Spain’s snap vote: How it works and what to expect on July 23

Spanish People's Party candidate Alberto Nunez Feijoo and Spain's Prime Minister and Socialist candidate Pedro Sanchez shake hands before a televised debate ahead of a snap election in Madrid, Spain [Juan Medina/Reuters]

Madrid, Spain – Spanish voters will head to the polls next Sunday, deciding whether to keep Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s minority Socialist government in power, or give the mandate to the main right-wing Partido Popular [PP] party.

In almost all public opinion surveys, the PP are currently favourites to win Spain’s first general elections since 2019, brought forward by Sanchez after the Socialists’ stinging defeat in early May’s regional and local polls.