.