5 October 2026

Pedro Sánchez has announced that he is bringing forward the elections, which will take place on 29 November. This announcement comes against a backdrop of mass protests over the housing crisis, which have sparked a major resurgence of mobilisation amongst left-wing activists and the working class in the face of a structural problem that is becoming increasingly acute.

These protests have succeeded in shifting the public discourse, against a backdrop of the rise of the far right and the radicalised right both internationally and nationally. The Government interprets this as a more favourable context in which to secure re-election, framing the elections as a referendum between its progressive project and the reactionary resurgence.

However, we must broaden our perspective on the current situation. The demonstrations and sit-ins have arisen in response to a problem which eight years of coalition governments—first between the PSOE and Podemos, and later between the PSOE and Sumar—have been unable to tackle or resolve. Now that the progressive camp is attempting to present itself as the sole guarantor of solutions to the working class’s problems, we must step up our mobilisation, giving it a united yet independent character, and put forward our own programme centred on the general strike.

We need to tackle the issue of ownership by large vulture funds and banks, work towards the idea of a planned housing stock under social control, demand an immediate 50 per cent reduction in rents and cap rents at 20 per cent of wages, thereby limiting the power of landlords. Maintaining strong mobilisations such as those in education, for Palestine or the struggles for wages within companies is also essential. We say this openly: all social gains have been won through mobilisation and the strength of the working class; we must neither delegate nor rely on capitalist governments for this.