Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez confirmed Spain will be heading to the polls on 29 November, after Sanchez’s Socialist party, which is currently heading a minority government, failed to pass housing reforms in the Spanish Congress.
Sanchez faces an uphill battle in his bid for re-election with polls showing Sánchez’s Socialist party is trailing the conservative People’s Party – which many expect to attempt to form a government with the far-right Vox.
In his statement announcing the election, Sanchez warned Spaniards about what he called the “extreme-right wave” being seen in other countries and said Spain should continue to be a global example of “peace, feminism and prosperity”.
BBC correspondent Guy Hedgecoe reports.
Follow the BBC’s live coverage following Sanchez’s announcement.
