The Popular Party (PP) and Vox have reached an agreement regarding the Senate following several days of discussions aimed at countering the coalition between the PSOE and the Broad Front for the upcoming elections on 29 November. Both parties emphasised the level of compromise they demonstrated to secure the agreement, setting aside their differences.
Under the terms of the deal, Vox will withdraw from six constituencies and present a single candidate in fourteen others, while contesting normally in the remaining 23. Specifically, Vox will not stand in Las Palmas, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Cádiz, Valencia, Castellón, and the Balearic Islands, but will nominate a single candidate in Sevilla, Huelva, Asturias, Badajoz, Álava, Navarra, Cáceres, Huesca, Zaragoza, Alicante, Granada, Cuenca, Pontevedra, and Jaén.
Miguel Tellado, the PP’s Secretary General, announced in a press conference that in the six provinces where Vox will not run, the PP will include a candidate from Vox in its lists. Meanwhile, the PP also will not contest in three provinces: Guipúzcoa, Girona, and Tarragona. In the fourteen constituencies where Vox is fielding one candidate, Tellado stated that PP voters could choose three PP candidates, while Vox voters can select their candidate along with two from the PP.
“This collaboration between the PP and Vox is based on the belief that it’s the best for Spain. We have come to an understanding that serves our country. No one is giving up their own party identity. We are not the PSOE or the Broad Front,” said Tellado.
Ignacio Garriga, Vox’s Secretary General, remarked that on 29 November, “we are fighting for much more than just an election.” He accused Pedro Sánchez of attempting to cling to power by any means possible and called for responsibility and unity in defending Spain’s democracy.
A conservative majority of three-fifths in the Senate would enable decisions to be made without needing to negotiate with the left, including appointments to the Constitutional Court. Four of the twelve members of this court are selected based on candidates proposed by the Senate through a qualified majority.
The majority of senators (208 in the last legislature) are elected in general elections via universal, free, equal, direct, and secret voting, while the remaining 58 are appointed by regional parliaments. Each province elects four senators, although in island provinces, each island acts as a separate constituency, with three senate seats going to the larger islands and one to the smaller. Voters in provincial constituencies can cast up to three votes, while those in larger islands and Ceuta and Melilla can cast two votes, and one vote in the smaller islands. This often results in the leading party securing three senators and the second-party gaining one.
The agreement between the PP and Vox aims to enhance the right’s chances of securing more Senate seats in certain areas, preventing a left-wing coalition from becoming the dominant force in any province.
