Pedro Sanchez will launch his general election campaign in Sevilla on Thursday, it has been confirmed.
The embattled prime minister is returning to a province where the PSOE topped the vote in 2023 but lost ground to the Partido Popular in May’s regional election.
Sanchez will address supporters at 7pm on Thursday, November 12, in the 3,000-seat auditorium at Fibes, Sevilla’s conference and exhibition centre.
Andalucian PSOE leader Maria Jesus Montero will also speak at the rally, with Socialist candidates for Congress and the Senate from all eight Andalucian provinces expected to attend.
It will be Sanchez’s second visit to Sevilla province in just over a month. He opened his pre-campaign in Dos Hermanas on October 10, describing the province as a place of personal significance and a lucky charm in his political career.
Sanchez launched both of his 2019 general election campaigns in Sevilla, choosing Dos Hermanas and the city’s Pino Montano neighbourhood. In 2023, he opened his campaign in Madrid.
A Socialist stronghold under pressure
The PSOE has topped the vote in Sevilla province at every general election. In 2023, it won 36% of the vote and five seats in Congress, finishing three points ahead of the PP, which took four seats.
The picture has been different in regional elections. The PP overtook the Socialists in seats in Sevilla province at May’s Andalucian election, having already topped the vote in Sevilla city at the 2022 regional contest with just over 41%.
This time, four parties on the left will compete for Congress seats in the province. The PSOE, Frente Amplio, Podemos and Adelante Andalucia will all field lists, alongside the PP and Vox.
The campaign launch comes as a 40dB. poll for Cadena SER and El Pais puts the PSOE just two points behind the PP nationally, on 29.9% to 31.9%.
Even with that narrower lead, the poll projects that the PP and Vox would win 192 seats between them, 16 more than they need for an outright majority.
Spaniards will head to the polls on November 29.
Read more Andalucia news at the Spanish Eye.
