Spanish Premier Calls Surprise Election After Socialist Loss
- A national election will be held in Spain on July 23
- The snap ballot comes after a strong PP show in regional vote
Pedro Sanchez
Photographer: Javier Soriano/AFP/Getty Images
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Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said he will dissolve parliament and call a snap election for July 23 after his Socialist party suffered heavy losses in regional and local elections on Sunday.
Sanchez’s decision to bring forward a general election not expected until December looks like a ploy to wrest the initiative back from his conservative opponents after seeing his support hit by near-record food inflation and a botched attempt to tighten sentencing for rapists. The timing of the vote will ramp up the pressure on Sanchez’s leftist coalition partners who have been struggling to resolve a dispute over whether they can unite under a single banner.