Spain's conservative Partido Popular and the right-wing party Vox have agreed an electoral pact for the Senate ahead of the general election on November 29.
The agreement aims to optimize right-wing voting in provinces where running competing tickets previously divided conservative ballots and left both parties without Senate representation.
An opinion poll published on Monday showed that the Partido Popular and Vox would secure a combined absolute majority in the election, placing Alberto Núñez Feijóo in position to take government.
Writing in a published commentary on Monday, legal scholar and commentator Francisco Marhuenda called the alliance a major victory for constitutionalism and the defence of the rule of law. He argued that Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez knows he cannot win the election and will be unable to govern.
Senate election strategy
Marhuenda explained that presenting joint or coordinated lists solves a long-running tactical problem for the Spanish right. Under the current provincial ballot rules, running separate tickets in smaller electoral districts often resulted in divided votes that allowed rival political blocs to capture the seats.
The Spanish Senate, which forms the upper house of the Cortes Generales, uses a direct voting system that differs sharply from the proportional representation used for the Congress of Deputies. In most mainland provinces, voters choose individual candidates for four available seats, and the party winning a plurality of votes typically secures three seats while the second-placed party receives one.
When conservative voters split their support between multiple contenders, the left-wing bloc can win the top spot with a modest plurality. By coordinating their Senate tickets, the Partido Popular and Vox can consolidate their combined vote share and maximize the number of provincial seats they secure across the country.
Marhuenda noted that the agreement mirrors past tactics used by the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party, or PSOE, which allied with broader left-wing coalitions. However, he sharply criticized the left-wing alliance, deriding it as a sunken front and an unstable collection of dozens of fringe parties.
Constitutional Court judicial appointments
A central objective of securing a sweeping Senate majority is the appointment of new judges to Spain's Constitutional Court. Marhuenda argued that Feijóo must achieve the widest possible majority in the upper chamber so that the incoming administration can replace four Constitutional Court magistrates without conceding positions to the socialist and communist coalition.
Spain's Constitutional Court acts as the final arbiter of constitutional matters and oversees legal challenges to state and regional legislation. The court consists of 12 judges who serve nine-year terms, with one-third of the bench renewed every three years through nominations split equally between the Congress of Deputies, the Senate, the executive government, and the judiciary.
Marhuenda directed sharp criticism at the current court leadership, alleging that Sánchez had hoped to prevent a right-wing Senate majority to shield Constitutional Court President Cándido Conde-Pumpido. Marhuenda described Conde-Pumpido as one of the most disastrous figures in the history of Spanish law and claimed that his leadership had politicised the institution to an extent that alarmed democratic observers.
Conde-Pumpido, a veteran jurist who previously served as attorney general of Spain under former Socialist Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, took office as president of the Constitutional Court in January 2023. His appointment capped a contentious, months-long standoff over judicial appointments between Spain's major political parties.
Territorial unity and plurinational debate
The column framed the Senate battle as a fundamental test of national unity. Marhuenda asserted that the governing leftist coalition partners are adversaries of the 1978 Constitution who intend to dismantle the existing state structure and establish a grotesque plurinational state.
Spain operates under a quasi-federal system of 17 autonomous communities, each with its own regional parliament and executive government. The 1978 Constitution explicitly affirms the indissoluble unity of the Spanish nation while guaranteeing the right to self-government for its historic nationalities and regions.
Tensions over regional autonomy have intensified in recent years, particularly in Catalonia and the Basque Country. While left-wing parties and regional nationalist formations advocate greater decentralization and recognition of distinct national identities, both the Partido Popular and Vox advocate strong central authority and reject territorial concessions.
International comparisons and merit-based appointments
Marhuenda also addressed the international climate, noting that Sánchez appeared encouraged by the election victory of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in Brazil. However, Marhuenda dismissed comparisons between the two nations, describing Brazil as a great country that had nevertheless elected a disastrous figure associated with the Puebla Group, a regional alliance of left-wing leaders.
Lula da Silva returned to Brazil's presidency after winning the country's October 2022 general election, leading a broad leftist coalition. The Puebla Group, founded in 2019, includes prominent progressive leaders and former heads of state from across Latin America and the Iberian Peninsula, including former Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero.
Looking ahead to a potential transition of power, Marhuenda urged Feijóo to appoint qualified officials guided strictly by merit and competence. He stressed that these were the same rigorous standards that enabled Feijóo and many other civil servants to pass demanding state examinations earlier in their careers.
Before entering elective politics, Feijóo qualified as a member of Spain's elite civil service corps and served as a senior administrative official in regional and national health agencies, as well as the head of the state postal service, Correos. He later served as president of the Regional Government of Galicia for four consecutive terms before assuming the national leadership of the Partido Popular in 2022.
Marhuenda concluded that the country requires capable, effective professionals to lead public institutions following what he characterized as a grim and damaging period under Sánchez. The general election campaign will culminate in the nationwide vote scheduled for November 29.
