Spain goes for snap elections

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Monday called an early election for November 29, aiming to increase his parliamentary support after lawmakers last week rejected proposals to address a housing crisis that has drawn nationwide protests. The snap vote is a high-stakes gamble for Sanchez, whose Socialist Party trails in nearly every opinion poll. An electoral defeat would spell the end of one of Europe's last remaining left-leaning governments at a time when the far right is making unprecedented gains across the region. It reflects a broader malaise across Europe, under pressure from US President Donald Trump on defence spending, cheap Chinese imports, higher borrowing costs, disaffected youth and the biggest surge in support for the far-right since the 1930s. However, Sanchez, a wily political operator, has proven time and again his ability to surprise those who had long written him off. An election now could see him capitalise on a wave of anger at unaffordable housing in Spain. "We need to mobilise and win a much larger progressive majority in parliament, one that will allow us to overcome vested interests, deliver new social advances and continue transforming Spain," Sanchez said in a televised address. Spain's blue-chip index .IBEX was flat after the announcement, while Spanish government bonds were broadly steady. Alberto Nuñez Feijoo, leader of the opposition People's Party, on Monday pledged to almost double homebuilding in Spain to 200,000 units a year and cut taxes if he gained power. "Housing has been this government's great failure and must be the next one's success. When a prime minister has been in office for eight years, it is very difficult to blame others for what he has failed to do," Feijoo said at a small business conference. Sanchez has made a name internationally with progressive stances on issues from Palestinian statehood to defending multilateral institutions and cracking down on "tech oligarchs", even as a series of scandals weakened his position at home.