Spain's main political parties and coalitions explained

Key rules

• Majority: No party wins a majority alone, so every government depends on coalition partners or deals with smaller parties.
• Investiture: A prime minister candidate needs 176 of 350 votes on the first vote, or more yes than no votes in a second vote 48 hours later.
• Failed investiture: If nobody is invested within two months of the first vote, new elections are called.
• Next election: The latest date for the next general election is August 2027, though the prime minister can call one earlier.

The short version

No party wins a majority on its own in Spain. Governments are built from coalitions and deals with smaller parties, many of them regional. Once you know the parties below, most political news makes sense.

The main national parties

• PP (Partido Popular): the main centre-right party, led by Alberto Núñez Feijóo. It is the biggest party in the Congreso and leads the opposition.
• PSOE: the centre-left social-democratic party, led by Pedro Sánchez, who is prime minister.
• Vox: a hard-right nationalist party led by Santiago Abascal.
• Sumar: a left-wing alliance led by Yolanda Díaz, to the left of PSOE. It is PSOE's partner in government.
• Podemos: a left-populist party, further left still. It has left Sumar and now sits apart.

In surveys, voters usually place Vox furthest right, then PP, then PSOE, Sumar and Podemos moving left.

The regional parties that matter

Regional parties matter because their few votes often decide whether a law passes.

• ERC (Catalonia): left-wing and pro-independence. It wants a Catalan referendum and better regional financing.
• Junts (Catalonia): centre-right and pro-independence. It wants the amnesty applied fully, more powers and immigration control.
• PNV (Basque Country): centre-right Basque nationalist. It wants more self-government and the transfer of powers to continue.
• EH Bildu (Basque Country): left-wing and pro-independence. It wants self-determination and changes to prisoner policy.
• BNG (Galicia): left Galician nationalist, seeking more autonomy.
• CC (Canary Islands): wants resources and attention for the islands.
• UPN (Navarre): conservative regionalist, allied with PP.

How the seats are split

The Congreso has 350 seats. These are the numbers from the July 2023 election:

Numbers shift a little with defections and substitutions. Check the Congreso website for the current count.

Who governs, and with whose support

Pedro Sánchez leads a PSOE-Sumar coalition government formed in November 2023. It does not have a majority alone. It has relied on ERC, Junts, EH Bildu, PNV, BNG, Podemos and CC, with varying reliability. Junts broke with the government in late 2025. Support now comes issue by issue, and the government has struggled to pass budgets. Check current news for who backs what at the moment.

Why coalitions are the norm

• Proportional voting: seats are allocated by proportional representation in provincial lists, so small and regional parties win seats.
• More parties: since 2015 the old two-party system has fragmented. Podemos, Ciudadanos, Vox and Sumar all emerged.
• Strong regional parties: they are especially strong in Catalonia and the Basque Country.
• Investiture rules: a candidate for prime minister needs allies or abstentions to win the vote. The timeline below shows the steps.

When is the next election?

The latest date is August 2027. The prime minister alone can call one earlier, and the opposition often demands it. Sánchez has said he will serve the full term.

Timeline and deadlines

How a government is formed after an election

• First investiture vote: a prime minister candidate needs 176 of 350 votes: At the first vote, after the new Congress meets

• Second vote if the first fails: the candidate needs more yes than no votes: 48 hours after the first vote

• Parties negotiate alliances or abstentions to reach a majority: Between votes and during the two months after the first vote

• New elections are called if nobody is invested: If nobody is invested within two months of the first vote

• Latest date for the next general election: August 2027, though the prime minister can call one earlier

Quick answers on Spanish politics for newcomers

Is Spain more left-wing or right-wing?

Spain is split almost evenly, with voters slightly left of centre on average. On a 1 (left) to 10 (right) scale, the state survey body CIS puts the average self-placement at about 4.5. In the July 2023 election the right bloc won about 172 seats and the left and nationalist bloc about 178, so neither had an easy majority.

How popular is the monarchy in Spain?

Recent polls generally show a majority backing the monarchy or rating King Felipe VI favourably. Support is lower among under-35s, where polls show a split between monarchy and republic. Felipe VI is rated better than the institution as a whole, since the scandals around his father Juan Carlos I.

Do many people in Catalonia still want independence?

Support for independence in Catalonia is about 38-41% in 2024-2025 polls, with about 50-54% opposed. That is down from a peak of about 49% in 2017. Pro-independence parties lost their parliamentary majority in 2024 for the first time since 2012.

Why does Spain have so many coalition governments?

Spain's parliament is elected by proportional representation, so small and regional parties win seats and rarely does one party get a majority. Since 2015 new parties such as Podemos, Ciudadanos, Vox and Sumar have broken up the old two-party system.