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On July 23, 2023, the general elections in Spain took place, in which not only who will govern the country for the next four years was decided, but also the composition of the national Congress and Senate. Despite the enthusiastic results for the right predicted by the polls, the reality after the vote count has been different. The PP won the elections, but it did not manage to distance itself from the PSOE as much as expected, nor come close to achieving the absolute majority.

Distribution in the upper and lower chambers

The party led by Alberto Núñez Feijóo was chosen by 33 percent of the electorate, a figure that represents a positive difference of 2.3 percentage points compared to the PSOE. Translated into seats, the blue force obtained a total of 137 (14 more seats than Pedro Sánchez’s party) but is still far from the 176 needed to govern. However, the PP did manage to prevail in the lower chamber over the other political options, with a total of 120 senators.

Will there be a repeat election?

In view of the results and considering previous experiences, a repeat election would not be surprising. The King of Spain, Felipe VI, has proposed Alberto Núñez Feijóo as a candidate for investiture, but this is no guarantee of anything. On one hand, Feijóo has a total of 172 affirmative votes after holding several rounds of dialogue with all political forces (except Bildu) in the weeks following the elections in search of support, of which only Vox, Coalición Canaria, and UPN have extended a hand. In this sense, the PP must fight to gain the support of the PNV and achieve the abstention of ERC and Junts Per Catalunya if it wants to claim victory. On the other hand, the PSOE only has 152 secure seats—including those of Sumar—and the six deputies from Bildu, as well as those from PNV, ERC, and Junts, remain uncertain, becoming essential for Sánchez to stay in La Moncloa. We will have to wait until September 27 to know what future awaits the Spanish people.