PP, Vox and Junts attack Sánchez’s record as Spain heads for November election

PP leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo urged voters to give his party an opportunity to govern, while Vox’s Santiago Abascal welcomed the election but alleged that Sánchez could attempt to manipulate the process.

JxCat parliamentary spokesperson Míriam Nogueras accused the prime minister of exploiting public distress over housing for electoral advantage.

The three parties had voted against the government’s two emergency housing decrees on Friday, a defeat that prompted Sánchez to reconsider his plans to complete the parliamentary term. ALSO READ: Spain’s housing decrees defeated as pressure grows on Sánchez to call snap election.

Feijóo presents PP as the alternative

Appearing at the PP’s national headquarters shortly after Sánchez’s announcement, Feijóo described the election as ‘the only good news Sánchez could give today’ and said Spain would finally have the opportunity to express its views.

He framed the vote as a choice between ‘corruption or decency, decline or prosperity’. ALSO READ: Andalusia leaves Sánchez politically weakened as Spain edges further towards a PP-Vox era.

‘The question I put to citizens is whether they want four more years of what we are experiencing or to give change a chance,’ he said.

Feijóo accused the government of damaging institutions, public confidence and standards in political life, arguing that Spain had spent too long ‘trapped in a great lie that has tarnished everything’.

‘Truth, institutions, the management of public money and the country’s trust have been corrupted,’ he said.

The PP leader insisted that the contest went beyond the usual rivalry between his party and the socialists.

‘This is not simply about the PP beating the PSOE. These are not elections like previous ones in our democracy. This is about Spain defeating Sánchez and what he represents, about the nation and democracy defeating the person who has done them the most harm.’ ALSO READ: PP and Vox reject Sánchez’s national climate pact as prime minister defends government’s record.

Although he described the damage as ‘enormous’, Feijóo said it was ‘not irreversible’. He argued that the next government would face numerous deep-rooted problems, comparing the scale of the challenge to that confronting Spain 50 years ago. ALSO READ: Spain’s main opposition party, the PP, open to working with far-right Vox if elected.

‘Spain does not need four more years of resistance, but a project that brings together the energies of the whole nation,’ he said, calling for the rebuilding of institutions, coexistence and hope.

Feijóo also alleged that Sánchez had called the election out of fear that further details of corruption would emerge. He promised that his resolve would not falter and that outstanding questions would be answered. ALSO READ: Spain’s main opposition party claims the ruling socialists are in ‘irreversible decline’.

‘Everything that remains to be known will be known, everything that remains to be done will be done, and everything that remains to be repaired will be repaired,’ he said.

Later, addressing the National Congress of Family Businesses, Feijóo argued that politicians should aim to leave their country in a better condition than they found it. He accused Sánchez of choosing the election date for his own benefit rather than Spain’s.

‘I assure you that I have no objective other than getting it right, nor any interests other than the public interest,’ he said.

PP launches its campaign — and Ayuso questions postal voting

The PP’s preparations were immediately visible. Within a minute of Sánchez’s address, the party published a social media video carrying the message ‘AT LAST’, accompanied by Ode to Joy, scenes of supporters and footage of its recent demonstrations.

A banner with the same message was also installed outside its headquarters (main image). Party sources told state broadcaster RTVE that the PP had been working for some time on the assumption that an early election was possible.

Feijóo had renewed his demand for a vote after Friday’s rejection of the housing decrees, saying: ‘As far as I am concerned, he can call it whenever he wants; for Spain’s sake, he should call it as soon as possible.’

Over the weekend, he described housing as a symbol of the government’s failure. On Monday, he said the election offered an opportunity to deliver ‘a profound, honest and necessary change’.

Madrid’s PP regional president Isabel Díaz Ayuso, meanwhile, urged voters to avoid postal voting and raised suspicions about the electoral process.

‘I ask everyone not even to think about voting by post,’ she said, describing the contest as a choice between ‘democracy or Sánchez’. ALSO READ: Opposition steps up pressure on Ayuso government over €6.3 million penthouse purchase.

Ayuso said the PP would closely watch for what she called possible alterations to electoral registers, referring to the nationality law for descendants of Spaniards and large-scale migrant regularisation measures. The RTVE report did not cite any evidence substantiating her suggestions of electoral manipulation. ALSO READ: Spain’s Supreme Court provisionally restricts voting rights for some descendants granted nationality under ‘grandchildren’s law’.

Madrid’s PP mayor José Luis Martínez-Almeida also reiterated the party’s readiness for the vote, saying before the announcement: ‘We are prepared.’

Abascal welcomes election but alleges risk of manipulation

Speaking from Vox’s headquarters in a statement without questions, the far-right party’s leader Santiago Abascal welcomed the prospect of an election after repeatedly demanding an early vote.

‘It is excellent news to be able to say that we finally have elections, although there has been a great deal of bad news over these eight years,’ he said.

His response focused on immigration, corruption and allegations about the integrity of the forthcoming contest.

‘There is a risk that this news will get worse if Sánchez manages to manipulate this electoral process. I want to demand free, clean elections without violence,’ he said.

Abascal also alleged that unspecified groups would use what he described as ‘militias’, including people associated with Trampolín beach in Ceuta, to obstruct voters’ ability to choose. He did not provide any evidence supporting that allegation. ALSO READ: Thousands march in Madrid over Ceuta crisis, demanding early election and migrant returns.

Turning to the migration crisis, he described Ceuta as still ‘invaded’ and accused the government of presiding over a political climate poisoned by corruption. ALSO READ: Spanish court to investigate deadly Ceuta migrant surge as possible ‘hybrid warfare’ operation. 

Abascal said his party was ready to offer solutions, highlighting its policy of ‘national priority’, which it has agreed with the PP in regional governments in Extremadura, Aragón, Castilla y León and Andalusia. ALSO READ: Spain’s PSOE moves to block ‘national priority’ policy, warning of ‘first- and second-class citizens’

He argued that Spaniards should not face discrimination ‘in their own homeland’ and linked immigration to pressure on household finances and access to housing.

Junts accuses Sánchez of exploiting housing distress

For Junts per Catalunya (JxCat), Nogueras argued that the election announcement reflected Sánchez’s political interests rather than a solution to the problems facing citizens.

In a message on social media, she accused him of using the housing crisis to divert attention from his government’s weaknesses.

‘Pedro Sánchez has used the pain and suffering of many people over an issue that concerns citizens, and he has done so for electoral interests,’ she said. ALSO READ: Catalan pro-independence party Junts to withdraw backing for Spanish government.

‘He has done it to cover up his inability to govern because he has no majority, he has done it to cover up his failure in migration policies, and he has also done it to cover up the corruption cases surrounding him.’

Nogueras welcomed the fact that the decision would now pass to voters, saying that ‘Pedro Sánchez and his partners will no longer decide’. ALSO READ: Catalan pro-independence party JxCat to veto all Spanish government-proposed laws in Congress.

She urged Catalans to take part and determine ‘what country and what model of society’ they wanted.

‘Do we want this model of country that drags us into impoverishment, that suffocates us with taxes?’ she asked. ‘Or do we want to break definitively with all this and work towards a Catalonia that prospers?’

Junts, together with the PP, Vox and UPN, had opposed the housing decrees. The Catalan party said it disagreed with the final wording and had demanded that both texts be withdrawn so negotiations could resume.

Housing dispute continues as election preparations begin

The housing measures had followed protests triggered by the eviction of 87-year-old Maricarmen Abascal, a woman with a disability, from her home in Madrid. Demonstrations spread to Barcelona, Valencia and other Spanish cities. ALSO READ: Spain’s housing protests intensify as tenants’ unions push for general strike.

The decrees included protections against evictions and, in the second text, automatic renewal of rental contracts. Podemos, ERC and EH Bildu backed both measures alongside the governing parties, while the PNV and Coalición Canaria supported only the first.

Parties intending to contest the election in coalition have until 16 October to notify the authorities. Candidate lists must be submitted by 26 October, with publication in the BOE scheduled for 28 October. Electoral boards will notify any irregularities in those lists by 30 October.