Spain - July 2023

In snap elections held on 23 July, both the opposition centre-right Popular Party (PP) and the governing Socialist Party (PSOE) gained votes at the expense of radical parties, as well as regional and independence parties. PP won the most seats in the Congress of Deputies (136), gaining 47 more seats compared to the 2019 general elections. PSOE won more votes than expected, as did its likely coalition partner, far-left Sumar. Far-right Vox dropped from 52 deputies to 33, but narrowly retains its position as third biggest party. However, both the left-wing and right-wing bloc fall short of the 176-seat threshold required for a majority, complicating government formation. Voter turnout reached 70 per cent, up by 4 percentage points compared to 2019, despite the elections taking place during the summer holidays. The volume of postal votes reached record highs, more than doubling the number of mail-in ballots from 2019, as many were on vacation and therefore not near their polling places.  Women make up 48.8 per cent of the Congress of the Deputies candidates (compared to 48.2 per cent in 2019), but only 39.7 per cent of the heads of the list.

Sources: LSE, El País, Politico (1), Politico (2), La Vanguardia (1), La Vanguardia (2), The Economist, Ministry of the Interior (1), Ministry of the Interior (2), BOE, Público