Sánchez responded defiantly to Junts’ move, saying on X he would not withdraw the decrees and casting the parliamentary vote as a breaking point: “The hour of truth has arrived,” he wrote, adding that lawmakers were obliged to cast “votes that will define them for generations to come.”
Ahead of the parliamentary session, government sources told Spanish newspaper El País that Sánchez was leaning toward calling a snap election. In an interview with Cadena SER, Deputy Prime Minister Yolanda Díaz said she had spoken with Sánchez and declined to rule out an early vote.
Spain’s current legislative term is due to end next summer, and speculation has been mounting that the prime minister — who is under pressure over the ongoing migrant crisis in Ceuta, as well as corruption cases involving members of his family and close political allies — could seek an opportune moment to call a snap election.
With housing consistently ranking among Spaniards’ top concerns, Sánchez now looks set to try to capitalize on popular discontent by casting the opposition as an obstacle to addressing the crisis.
The center-right People’s Party leads in electoral polls, with 34% support. Its potential partner, the far-right Vox party, is polling at 18%. Both oppose measures that challenge landlords’ property rights and instead favor deregulation and incentives for private owners.
At the request of Sánchez’s Socialist Party and far-left Sumar, which make up Spain’s coalition government, Friday’s vote was conducted by a show of hands, forcing lawmakers to publicly reveal their positions on the government’s housing measures.