Spain will vote on 29 November 2026 to elect a new Congress of Deputies and the directly elected members of the Senate. The central question is which parties can assemble enough support in the 350-seat Congress to form a government.
The dates that matter
Royal Decree 806/2026 calls the election for Sunday, 29 November. The formal campaign runs from 13 to 27 November. The new chambers are scheduled to hold their constitutive sittings on 23 December.
What is being elected?
The Congress has 350 deputies, elected in 52 constituencies: the 50 provinces, Ceuta and Melilla. An absolute majority is 176 seats. National voting-intention percentages are useful for tracking support, but seats are allocated constituency by constituency. A national poll cannot be converted into a reliable seat total by multiplying its percentages by 350.
The Senate election covers 209 directly elected seats in 2026. Senators designated by autonomous communities are a separate category and must not be added to election-night direct-election totals without an explicit explanation. Congress and Senate voting use different rules, so a Congress poll is not a Senate forecast.
Why 176 matters—and why it is not the only number
Voters elect parliament, rather than directly electing the prime minister. Under Article 99 of the Constitution, a proposed prime minister needs an absolute majority of Congress in the first investiture vote. If that fails, a second vote takes place 48 hours later and requires a simple majority. Abstentions can therefore affect the outcome. Winning the most seats does not by itself guarantee the ability to form a government.
How to read the polls
Check the fieldwork dates, sample, population and source before comparing surveys. Publication dates tell readers when a survey became public; fieldwork dates show when respondents were interviewed. Differences between pollsters can reflect sampling and modelling as well as political change.
As of 29 October, Votendi publishes six verified Congress polls: three by 40dB. and three by Sigma Dos. Eight additional surveys remain unpublished drafts pending data and methodology checks. The latest published fieldwork ended on 22 October. Open the Spain polling tracker or read the latest Sigma Dos record and original source. Coverage is not exhaustive. No independent Votendi seat forecast is being presented.
Where to check parties and results
The Senate’s official election directory links to the election decree, coalitions and submitted candidacies. Submitted lists should not be described as final proclamations. Votendi will distinguish survey labels from legally registered electoral lists.
Election-night figures will be labelled provisional and kept separate from polling. Until official figures are available and verified, turnout, votes and seats remain unavailable—not zero.
Editorial information checked on 29 October 2026. Sources: the official election decree, Spanish Constitution, LOREG, and linked original polling reports.
