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121-562: Pedro Sánchez PSOE No government formed and fresh election called. Pedro Sánchez remains acting Prime Minister The April 2019 Spanish general election was held on Sunday, 28 April 2019, to elect the 13th Cortes Generales of the Kingdom of Spain . All 350 seats in the Congress of Deputies were up for election, as well as 208 of 266 seats in the Senate . Following the 2016 election ,

242-498: A party crisis , dubbed by some in the media as the "war of the roses", after Sánchez called a special PSOE congress for the autumn to settle the issue. This prompted half of the PSOE executive committee to resign, and on Saturday, 1 October 2016, Sánchez lost a vote in the PSOE federal committee to support his proposals for an autumn congress; he immediately resigned as Secretary-General and was replaced by an interim "caretaker committee" while

363-413: A snap election , provided that no motion of no confidence was in process, no state of emergency was in force and that dissolution did not occur before one year had elapsed since the previous one. Additionally, both chambers were to be dissolved and a new election called if an investiture process failed to elect a prime minister within a two-month period from the first ballot. Barred this exception, there

484-416: A "centrist" and " social liberal " platform, before moving further left in his successful 2017 bid to return to the leadership, during which he stood for a "re-foundation of social democracy ", to transition to a "post-capitalist society", ending " neoliberal capitalism ". One key idea posed in his 2019 Manual de Resistencia book is "the indissoluble link between 'social democracy' and 'Europe'". Sánchez

605-409: A PSOE candidate, under the local leadership of Trinidad Jiménez . He was 23rd on the proportional representation list, but missed out as the PSOE won only 21 seats. Sánchez joined the council a year later by co-option when two of the PSOE councillors resigned. He quickly rose to become a close confidante of Trinidad Jiménez, who sought the leadership of the council. In 2005, he was seconded to help lead

726-428: A coalition ahead of an election were required to inform the relevant Electoral Commission within ten days of the election call, whereas groupings of electors needed to secure the signature of at least one percent of the electorate in the constituencies for which they sought election, disallowing electors from signing for more than one list of candidates. Concurrently, parties, federations or coalitions that had not obtained

847-497: A contributing factor to the country's political deadlock , reached boiling point after poor PSOE showings in the Basque and Galician elections . A party crisis ensued, seeing Sánchez being ousted and a caretaker committee being appointed by party rebels led by Susana Díaz , who subsequently set out to abstain in Rajoy's investiture and allow a PP minority government to be formed, preventing

968-765: A degree in business leadership from IESE Business School in the University of Navarra , a private university and apostolate of the Opus Dei , and a diploma in Advanced Studies in EU Monetary Integration from the Instituto Ortega y Gasset in 2002. In 2012, Sánchez received his Doctorate in Economics from Camilo José Cela University, where he lectured in economics. In 2003, Sánchez stood for Madrid City Council as

1089-533: A fresh leadership election could be organised. Soon after his resignation, the PSOE caretaker committee decided to abstain in the investiture vote, which would enable the PP's Mariano Rajoy to be re-elected as prime minister. Saying that he could not obey this directive as it would mean "betraying his word" not to allow Rajoy to be re-elected, Sánchez resigned his seat in the Congress of Deputies, and declared he would stand in

1210-597: A government, to do what we think is best for our country, its coexistence, stability and progress" and the Catalan conflict needs "that the word, dialogue, coexistence and the capacity for reunion take on a leading role that should never have been lost". Following the 2023 general election , the Congress of Deputies passed the Organic Law 1/2024, of amnesty for the institutional, political and social normalization in Catalonia ,

1331-610: A law guaranteeing equal pay between the sexes, before dissolving the Congress of Deputies and holding a general election. However, he also said he would uphold the 2018 budget that had already been passed by the Rajoy Government, a condition that the Basque Nationalist Party required to vote for the motion of no confidence. Sánchez also announced he would only propose other measures if they had considerable parliamentary support, re-affirming his government's compliance with

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1452-458: A letter in the X social network that he was considering his resignation from the position of prime minister, citing a right-wing media offensive to wear him down. Several media noted how Manos Limpias' charges against Sánchez's wife were based on press headlines and fake news, a fact that the trade union acknowledged as possible. On 26 April 2024 and in a joint investigation, elDiario.es , El País and La Vanguardia newspapers revealed

1573-432: A majority, the three-way split on the centre-right ensured Sánchez's PSOE would be the only party that could realistically garner enough support from third parties to command a majority in the lower house. The PSOE also obtained an absolute majority of seats in the Senate for the first time since 1989 as the PP vote collapsed. Having initially been allocated 121 senators, it was awarded two additional senators from PP after

1694-500: A majority. After talks to form a government failed, Sánchez again won the most votes at the November 2019 general election , forming a minority coalition government with Unidas Podemos , the first national coalition government since the country's return to democracy. After the PSOE suffered significant losses in regional elections in May 2023, Sánchez called a snap general election , which saw

1815-537: A mandate in either chamber of the Cortes at the preceding election were required to secure the signature of at least 0.1 percent of electors in the aforementioned constituencies. After the experience of the 2015–2016 political deadlock leading to the June 2016 election and the possibility of a third election being needed, the electoral law was amended in order to introduce a special, simplified process for election re-runs, including

1936-539: A massive financial corruption plot staged by former protegés—as well as accusations of judicial meddling and political cover-up . This prompted left-wing Unidos Podemos to table a no-confidence motion on Mariano Rajoy in June 2017 . While the motion was voted down due to a lack of support from other opposition parties, it revealed the parliamentary weakness of Rajoy's government as abstentions and favourable votes combined amounted to 179, to just 170 MPs rejecting it. Pressure on

2057-519: A party on 4 August 1977. In the elections of 15 June 1977, the party took 34.4% of the vote and 166 seats of the 350 in the Congress of Deputies . The party governed as a minority and worked with all major parties in the Congress, including the rightist People's Alliance and the parties of the left, the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) and Communists (PCE). Suárez became the first democratically chosen prime minister of Spain after

2178-543: A plot by the PP, dating back to Mariano Rajoy 's government in 2014, to spy and produce information on Sánchez's and Gómez's relatives to "politically kill him" by using Manos Limpias to present criminal charges. On 27 April, thousands gathered outside the PSOE's headquarters in Calle Ferraz, Madrid, in an effort to persuade Sánchez not to resign. The case has drawn comparisons to António Costa 's resignation in Portugal over

2299-554: A report, in which it communicated to the court that there are multiple indications of misappropriation in the registry in Begoña's name of a software of the University. The report also denounces that contracts and expenses have been issued in the name of the University without Begoña being authorized to do so. Gómez replied by arguing that she signed the software's register because the University explicitly required her to do so. On 22 July,

2420-460: A requirement for his 2023 investiture by Catalan pro-independence parties Together for Catalonia and Republican Left of Catalonia , which aimed at pardoning all those sentenced or prosecuted between 2011 and 2023 for Catalan independence, becoming the second amnesty law after the Law 46/1977, of amnesty . Notwithstanding as of November 2024, no politician has benefitted from the law. Sánchez took

2541-750: A seat in the Congress. As Leader of the Opposition, Sánchez joined Mariano Rajoy in opposing the 2017 Catalan independence referendum , and supported the Spanish Government's decision to dismiss the Catalan Government and impose direct rule on Catalonia in October 2017 following the crisis. Throughout 2017 and 2018, the Gürtel trial caused controversy for the Rajoy Government; finally, after critical verdicts were announced in May 2018, Sánchez announced that

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2662-404: A series of pro-independence and regionalist political parties, the Congress of Deputies re-elected Sánchez as Prime Minister on 16 November 2023; he was formally appointed to a third term the following day, sparking protests . Following weeks of political tensions, which saw Sánchez accepting an amnesty law for Catalan pro independence politicians convicted or investigated for events related to

2783-488: A shortening of deadlines, electoral campaigning, the lifting of signature requirements if these had been already met for the immediately previous election and the possibility of maintaining lists and coalitions without needing to go through pre-election procedures again. Below is a list of the main parties and electoral alliances which contested the election: Two opposing coalitions were formed in Navarre at different levels: for

2904-426: A sudden U-turn of the party back into the centre under pressure from party regional leaders one month ahead of the regional and local elections while also raising a hostile profile to both Cs and Vox, attacking them for dividing the vote to the right-of-centre. Pedro S%C3%A1nchez Pedro Sánchez Pérez-Castejón ( Spanish pronunciation: [ˈpeðɾo ˈsantʃeθ ˈpeɾeθ kasteˈxon] ; born 29 February 1972)

3025-475: A system known as "begged" or expat vote ( Spanish : Voto rogado ). For the Congress of Deputies, 348 seats were elected using the D'Hondt method and a closed list proportional representation , with an electoral threshold of three percent of valid votes—which included blank ballots—being applied in each constituency. Seats were allocated to constituencies, corresponding to the provinces of Spain , with each being allocated an initial minimum of two seats and

3146-667: A teenager, Sánchez spent time in Dublin to learn English. In 1993, Sánchez first joined the PSOE, following the victory of Felipe González in that year's general election . He earned a licentiate degree from the Real Colegio Universitario María Cristina , attached to the Complutense University of Madrid , in 1995. Following his graduation, he moved to New York City to work for a global consulting firm. In 1998, Sánchez moved to Brussels to work for

3267-778: A temporary refugee camp in the air base of Torrejón de Ardoz , which was later visited by officials from the European Union, including President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen and President of the European Council Charles Michel . Von der Leyen praised the Sánchez Government's initiative, stating that the actions of Spain represented "a good example of the European soul at its best". US President Joe Biden spoke with Sánchez to allow

3388-469: A third election in a row from taking place. Díaz's bid to become new party leader was defeated by party members in a party primary in May 2017 , with Sánchez being voted again into office under a campaign aimed at criticising the PSOE's abstention in Rajoy's investiture. Concurrently, the incumbent PP cabinet found itself embroiled in a string of political scandals which had seen the political demise of former Madrid premier Esperanza Aguirre —amid claims of

3509-567: A variety of newly formed centrist and rightist factions, under the leadership of Suárez, then Prime Minister . The principal components of the UCD defined themselves as Christian democrats , liberals , social democrats , or "independents", the latter frequently comprising conservative elements which had been part of the Franco regime. The parties that made the UCD coalition were: Some months later, all these parties were merged and UCD constituted itself as

3630-580: A very active role in the international sphere, particularly in the European Union, saying that "Spain has to claim its role" and declaring himself "a militant pro-European". On 16 January 2019, in a speech before the European Parliament , he said that the EU should be protected and turned into a global actor, and that a more social Europe is needed, with a strong monetary union. He stated in a speech in March 2019 that

3751-562: A victory—the first for the party in a nationwide election in eleven years —with 28.7% of the vote and 123 seats, an improvement of 38 seats over its previous mark which mostly came at the expense of left-wing Unidas Podemos . In the Senate, the PSOE became the largest party in the chamber for the first time since 1995, winning its first absolute majority of seats in that chamber since the 1989 election . The PP under Casado received its worst result in history after being reduced to 66 seats and 16.7% of

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3872-515: Is a Spanish politician who has served as Prime Minister of Spain since 2018. He has also been Secretary-General of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) since 2017, having previously held that office from 2014 to 2016, and was elected President of the Socialist International in 2022. Sánchez began his political career in 2004 as a city councillor in Madrid, before being elected to

3993-629: Is also a strong opponent of prostitution and has advocated for its abolition. Sánchez married Begoña Gómez in 2006 and have two daughters. The civil wedding was officiated by Trinidad Jiménez . Sánchez is an atheist . Aside from Spanish, Sánchez speaks fluent English and French. He is the first Spanish Prime Minister to be fluent in English while in office (former Prime Minister José María Aznar became fluent in English after leaving office). Foreign languages were not widely taught in Spanish schools until

4114-453: The 1981 coup attempt , the socialists convincingly won the 1982 general election . The UCD, presenting Landelino Lavilla Alsina as its candidate for prime minister, was nearly wiped out, taking only 6.7% of the vote and 11 seats, losing over 100 of their sitting deputies—one of the worst defeats ever suffered by a western European governing party. The CDS also fared poorly, with only two of its sixteen sitting deputies winning seats. Most of

4235-519: The 2008 general election —which swept the country and won in most constituencies and regions. The right-wing bloc of PP–Cs–Vox was only able to garner 42.9% of the vote and 147 Congress seats (149 including the Navarra Suma alliance in Navarre) to the 165 seats and 43.0% vote share garnered by the two major left-wing parties, PSOE and Unidas Podemos. Even though the left-wing bloc was still 11 seats short of

4356-400: The 2014 European Parliament election , Sánchez launched his campaign to succeed him on 12 June 2014. He was elected as PSOE Secretary-General on 13 July, winning 49% of votes against his opponents Eduardo Madina and José Antonio Pérez Tapias . He was formally appointed Secretary-General after an Extraordinary Congress of the PSOE was held on 26 July to ratify the result, becoming Leader of

4477-569: The 2017–2018 Spanish constitutional crisis and the 2019–2020 Catalan protests , he was able to secure enough support to be re-elected as prime minister by an absolute majority on 16 November 2023. Sánchez's re-election and amnesty law proposal sparked protests . Sánchez criticized Israel's actions in the Gaza Strip during the 2023 Israel–Hamas war . He promised to "work in Europe and in Spain to recognise

4598-469: The Congress of Deputies in 2009. In 2014, he was elected Secretary-General of the PSOE, becoming Leader of the Opposition . He led the party through the inconclusive 2015 and 2016 general elections , but resigned as Secretary-General shortly after the latter, following public disagreements with the party's executive . He was re-elected in a leadership election eight months later, defeating internal rivals Susana Díaz and Patxi López . On 1 June 2018,

4719-581: The Constitutional Court of Spain , acting upon the 2020 appeal by Vox , sentenced by a narrow majority (6 votes in support vs. 5 votes against) that the state of alarm was unconstitutional in the part of suppressing the freedom of movement established by the Article 19 of the Constitution of Spain . After the PSOE suffered heavy losses in a series of regional and local elections across Spain, with

4840-622: The Cortes Generales —the Congress and the Senate—expired four years from the date of their previous election, unless they were dissolved earlier. The election decree was required to be issued no later than the twenty-fifth day prior to the date of expiry of parliament and published on the following day in the Official State Gazette (BOE), with election day taking place on the fifty-fourth day from publication. The previous election

4961-481: The Nuclear Safety Council . In December 2013, after publishing a book outlining a new policy direction, with numerous leading PSOE figures such as Elena Valenciano , Trinidad Jiménez , Miguel Sebastián , and José Blanco López attending the launch, his began to be considered a future candidate for the PSOE leadership. After the resignation of PSOE leader Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba , following poor results at

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5082-513: The Operation Influencer investigation, which attracted criticism for several mistakes. On 29 April, Sánchez announced that he would not be resigning despite a "harassment and bullying operation" and that he would be fighting "even harder" as prime minister. His spouse Begoña Gómez is charged with crimes of influence peddling and corruption in business and was called to testify on 19 July 2024. She refused to testify. Witnesses in

5203-466: The PP and Vox winning a large number of seats, Sánchez surprised many by announcing a snap general election for 23 July. In a speech confirming the election, Sánchez stated that it was important to listen to the will of the people, but stressed the need to persevere with post-COVID economic recovery measures implemented by his government, and that he would seek to prevent the formation a PP-Vox Government. At

5324-710: The PSdG (PSOE's sister party in Galicia ) campaign in the Galician regional election , which saw the PSdG win enough seats to allow their leader, Emilio Pérez Touriño , to become President of Galicia. As well as his career as a Madrid City Councillor, Sánchez also worked as a university lecturer at the Universidad Camilo José Cela (UCJC) in 2008, lecturing on Economic Structure and History of Economic Thought. Via co-option, Sánchez

5445-712: The People's Democratic Party (PDP). This party allied itself with the AP for the 1982 election. Also in August, 16 deputies, headed by the former leader and Prime Minister Adolfo Suarez formed the Democratic and Social Centre (CDS). Among the founding members were deputies such as Agustín Rodríguez Sahagún , Jaume Barnola , León Buil , Rafael Calvo Ortega , José María Mesa , Josep Pujadas , José Javier Rodríguez Alcaide and Manuel de Sàrraga and Alejandro Rebollo Álvarez-Amandi . The CDS fought

5566-409: The People's Party (PP) formed a minority government with confidence and supply support from Ciudadanos (Cs) and Canarian Coalition (CC), which was enabled by the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) abstaining from Mariano Rajoy 's investiture after a party crisis resulted in the ousting of Pedro Sánchez as leader. The PP's term of office was undermined by a constitutional crisis over

5687-515: The People's Party (PP), who won with 123 seats. As the PP could not form a government, Sánchez was formally requested by the King in January 2016 to attempt to form a coalition, but he could not win the support of a majority of representatives. This led to a snap general election in June 2016, where the PSOE lost several seats and remained second to the PP. Following the 2016 general election, Sánchez argued

5808-620: The Senate , having the ability to vote confidence in or withdraw it from a prime minister and to override Senate vetoes by an absolute majority of votes. Nonetheless, the Senate possessed a few exclusive (yet limited in number) functions—such as its role in constitutional amendment —which were not subject to the Congress' override. Voting for the Cortes Generales was on the basis of universal suffrage , which comprised all nationals over 18 years of age and in full enjoyment of their political rights. Additionally, Spaniards abroad were required to apply for voting before being permitted to vote,

5929-717: The Tetuán district, he went on to study at the Colegio Santa Cristina. According to Sánchez himself, he frequented breakdancing circles in AZCA when he was a teenager. He moved from the Colegio Santa Cristina to the Instituto Ramiro de Maeztu, a public high school where he played basketball in the Estudiantes youth system , with links to the high school, reaching the U-21 team. As

6050-693: The Washington summit in July 2024, Sánchez urged NATO members to avoid "double standards" regarding the wars in Ukraine and Gaza, saying, "If we demand respect for international law in Ukraine, we must demand it in Gaza as well." On 24 April 2024, due to a court investigation of his wife, Begoña Gómez , for alleged influence peddling charges presented by Manos Limpias , a far-right proxy trade union, Sánchez announced through

6171-656: The 1982 election in direct competition with the UCD. Although the UCD had been joined by José María de Areilza and Antoni de Senillosa , who had defected from the AP, the UCD party group had now been reduced to 124 deputies - 52 short of a majority. The PSOE at this point had 118 deputies and could also count on the support of the 10 deputies of the PAD and the 21 members of the Communist Party. In light of this new situation in Parliament, Calvo Sotelo called fresh elections. Following

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6292-566: The 2007 Historical Memory Law to allow for the exhumation of Franco's remains from the Valley of the Fallen. After a year of legal battles with Franco's descendants, the exhumation took place on 24 October 2019, and Franco was reburied at Mingorrubio Cemetery in El Pardo with his wife Carmen Polo . After the 2019 sentence of Catalonian independence leaders , Sánchez confirmed his government's support of

6413-513: The Catalan issue , the result of a regional election held thereafter, coupled with corruption scandals and protests with thousands of retirees demanding pension increases. In May 2018, the National Court found in the Gürtel case that since 1989 the PP had profited from the kickbacks-for-contracts scheme and confirmed the existence of an illegal accounting and financing structure kept separate from

6534-405: The Catalan parliament and called a regional election for 21 December 2017, but it left his PP severely mauled as Cs capitalised on anti-independence support in the region. The scale of PP's collapse in Catalonia and the success of Cs had an impact on national politics, with Ciudadanos rising to first place nationally in subsequent opinion polls, endangering PP's stand as the hegemonic party within

6655-586: The Civil Guard report appreciates clear indications of a crime. The Spanish Attorney General , Álvaro García Ortiz , appointed by Pedro Sánchez, , was charged with the crime of revealing secrets by leaking e-mails from the Prosecutor's Office to the boyfriend of the president of the Community of Madrid , Isabel Díaz Ayuso . His official office has been searched and his phones and computers tapped. Both Ortiz and

6776-572: The Congress of Deputies voted to oust Mariano Rajoy from power on 1 June 2018, replaced him as prime minister with PSOE's Pedro Sánchez. On 5 June, Rajoy announced his farewell from politics and his return to his position as property registrar in Santa Pola , vacating his seat in the Congress of Deputies and triggering a leadership contest in which the party's communication vice secretary-general Pablo Casado defeated former deputy prime minister Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría and became new PP president on 21 July 2018. For most of his government, Sánchez

6897-468: The Congress to guarantee passage of the motion. On Friday, 1 June 2018, 180 Deputies supported the motion of no confidence, clearing the required threshold of 176, leading to Rajoy's resignation and recommendation of Sánchez to succeed him. Sánchez was formally installed as Prime Minister of Spain by King Felipe VI on 2 June 2018. Outlining his priorities, Sánchez said he would form a short-term government that would increase unemployment benefit and propose

7018-415: The Congress. He subsequently enrolled at the UCJC to study a Doctorate in Economics, earning his PHD 18 months later by writing a dissertation entitled Innovaciones de la diplomacia económica española: Análisis del sector público (2000–2012) (English translation: Innovations of Spanish Economic Diplomacy: Analysis of the Public Sector (2000–2012)), supervised by María Isabel Cepeda González. In 2018, Sánchez

7139-411: The December 2015 election and a round of coalition talks throughout the summer saw Mariano Rajoy obtaining the support of Ciudadanos (C's) and Canarian Coalition (CC) for his investiture, but this was still not enough to assure him re-election. Criticism of Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) leader Pedro Sánchez for his electoral results and his stance opposing Rajoy's investiture, said to be

7260-432: The EU deficit requirements. As Sánchez swore his oath of office to the Spanish Constitution , no Bible or crucifix were used for the first time in modern Spanish history, due to Sánchez's atheism. On 18 June 2018, the Sánchez Government announced its intention to remove the remains of former dictator Francisco Franco from the Valley of the Fallen . On 24 August the Cabinet approved a decree modifying two aspects of

7381-405: The Franco period. The UCD played a major role in writing the new constitution , as three of the seven members of the constitutional drafting commission, established after those elections, came from the party. In 1979, the Socialist Workers' Party moderated its outlook by dropping the references to Marxism from its programme. At the same time, the right-wing People's Alliance increasingly moved to

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7502-412: The Ministry of Culture's Instituto Nacional de las Artes Escénicas y de la Música ( lit.   ' National Institute of the Performing Arts and Music ' ). He later became the owner of an industrial packing company. His mother also worked as a civil servant, in the social security system, and later studied to become a lawyer, ultimately graduating alongside her son at the same university. Raised in

7623-422: The Opposition . Presenting a platform based on political regeneration, Sánchez called for constitutional reforms establishing federalism as the form of administrative organisation of Spain to ensure that Catalonia would remain within the country; a new progressive fiscal policy; extending the welfare state to all citizens; increasing the membership of labour unions to strengthen economic recovery; and regaining

7744-455: The PP government of "anti-democratic and totalitarian" repression. The Catalan parliament voted to unilaterally declare independence from Spain, which resulted in the Spanish Senate enforcing Article 155 of the Constitution to remove the regional authorities and impose direct rule. Carles Puigdemont and part of his cabinet fled to Belgium after being ousted, facing charges of sedition, rebellion and embezzlement . Rajoy immediately dissolved

7865-441: The PP sacked Javier Maroto as their campaign manager. Maroto had also failed to hold his seat from Álava in the election, losing it to EH Bildu and signalling the first time since 1979 that the party had not won a seat in the province. Pablo Casado , the PP leader whose right-wing stance and controversial leadership had been labelled by commentators as a "suicide" in light of election results, refused to resign and instead proposed

7986-451: The PSOE called a vote of no confidence against Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy , successfully passing the motion after winning the support of Unidas Podemos , as well as various regionalist and nationalist parties. Sánchez was appointed prime minister by King Felipe VI the following day. He went on to lead the PSOE to gain 38 seats in the April 2019 general election , the PSOE's first national victory since 2008 , although they fell short of

8107-423: The PSOE hold all of its seats; despite finishing second behind the People's Party , Sánchez was able to again form a coalition government , and was appointed to a third term as Prime Minister on 17 November 2023. Pedro Sánchez Pérez-Castejón was born in 1972 in Madrid to well-off parents, Pedro Sánchez Fernández and Magdalena Pérez-Castejón. His father was a public administrator who spent most of his career at

8228-427: The PSOE in January 1983. In the summer of 1982, the party splintered further. Two deputies ( Modesto Fraile and Carlos Gila ) quit the party, in August, they, along with 11 other UCD deputies ( Óscar Alzaga , Mariano Alierta , Joaquín Galant , Julen Guimon , María Josefa Lafuente , José Luis Moreno , Francisco Olivencia , José Manuel Otero , José Pin Arboledas , José Luis Ruiz Navarro and Luis Vega ), formed

8349-491: The PSOE should refuse to allow the PP to form a government, which would break the national political deadlock. Susana Díaz , the President of Andalusia , began to lead criticism of Sánchez's leadership, arguing that his hardline position on government formation was harming the party. After poor results for the PSOE in the September Basque and Galician regional elections , numerous PSOE figures followed Díaz in calling for Sánchez's resignation. The situation quickly developed into

8470-426: The PSOE would file a motion of no confidence against Rajoy. Under the Spanish Constitution, such motions are constructive , meaning those bringing the motion must simultaneously propose a replacement candidate for prime minister. Accordingly, the PSOE nominated Sánchez as the alternative prime minister. Sánchez led negotiations with other political parties, and ultimately secured the support of enough minor parties in

8591-417: The PSOE's delegation to the European Parliament , including as an assistant to the MEP Bárbara Dührkop . He also spent time working in the staff of the United Nations High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina , Carlos Westendorp . Combining studies with his employment, he earned a second degree, in Politics and Economics, in 1998, graduating from the Université libre de Bruxelles . He also earned

8712-585: The Palestinian state". Along with Leo Varadkar of Ireland, he has been widely recognized as one of the most pro-Palestine voices and critics with the Israeli actions within the European Union. Spain officially recognized the State of Palestine on 28 May 2024, with the borders established in 1967, in coordination with Ireland and Norway. On 6 June 2024 Spain joined South Africa's genocide case against Israel . Speaking at

8833-523: The Senate election, the alliance was styled as Unidas Podemos Veus Progressistes and included Podemos and IU. The key dates are listed below (all times are CET . The Canary Islands used WET ( UTC+0 ) instead): The table below shows registered vote turnout on election day without including voters from the Census of Absent-Residents (CERA). The election resulted in a victory for Pedro Sánchez 's Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE)—its first since

8954-483: The Senate, Geroa Bai , EH Bildu , Podemos and Izquierda-Ezkerra re-created the Cambio-Aldaketa alliance under which they had already contested the 2015 Spanish general election . Concurrently, UPN , Cs and PP formed the Navarra Suma alliance for both Congress and Senate elections. In Galicia, En Marea , the former Podemos– EU – Anova alliance which had been constituted as a party in 2016, broke away from

9075-442: The Spanish centre-right spectrum. Massive protests by pensioners groups, long regarded as a key component of the PP's electoral base, demanding pension increases, further undermining the PP's standing. On 24 May 2018, the National Court found that the PP profited from the illegal kickbacks-for-contracts scheme of the Gürtel case , confirming the existence of an illegal accounting and financing structure that had run in parallel with

9196-407: The Spanish government argued that the leak came from the Madrid government's office in order to create a fake news piece on Ayuso's boyfriend agreements with the Prosecutor's Office, and that Ortiz's behaviour was directed at debunking the hoax. The Supreme Court has partially acknowledged that Ortiz did not reveal any new secret that was not already revealed, but maintained the charges to investigate

9317-629: The Spanish government increased after a major constitutional crisis over the issue of an independence referendum unravelled in Catalonia. Initial actions from the Parliament of Catalonia to approve two bills supporting a referendum and a legal framework for an independent Catalan state were suspended by the Constitutional Court of Spain . The government's crackdown on referendum preparations—which included police searches, raids and arrests of Catalan government officials as well as an intervention into Catalan finances—sparked public outcry and protests accusing

9438-541: The UCD group and later joined the Catalan Nationalist Convergence and Union . On 25 April 1980, Manuel Clavero resigned from the party in disputes over the statute of autonomy for Andalusia. Two months later, José García Pérez resigned over the same issue; García would join the Andalusian Socialist Party on 1 September 1981. Meanwhile, Suárez resigned as prime minister in January 1981. He

9559-551: The biggest budget in the country's history – in 2021, after he had won the support of the Catalan pro-independence Republican Left of Catalonia . Following the fall of Kabul and the subsequent de facto creation of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan , the Prime Minister offered Spain as a hub for Afghans who collaborated with the European Union, who would later be settled in various countries. The Spanish Government created

9680-537: The campaign, Vox's result signalled the first time since Blas Piñar 's election as a deputy for the National Union coalition in 1979 that a far-right party had won seats in the Spanish Parliament after the country's return to democracy as well as the first time that a far-right party would be able to form a parliamentary group of its own in the Congress of Deputies. After losing more than a half of their seats,

9801-433: The caretaker committee for allowing the investiture of Rajoy, on Sunday, 21 May 2017, Sánchez was re-elected Secretary-General by the party membership, taking 50.2% of the vote, and defeating his rival Susana Díaz, who took 39.94%, as well as Patxi López , who won 9.85%; his position was affirmed at a PSOE executive meeting on 17 June, and the following day he was confirmed as Leader of the Opposition, despite no longer holding

9922-399: The commitment of embezzlement, arguing that some of the accusations were due to a "calculation error", and that it could not establish the origin of the initiative for the creation of the public office. The post was created in October 2016, at a time when Pedro Sánchez had been expelled by his own party as leader following the 2016 PSOE crisis . The judge has charged David Sánchez because

10043-403: The confidence of former Socialist voters disenchanted by the measures taken by Zapatero during his term as prime minister amid an economic crisis. He also opposed the grand coalition model supported by the former PSOE Prime Minister Felipe González , who lobbied in favour of adopting a more German system to prevent political instability, by instructing his European party caucus not to support

10164-563: The consensus candidate Jean-Claude Juncker of the European People's Party for the role of President of the European Commission . Upon taking office as PSOE's Secretary-General, Sánchez quickly faced a political crisis following the formation of a new left-wing party, Podemos . Polling approximated that 25% of PSOE supporters would switch their support to Podemos. Sánchez responded by pushing his proposed federal model to replace

10285-472: The counting of CERA votes, the Census of Absent-Residents, namely one for Zamora and one for Segovia. Support for the People's Party (PP) plummeted and scored the worst result of its history as well as the worst support for any of the party's incarnations since the People's Alliance results in the 1977 and 1979 elections. The PP was only able to remain the most voted party in five constituencies: Ávila , Lugo , Melilla , Ourense and Salamanca ; and it

10406-659: The creator parties and announced that it would contest the election on its own. Podemos, EU and Equo in Galicia formed a regional branch for the Unidas Podemos alliance branded En Común–Unidas Podemos whereas Anova chose to step out from the election race. In the Balearic Islands, an alliance was formed for the Congress election by More for Majorca (Més), More for Menorca (MpM), Now Eivissa (Ara Eivissa) and Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC), named Veus Progressistes ; for

10527-466: The devolution model, and calling for the further secularisation of Spain's education system, including the removal of religious-affiliated public and private schools. He later named César Luena as his deputy leader. On Sunday, 21 June 2015, Sánchez was officially announced as the PSOE candidate for prime minister in the upcoming general election . At the election on 20 December, the PSOE won 90 seats, ahead of Podemos who won 69 seats, but coming second to

10648-503: The election date in an institutional statement following a Council of Ministers meeting on 15 February. The Cortes Generales were officially dissolved on 5 March 2019 after the publication of the dissolution decree in the BOE, setting the election date for 28 April and scheduling for both chambers to reconvene on 21 May. The June 2016 general election had resulted in the People's Party (PP) gaining votes and seats relative to its result in

10769-492: The election, the PP gained 48 seats, finishing first, but the PSOE gained one seat, and Vox lost over one third of its seats; this meant that PP leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo was not able to form a government. After the Congress of Deputies formally rejected Feijóo's bid to be invested in September 2023, King Felipe VI appointed Sánchez to form a government. After obtaining the support of the left-wing Sumar alliance, as well as

10890-687: The enemies of Europe are "inside of the European Union". During his second government , he continued strengthening the pro-European profile of his ministers, including by appointing José Luis Escrivá , the Chair of the Independent Authority for Fiscal Responsibility and former chair of the EU Independent Fiscal Institutions Network , as his Minister for Social Security. In June 2020, the Sánchez Government proposed Deputy Prime Minister and Economy Minister Nadia Calviño to be

11011-431: The government losing the vote 191–158; this prompted a snap election to be called for 28 April. The tables below show the composition of the parliamentary groups in both chambers at the time of dissolution. The electoral law allowed for parties and federations registered in the interior ministry , coalitions and groupings of electors to present lists of candidates. Parties and federations intending to form

11132-455: The government, Sánchez called a snap election to be held on 28 April, one month ahead of the Super Sunday of local , regional , and European Parliament elections scheduled for 26 May. The Valencian regional election was scheduled for 28 April in order for it to take place on the same date as the general election. On a turnout of 71.8%, the ruling PSOE of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez won

11253-473: The independence of Kosovo . In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic , on 13 March 2020, Sánchez announced a declaration of a national state of alarm , for only the second time in Spain's democratic history, and the first time for such a period. The Cabinet agreed a nationwide lockdown , banning all trips that were not force majeure, and announced it may intervene in companies to guarantee supplies. In July 2021,

11374-668: The judge summoned Pedro Sánchez to testify as a witness, but he exercised his right not to testify as the husband of the person under investigation. Vox denounced Pedro Sánchez and the Minister of Justice for using the State Attorney's Office against the judge investigating his wife; as of November 2024, the Supreme Court accumulated the complaints of Vox, Hazte Oir and Iustitia Europa against Sánchez and her wife before deciding whether to investigate them or not. Another investigation

11495-466: The left of the party - Francisco Fernández Ordóñez , Antonio Alfonso Quirós , Luis Berenguer , Carmela García Moreno , Ciriaco Díaz Porras , Luis González Seara , Eduardo Moreno , Javier Moscoso , María Dolores Pelayo and Carmen Solano formed the Democratic Action Party (Partido de Acción Democrática/PAD). This group stood as part of the PSOE list in the 1982 election and merged with

11616-472: The mid-1970s, and former Prime Ministers had become known for struggling with them as a result. [REDACTED] Media related to Pedro Sánchez at Wikimedia Commons Union of the Democratic Centre (Spain) The coalition, in fact a federation of parties, was formed on 3 May 1977, during the transition to democracy from the dictatorship of Francisco Franco , with the involvement of leaders from

11737-612: The next Chair of the Eurogroup . In September 2018, Defence Minister Margarita Robles cancelled sales of laser-guided bombs to Saudi Arabia over concerns relating to the Saudi Arabian-led intervention in Yemen . Overruling Robles, Sánchez ordered the sale to proceed, allegedly due to a promise made to Susana Díaz to help protect jobs in the shipyards of the Bay of Cádiz , highly dependent on

11858-406: The only factor that had kept the party together was the writing of the constitution. With that work done, the party became increasingly unpopular due to the growth of unemployment, inflation and the general economic crisis affecting the country. During the course of the 1979–1982 legislature, the party suffered a number of serious splits and defections. On 7 March 1980, Joaquim Molins resigned from

11979-401: The party's official accounts. Sánchez, who was re-elected as PSOE leader in a leadership contest in 2017 , brought down Rajoy's government in June 2018 through a motion of no confidence . Rajoy resigned as PP leader and was subsequently succeeded by Pablo Casado . Presiding over a minority government of 84 deputies, Pedro Sánchez struggled to maintain a working majority in the Congress with

12100-484: The party's official one since 1989 and ruling that the PP helped establish "a genuine and effective system of institutional corruption through the manipulation of central, autonomous and local public procurement". This event prompted the PSOE to submit a motion of no confidence in Rajoy and in Cs withdrawing its support from the government and demanding the immediate calling of an early election. An absolute majority of 180 MPs in

12221-455: The political centre (and, by undergoing a generational change, could overcome its Francoist image), thus the space for the centrist UCD shrank. Despite this, the UCD was returned for a second term in the 1979 general election , with a slight increase in vote share but could not attain a majority, with 34.8% of the vote and 168 deputies. The demise of the UCD began when an internal conflict emerged between its diverse factions. Many believe that

12342-578: The proceedings have stated that Begoña Gómez met with businessmen at the Palace of Moncloa . Pedro Sánchez was said to be also present at two of these meetings, but no other details were offered other than his presence in one of them being a brief "greeting" and another one being in the context of a round of meetings with innovation businessmen. The European Public Prosecutor's Office opened an investigation against Begoña Gómez for alleged influence peddling in European funds. The Complutense University issued

12463-418: The remaining 248 being distributed in proportion to their populations. Ceuta and Melilla were allocated the two remaining seats, which were elected using plurality voting . The use of the electoral method resulted in an effective threshold based on the district magnitude and the distribution of votes among candidacies. As a result of the aforementioned allocation, each Congress multi-member constituency

12584-403: The sentence, and denied the possibility of any pardon, proclaiming that the sentence should be served by the convicts in its entirety. Sánchez would, however, eventually grant a partial pardon to most convicts in 2021, stressing that despite the pardon there would never be a referendum for the independence of Catalonia, with then Spokesperson María Jesús Montero that "We will not renounce, as

12705-700: The specific leak of the e-mails. The European Union has warned the government of Spain that it has to end its attacks on the judiciary. On 3 November 2024, Pedro Sánchez, King Felipe, Queen Letizia and Valencian president Carlos Mazón were violently confronted during a meeting with people affected by the October 2024 Spain floods in Paiporta in the Valencian Community , who threw mud and objects at them and injured two bodyguards. In 2014, Sánchez ran to be PSOE Secretary-General under what has been described as

12826-496: The support of the parties that had backed the no-confidence motion. The 2018 Andalusian regional election which saw a sudden and strong rise of the far-right Vox party resulted in the PSOE losing the regional government for the first time in history to a PP–Cs–Vox alliance. After the 2019 General State Budget was voted down by the Congress of Deputies on 13 February 2019 as a result of Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC) and Catalan European Democratic Party (PDeCAT) siding against

12947-520: The upcoming leadership election. 15 PSOE MPs broke party discipline in response, by refusing to abstain in the investiture vote and voting against Rajoy, yet as Rajoy only needed an abstention from 11 PSOE MPs out of 84, he easily won the vote to be invested as prime minister. After resigning as Secretary-General and from the Congress, Sánchez began a national tour, driving his own car around to visit party members throughout different parts of Spain. After an energetic campaign, during which he criticised

13068-499: The use of the military bases of Rota and Morón to temporarily accommodate Afghan refugees, while praising "Spain's leadership in seeking international support for Afghan women and girls". Sánchez condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine and expressed Spain's full support for Ukraine. In August 2022, during his state visit to Serbia as part of his overall visits to Balkan countries, Sánchez reaffirmed Spain's non-recognition of

13189-459: The vote in what was dubbed the worst electoral setback for a major Spanish party since the collapse of the UCD in 1982 . Cs saw an increase of support which brought them within 0.8% of the vote and within 9 seats of the PP, passing them in several major regions. The far-right Vox party entered Congress for the first time, but it failed to fulfill expectations by scoring 10.3% of the vote and 24 seats, which

13310-450: The €1.813 billion contract with Saudi Arabia to deliver five corvettes . In response to the killing of Saudi dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi in October 2018, Sánchez defended the decision to continue arms sales to Saudi Arabia and insisted on his government's "responsibility" to protect jobs in the arms industry . Under Sánchez's premiership, the Congress approved a total central government budget of 196 billion euros –

13431-467: Was accused by the ABC newspaper of plagiarism in his doctorate. Refuting the allegations, Sánchez published his full thesis online. However, these allegations have been disputed by Markus Goldbach, CEO of Plagscan, a plagiarism checker software previously presented as evidence. In January 2013, Sánchez returned to Congress representing Madrid, replacing Cristina Narbona , who resigned to accept appointment at

13552-635: Was allocated four seats, whereas for insular provinces, such as the Balearic and Canary Islands , districts were the islands themselves, with the larger— Majorca , Gran Canaria and Tenerife —being allocated three seats each, and the smaller— Menorca , Ibiza – Formentera , Fuerteventura , La Gomera , El Hierro , Lanzarote and La Palma —one each. Ceuta and Melilla elected two seats each. Additionally, autonomous communities could appoint at least one senator each and were entitled to one additional senator per each million inhabitants. The term of each chamber of

13673-484: Was elected to the Spanish Congress of Deputies for Madrid to replace the retiring Pedro Solbes , who has served as Finance Minister under PSOE Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero . However, his first period in the Congress would be short, as at the 2011 general election , the PSOE suffered a large defeat and only elected 10 deputies for Madrid; with Sánchez 11th on the proportional list, he lost his seat in

13794-426: Was entitled the following seats: For the Senate, 208 seats were elected using an open list partial block voting system , with electors voting for individual candidates instead of parties. In constituencies electing four seats, electors could vote for up to three candidates; in those with two or three seats, for up to two candidates; and for one candidate in single-member districts. Each of the 47 peninsular provinces

13915-473: Was held on 26 June 2016, which meant that the legislature's term would expire on 26 June 2020. The election decree was required to be published in the BOE no later than 2 June 2020, with the election taking place on the fifty-fourth day from publication, setting the latest possible election date for the Cortes Generales on Sunday, 26 July 2020. The prime minister had the prerogative to dissolve both chambers at any given time—either jointly or separately—and call

14036-467: Was less than was indicated in opinion polls during the run-up to the election. The three-way split in the overall right-of-centre vote not only ended any chance of an Andalusian-inspired right-wing alliance, but it also ensured that Sánchez's PSOE would be the only party that could realistically form a government. The Spanish Cortes Generales were envisaged as an imperfect bicameral system. The Congress of Deputies had greater legislative power than

14157-420: Was no constitutional requirement for simultaneous elections for the Congress and the Senate. Still, as of 2024 there has been no precedent of separate elections taking place under the 1978 Constitution. After the 2019 General State Budget was voted down by the Congress of Deputies on 13 February 2019, it was announced that Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez would be calling a snap election for April. Sánchez confirmed

14278-447: Was not able to remain the largest party in any region, including Galicia, where it lost to the PSOE for the first time ever in any kind of election. Overall, the party lost 3.6 million votes from 2016, with post-election analysis determining that 1.4 million had been lost to Albert Rivera 's Citizens party, 1.6 million to far-right Vox , 400,000 to abstentions and a further 300,000 to PSOE. Scoring below previous expectations throughout

14399-732: Was opened in the court of Badajoz against Pedro Sánchez's brother, David Sánchez, for the crimes of embezzlement , influence peddling , prevarication , crimes against the Public Treasury and crimes against the Public Administration; crimes for which David Sánchez has been charged and has been called to testify on 9 January 2025. A report issued by the Central Operating Unit of the Civil Guard in November 2024 determined that no evidence could be found that linked David Sánchez to

14520-467: Was reliant on confidence and supply support from Unidos Podemos and New Canaries (NCa), negotiating additional support from Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC), Catalan European Democratic Party (PDeCAT) and Basque Nationalist Party (PNV) on an issue-by-issue basis. ERC, PDeCAT and En Marea withdrew their support from the government in February 2019 by voting down the 2019 General State Budget , with

14641-550: Was replaced by Leopoldo Calvo Sotelo for the remainder of the term of the Cortes . On 10 November 1981, Manuel Díaz-Piniés resigned from the party and on 1 February 1982 he, together with three other deputies Miguel Herrero de Miñón , Ricardo de la Cierva and Francisco Soler Valero joined the Popular Alliance (AP). The first of a number of breakaway parties emerged three days later on 4 February 1982 when 10 UCD deputies from

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