At Stake in this Election: 

• 208 seats of the Spanish Senate 

Government Structure:  

• Chief of State: King FELIPE VI (since 19 June 2014) 

• Head of Government: President Pedro SÁNCHEZ Pérez-Castejón (since 2 June 2018) 

• Assembly: bicameral General Courts (Cortes Generales) including a 265-seat Senate (Senado) and a 348-seat Congress of Deputies (Congresso de los Diputados) 

Electoral System:  

• The King is a hereditary monarch. 

• The President, typically the leader of the largest congressional party or coalition, is nominated by the King and elected by the Congress of Deputies. 

• In the Senate, 208 members are directly elected by plurality vote in multi-seat constituencies. The remaining 57 members are indirectly elected by autonomous community legislatures. All members serve 4-year terms. 

• In the Congress of Deputies, 348 members are directly elected via closed-list proportional representation vote in multi-seat constituencies, and lists much receive at least 3% of the vote to win a seat. 2 members are elected from Ceuta and Melilla by plurality vote. All members serve 4-year terms. 

Last Election: 

In 2019, the top vote-getters were the Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE) with 92 seats and the People’s Party (PP) with 84 seats. Eight additional parties also won seats, and voter turnout was 68%. 

New/Unique in this Election:  

In May 2023, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez called legislative snap elections following his party’s poor performances in the municipal elections of May 2023.  

Key Deadlines: 

• Candidate filing deadline: 19 June 2023 

• Coalitions must be proposed by 9 June 2023 

• Voter registration deadline: 12 June 2023 (to request modification of registration)  

• Residents of Spain who seek to vote by mail must register by 13 July 2023. 

Main Parties in this Election: 

• Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party / Partido Socialista Obrero Español (PSOE) 

• Leader: Pedro SÁNCHEZ Pérez-Castejón 

• Seats won in last election: 92 out of 208 

• People’s Party / Partido Popular (PP) 

• Leader: Alberto Núñez FEIJÓO 

• Seats won in last election: 84 out of 208 

• VOX 

• Leader: Santiago ABASCAL 

• Seats won in last election: 2 out of 208 

• Unite / Sumar 

• Coalition including Movimiento Sumar, Podemos, Izquierda Unida, Más País, Verdes Equo, Alianza Verde, and several regional parties 

• Leader: Yolanda DÍAZ Pérez 

• Seats won in last election: established in 2023 

• Republican Left of Catalonia – Sovereigntists / Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya - Sobiranistes 

• Regional coalition 

• Leader: Oriol JUNQUERAS Vies 

• Seats won in last election: 11 out of 208 

• Basque Nationalist Party / Euzko Alderdi Jeltzalea (EAJ-PNV) 

• Regional party 

• Leader: Andoni ORTUZAR Arruabarrena 

• Seats won in last election: 9 out of 208 

• Together for Catalonia / Junts per Catalunya (JxCat) 

• Regional party 

• Leader: Laura BORRÀS i Castanyer 

• Seats won in last election: 3 out of 208 

• Teruel Exists / Teruel Existe 

• Regional party 

• Leader: Tomás GUITARTE Gimeno 

• Seats won in last election: 2 out of 208 

• Basque Country Unite / Euskal Herria Bildu (EHB) 

• Regional party 

• Leader: Arnaldo OTEGI Mondragon 

• Seats won in last election: 1 out of 208 

Population and Registered Voters: 

• Population: 47,222,613 (2023 est.) 

• Registered Voters: 36,898,883 (2019) 

Gender Data: 

• Female Population: 24,216,725 (2023 est.)  

• CEDAW Status: Signed 17 July 1980, Ratified 5 January 1984 

• Gender Quota: Yes; candidates of each sex must make up at least 40% of congressional lists, and for lists of fewer than 5 candidates, the male to female candidate ratio must be as even as possible; lists for the senate must also have a male to female candidate ratio as close to even as possible 

• Female Candidates in this election: Yes 

• Number of Female Legislators (pre-election): 104 out of 265 (39.3%) in the Senate and 148 out of 349 (42.4%) in the Congress of Deputies 

• Human Development Index (HDI) Position: 0.905, Very High, Rank 27 (2021 est.)  

• Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) Categorization: 9 (2023) 

Disability Data: 

• CRPD Status: Signed 30 March 2007, Ratified 3 December 2007 

• Projected population with a disability: 7,083,392 (2023 est.) 

IFES Resources: 

• Does IFES have a presence in Spain: No 

• Election Access: Yes 

• Election Judgements: Yes, 8 judgements and 18 resources