The Spanish Cortes Generales are envisaged as an imperfect bicameral system. The Congress of Deputies has greater legislative power than the Senate, having the ability to vote confidence in or withdraw it from a prime minister and to override Senate vetoes by an absolute majority of votes. Nonetheless, the Senate possesses a few exclusive (yet limited in number) functions—such as its role in constitutional amendment—which are not subject to the Congress' override.[11][12] Voting for each chamber of the Cortes Generales is on the basis of universal suffrage, which comprises all nationals over 18 years of age and in full enjoyment of their political rights, provided that they are not sentenced—by a final court ruling—to deprivation of the right to vote.[13][14]
As a result of the aforementioned allocation, each Congress multi-member constituency would be entitled the following seats (as of 12 December 2024):[c]
For the Senate, 208 seats are elected using an open listpartial block voting system, with electors voting for individual candidates instead of parties. In constituencies electing four seats, electors can vote for up to three candidates; in those with two or three seats, for up to two candidates; and for one candidate in single-member districts. Each of the 47 peninsular provinces is allocated four seats, whereas for insular provinces, such as the Balearic and Canary Islands, districts are the islands themselves, with the larger—Majorca, Gran Canaria and Tenerife—being allocated three seats each, and the smaller—Menorca, Ibiza–Formentera, Fuerteventura, La Gomera, El Hierro, Lanzarote and La Palma—one each. Ceuta and Melilla elect two seats each. Additionally, autonomous communities can appoint at least one senator each and are entitled to one additional senator per each million inhabitants.[19][20]
The law does not provide for by-elections to fill vacated seats; instead, any vacancies that occur after the proclamation of candidates and into the legislature's term will be covered by the successive candidates in the list and, when needed, by the designated substitutes, of which the list may include up to ten.[21]
Eligibility
Spanish citizens of age and with the legal capacity to vote can run for election, provided that they are not sentenced to imprisonment by a final court ruling nor convicted, even if by a non-final ruling, to forfeiture of eligibility or to specific disqualification or suspension from public office under particular offences: rebellion, terrorism or other crimes against the state. Other causes of ineligibility are imposed on the following officials:[22][23]
Additionally, a number of territorial-level officers in the aforementioned categories are barred from running, during their tenure of office, in constituencies within the whole or part of their respective area of jurisdiction.[22][23] Disqualification provisions extend to any employee of a foreign state and to members of regional governments, as well as the impossibility of running simultaneously as candidate for both the Congress and Senate.[24]
The electoral law allows for parties and federations registered in the interior ministry, coalitions and groupings of electors to present lists of candidates. Parties and federations intending to form a coalition ahead of an election are required to inform the relevant Electoral Commission within ten days of the election call, whereas groupings of electors need to secure the signature of at least one percent of the electorate in the constituencies for which they seek election, disallowing electors from signing for more than one list of candidates. Concurrently, parties, federations or coalitions that have not obtained a mandate in either chamber of the Cortes at the preceding election are required to secure the signature of at least 0.1 percent of electors in the aforementioned constituencies.[25] Amendments to the electoral law in 2024 increased requirements for a balanced composition of men and women in the lists of candidates, so that candidates of either sex are ordered in an alternative manner.[26]
A special, simplified process is provided for election re-runs, including a shortening of deadlines, electoral campaigning, the lifting of signature requirements if these had been already met for the immediately previous election and the possibility of maintaining lists and coalitions without needing to go through pre-election procedures again.[27]
Election date
The term of each chamber of the Cortes Generales—the Congress and the Senate—expires four years from the date of their previous election, unless they are dissolved earlier.[28] The election decree shall be issued no later than the twenty-fifth day prior to the date of expiry of parliament and published on the following day in the Official State Gazette (BOE), with election day taking place on the fifty-fourth day from publication.[29] The previous election was held on 23 July 2023, which means that the legislature's term will expire on 23 July 2027. The election decree must be published in the BOE no later than 29 June 2027, with the election taking place on the fifty-fourth day from publication, setting the latest possible election date for the Cortes Generales on Sunday, 22 August 2027.
The prime minister has the prerogative to propose the monarch to dissolve both chambers at any given time—either jointly or separately—and call a snap election, provided that no motion of no confidence is in process, no state of emergency is in force and that dissolution does not occur before one year has elapsed since the previous one.[30] Additionally, both chambers are to be dissolved and a new election called if an investiture process fails to elect a prime minister within a two-month period from the first ballot.[31] Barred this exception, there is no constitutional requirement for simultaneous elections to the Congress and the Senate. Still, as of 2025, there has been no precedent of separate elections taking place under the 1978 Constitution.
Parliamentary composition
The tables below show the composition of the parliamentary groups in both chambers.[32][33]
Local regression trend line of poll results from 23 July 2023 to the present day, with each line corresponding to a political party.
Notes
↑ ERC does not field candidates outside of Catalonia (48 seats) and therefore cannot obtain a majority in parliament.
↑ Junts does not field candidates outside of Catalonia (48 seats) and therefore cannot obtain a majority in parliament.
↑ This seat allocation has been manually calculated by applying the electoral rules set out in the law, on the basis of the latest official population figures provided by the Spanish government as of 2025. As such, it should be deemed as a provisional, non-binding estimation. The definitive allocation will be determined by the election decree at the time of the parliament's dissolution.[18]
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