Right-Wing Media Watch: The right-wing press has already written Sánchez’s political obituary

Spain is heading for a snap general election on November 29, and the right-wing press has wasted no time celebrating what it clearly projects to be the beginning of the end for Pedro Sánchez’s Socialist government.

Sánchez announced the early election after his minority government suffered a parliamentary defeat over emergency measures designed to tackle Spain’s housing crisis, following intense public outrage after a high-profile eviction of an 87-year-old woman in Madrid. The proposals, which included stronger protections against evictions and measures aimed at increasing access to affordable housing, were voted down after the conservative People’s Party (PP), the far-right Vox and the Catalan pro-independence party Junts opposed them.

The PP is currently ahead of Sánchez’s Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE) in the polls, while support for Vox has also been rising. If those numbers translate into parliamentary seats, the PP could need Vox’s support to form a government, potentially bringing the far-right party into national government for the first time since the end of Franco’s dictatorship.

For the right-wing media, however, the result is apparently already written.

‘European Left on verge of collapse’

No sooner had the election been announced than the knives were out.

The Telegraph splashed: “European Left on verge of collapse as Spain’s Pedro Sanchez calls snap election.”

Its article presents Sánchez as an increasingly isolated figure on the European Left, highlighting his criticism of Israel’s war in Gaza, his migration policies and his confrontations with Donald Trump over the war in Iran and Nato defence spending.

It also notes Sánchez’s emergence as a prominent figure on the European Left, including how Andy Burnham sought him out at the UN General Assembly in New York, where the two leaders strolled through Central Park.

The piece points to Sánchez’s political survival after previous electoral setbacks, but argues that, this time, the stakes are higher.

“If Mr Sanchez’s gamble backfires this time,” it writes, “the already small number of centre-Left leaders in Europe will be reduced to Mr Burnham, Denmark’s Mette Frederiksen and Malta’s Robert Abela.”

And should the PP and Vox prevail, the Telegraph predicts it would “build momentum behind Europe’s insurgent populist parties”.

The piece looks ahead to elections in France, Italy and Poland, arguing that victories for Marine Le Pen, Giorgia Meloni and Poland’s Law and Justice party would see the EU “swing further to the Right and the Left further diminished”.

The Spectator declares victory before the votes are counted

The Spectator is similarly confident.

Its headline declares: “Sánchez is heading for defeat in Spain’s snap election.”

The right-wing magazine argues Spain now faces the prospect of a “markedly more right-wing government, dependent on Vox’s support”.

It highlights Vox’s calls for “national priority” in access to social housing and benefits, deportation of people living in Spain illegally, and the deportation of legal immigrants who commit crimes.

The article concludes that Sánchez is relying on voters’ fear of bringing a party he describes as “far right” into government overcoming dissatisfaction with his own record.

“On present evidence,” it says, “that looks a forlorn hope.”

There are, of course, serious reasons why Sánchez faces a difficult election.

His minority government has struggled to pass legislation, and his administration has been hit by political and corruption controversies. Social and housing tensions are high following the Ceuta incident with 80,000 migrants from Morocco and rising rents and evictions fuelling large demonstrations across the country.

But there is an important detail that rather gets lost amid the right-wing media’s celebrations.

The election has not happened yet.

Sánchez is undoubtedly taking a political gamble. But the immediate trigger for the election was a housing crisis that has generated huge public anger, and which the right-wing parties themselves helped prevent his government from addressing through the proposed emergency measures.

Sánchez has explicitly framed the election as a choice about whether Spain can continue pursuing progressive policies and secure a broader parliamentary majority capable of delivering reforms on inequality, public services and housing.

The Telegraph and Spectator may have already written Sánchez’s political obituary but on November 29, Spanish voters, not the right-wing press, will decide whether it was premature.