Nation Runner

Flag of SpainCountry desk · updated 12 Nov

Spain

350 seats, and the named coalition parties hold 147.

Key takeaways

  1. 1

    Polls. PP leads the latest Instituto DYM poll at 34%, 5.8 points ahead of PSOE. Biggest move since 23 Jul: Vox +1.7.

  2. 2

    Headlines. The tone is brightening: 30% of the last 14 days' headlines read grim, 6% upbeat. Top topic: Politics (26%).

  3. 3

    Government. Government barometer 50/100 (Mixed record). 0 of 2 moves on file read as smart, 0 as harmful.

Headline mood · 14 days

Line: mood · bars: stories

12 Nov · 8 stories · grim1 upbeat · 4 neutral · 3 grim

What the headlines are about

  • Other 47%
  • Politics 26%
  • Economy 14%
  • Society 6%
  • Climate 5%
  • Security 3%

A simple word-list estimate from the daily wire headlines. Not a judgement.

Poll trend · Instituto DYM

  • PP34%-0.7
  • PSOE28.2%+1.9
  • Vox18.2%+0.9
  • Sumar3.6%-0.9
  • Podemos2.6%-1.1

Change against the 24 Sept poll.

Map · mood compared

Spain

Overall mood: 30% grim, 6% upbeat · today -25

What changed today

12 Nov

  • 12 Nov: 8 stories (average 7); tone as usual.
  • Latest Instituto DYM poll (9 Oct): PSOE +1.9, Podemos -1.1 against 24 Sept.

New headlines

3 more headlines
Earlier this week: 10 more headlines

Headlines and summaries come from the linked sources; the selection is automatic.

Go deeper

Parties, people, promises, money

Chamber · 4 Sep 2026 · votes 23 Jul 2023

350 seats, and the named coalition parties hold 147.

The seat map is the Congress group table updated on 4 September 2026. It lists Popular at 137, the Socialist group at 121, VOX at 32, and Plurinational SUMAR at 26. It also lists the Republican group at 7, Junts per Catalunya at 7, EH Bildu at 6, the Basque group at 5, and the Mixed group at 9. Those rows sum to 350. A majority of 350 is 176. The Moncloa open-data note names a coalition agreement between PSOE and SUMAR. Those two groups hold 147 seats, so they do not have a majority on this table. Vote shares are the Interior sheet for 23 July 2023, not a figure on the later group table.

A score on this desk is an editorial average of six work topics, times ten, with the method written on the row.

The room

Congress of Deputies

350 seats · 176 to govern · groups 4 Sep 2026 · PSOE and SUMAR 147

The deal

Coalition short of a majority

176 seats would be a majority of 350. The Socialist group and Plurinational SUMAR have 121 and 26 on the 4 September 2026 table. That sum is 147. The Moncloa note names those two parties in the coalition agreement and does not add a third governing group on that page.

The mood

Election vs now

The left bar is the share of valid votes on the Interior provincial block for 23 July 2023. The right bar is seats on the 4 September 2026 table divided by 350. They are different counts.

  • PP
    25.5%
  • PSOE
    31.0%
  • VOX
    16.6%
  • SUMAR
    5.7%
  • Mixto
    0.0%
  • ERC
    2.5%
  • Junts
    0.7%
  • Bildu
    1.3%
  • PNV
    0.7%

The first point is the national vote share on the Interior sheet for 23 July 2023, rounded to two decimals. The later points are the CIS estimate of the valid vote, not the direct answer in the survey. July is study 3571, fieldwork 1–6 July 2026, 4,020 interviews. September is study 3577, fieldwork 1–4 September 2026, 4,042 interviews. A sample is not the same question as votes cast. The Mixed group was not a list in either estimate, so its bar is empty.

The trend

From election night to now

Public pollster blend — not a forecast

The split

Seat share beside the 2023 vote

The right bar is seats divided by 350. The left bar is the national vote share. The later group table and the vote sheet are different counts.

The mismatch

Seats they hold vs the poll

The seat bar is the 4 September 2026 headcount, divided by 350. The other bar is the CIS September 2026 estimate. An empty bar means that estimate did not print the group as its own list.

The rude gauge

Growth king or a fight with work

Who grows the pie, who picks a fight with work. Cabinet sits at 50 / 100. The number is an editorial reading, not an official index. Six topics are averaged and multiplied by ten: energy supply, hiring, keeping and investing money, building, hours in paid work, and paperwork. Ten means the public record makes that easier for work. Zero means it makes it harder. A row with no cited party and no personal statute stays at the middle and is labelled not scored. The band is a label for that average, not a court ruling.

Against the workMixed recordGrowth king

Full causal chains live on every promise

This week

The pulse

Chamber

Congress groups

Popular 137, Socialist 121, SUMAR 26. Together the two coalition parties have 147 of 350.

Office

Offices

The composition page names Pedro Sánchez as Prime Minister. The control-session note names Feijóo of the Popular group.

Politics 101

How this country actually works

What this chamber drawing is

350 seats. 176 to govern. The parties named in the coalition note have 147.

Counts are the Congress group table updated on 4 September 2026. The rows sum to 350. 176 is half of 350, rounded up. Vote shares are the Interior sheet for 23 July 2023, rounded to two decimals from the provincial block of 24,688,087 valid votes. Residents abroad sit in a separate block and are not added. The Mixed group was not one election list.

Who holds the offices this desk names

Sánchez, Prime Minister. Armengol, Congress president. Feijóo, Popular group.

The composition page names Pedro Sánchez and the deputy prime ministers, and does not print a party beside those names. The presidency page names Francina Armengol. The 9 September 2026 control-session note names Alberto Núñez Feijóo of the Popular group.

Elections

What is on the calendar

National elections and the major votes on these desks, for about the next 24 months. The date comes from the election authority. A poll appears only when a named pollster published it in the last 60 days.

Spanish general election

Expected

Expected by September 2027

No polling day is set. Royal Decree 400/2023 called the last general election for 23 July 2023 (https://www.boe.es/eli/es/rd/2023/05/29/400). Article 68 of the Constitution ends the Congress mandate four years after that election, on 23 July 2027, and the next election falls no later than 60 days after that, by 21 September 2027.

Date source: Constitución Española, artículo 68

Voting intention

Instituto DYM

Fieldwork 16 Sept 2026 – 21 Sept 2026 · Published 24 Sept 2026

DYM for 20minutos. Estimate if a general election were held today. Fieldwork 16–21 September 2026, published 24 September 2026. Parties named in that article.

  • PP34.7%
  • PSOE26.3%
  • Vox17.3%
  • Sumar4.5%
  • Podemos3.7%

Instituto DYM

How foreigners are seen

Openness in Spain

Published surveys only. Each figure shows its source and year.

Who's welcomed

Share of adults in Spain with a favourable opinion of each country Pew asked about. A view of a country, not of its people.

Welcoming index

Derived from the two published measures below, not a survey result. Each input keeps its own year.

73.3/100

Mean of Gallup 7.44 of 9 (2016), rescaled to 82.7, and MIPEX 64 of 100 (2024).

The measures behind it (shown separately)

What expats say

InterNations Expat Insider 2025: rank out of 46 destinations, 1 is best.

  • Ease of settling in13 of 46
  • Culture and welcome7 of 46
  • Local friendliness17 of 46
  • Finding friends13 of 46

InterNations, Expat Insider 2025

All desks side by side

Pick a measure. Countries without a published figure show Unknown and sit at the end; they are not counted in the average.

Average of the 20 of 22 desks with a figure: 63.3 of 100. Unknown left out: Georgia, Thailand.

  1. Canada85.72024
  2. United States80.72020
  3. Portugal78.42023
  4. Australia76.82019
  5. Spainthis desk73.32024
  6. Ireland72.52023
  7. Netherlands69.92023
  8. Switzerland65.12019
  9. Italy65.12023
  10. United Kingdom64.72020
  11. Germany64.62023
  12. South Korea64.12020
  13. France63.62024
  14. Japan59.22019
  15. Mexico51.92019
  16. Malta51.52024
  17. Cyprus50.62024
  18. United Arab Emirates46.72019
  19. Greece43.12024
  20. Estonia38.72024
  21. GeorgiaUnknownMIPEX does not cover this country, so the index cannot be built.
  22. ThailandUnknownMIPEX does not cover this country, so the index cannot be built.

In plain words

  • Expats ranked Spain 13 of 46 for ease of settling in (2025); its best sub-score was culture and welcome at 7.
  • Of the 3 countries Pew asked about here, China drew the most favourable opinions (37%, 2025).
  • Favourable opinions of United States went from 52% in 2019 to 31% in 2025 (Pew).

Sources and method are listed under “How we source this” at the bottom of the page.

What it means for you

What it means for you

Only figures with a source and a date. Each source is listed under “How we source this” at the bottom of the page. Anything not listed here is not on file.

  • Work

    Royal Decree 126/2026, in the official gazette, sets the interprofessional minimum wage for 2026 at 1,221 euros a month, or 40.70 euros a day. The annual comparison floor printed in the same article is 17,094 euros.

  • Taxes

    Article 90 of the consolidated value-added-tax law, last updated on the official gazette page on 28 February 2026, says the tax is charged at the general rate of 21 percent, except where the next article says otherwise. Value-added tax is the tax on most goods and services.

  • Benefits

    Royal Decree 241/2026 prints the 2026 minimum for a contributory retirement pension. A holder aged 65 with no spouse, counted as a one-person household, is listed at 13,106.80 euros a year. Economic effects run from 1 January 2026.

Sources, licences and image credits

Data

  • Wire (public RSS feeds): X, The Local Spain, El País English Spain.
  • Polls: Instituto DYM Source.
  • The left bar is the share of valid votes on the Interior provincial block for 23 July 2023. The right bar is seats on the 4 September 2026 table divided by 350. They are different counts.
  • Editorial economic-competence gauge, not a court and not a Nobel. Six axes: energy, hiring, capital, building, hours in work, red tape. Scores are a judgement from public records of this term and the last — not a bribery charge, not a voting recommendation.

Survey sources

  • Spain — Gallup Migrant Acceptance Index 2016: Gallup. Neli Esipova, John Fleming and Julie Ray, “New Index Shows Least-, Most-Accepting Countries for Migrants”, Gallup, 23 August 2017. The full-country table lists Spain at 7.44. The survey-methods note says the index was asked in 138 countries in 2016, so the year used here is 2016. A later Spain score was not on that page. Source. Gallup allows a contextual citation when the publication date and a link are given. The table and graphics are not reproduced.
  • Spain — MIPEX overall score 2024: MIPEX. Migrant Integration Policy Index, Spain country page, headed 2024. “MIPEX Score (with Health): 64.” The page also says Spain scores 64 on the 100-point scale. Source. The overall score is cited from the country page. The report is not reproduced.

Image credits

  • Popular Party mark — Nation Runner · Original geometric mark. Not an official party logo. Public domain. Source
  • Socialist group mark — Nation Runner · Original geometric mark. Not an official party logo. Public domain. Source
  • VOX mark — Nation Runner · Original geometric mark. Not an official party logo. Public domain. Source
  • Plurinational SUMAR mark — Nation Runner · Original geometric mark. Not an official party logo. Public domain. Source
  • Mixed group mark — Nation Runner · Original geometric mark. Not an official party logo. Public domain. Source
  • Republican group mark — Nation Runner · Original geometric mark. Not an official party logo. Public domain. Source
  • Junts per Catalunya mark — Nation Runner · Original geometric mark. Not an official party logo. Public domain. Source
  • EH Bildu mark — Nation Runner · Original geometric mark. Not an official party logo. Public domain. Source
  • Basque Nationalist Party mark — Nation Runner · Original geometric mark. Not an official party logo. Public domain. Source
  • Flag of Spain — RelShot 263 and Echando una mano · Public domain Source
Questions the desk actually answers

FAQ

Questions the desk actually answers

Is the Spain desk live on Nation Runner?
Yes. It draws the Congress group table updated on 4 September 2026, the Interior vote sheet for 23 July 2023, and the Prime Minister, Congress president, and Popular group deputy named on official pages. It is an editorial dashboard, not an official record.
Which culture figures does the Spain desk show?
Gallup’s Migrant Acceptance Index for Spain in 2016 (7.44 out of 9) and the Migrant Integration Policy Index score of 64, with 2024 printed beside that score. The Pew Spring 2025 row already on the perceptions page is cited there.
Does the money tab score Spanish political financing?
No. Zeros mean the access scale is not filled. A zero is not a finding that a party has no donors.
How we source this

Seats: Congress group table, updated 4 September 2026. Votes: Interior sheet, 23 July 2023. Ballot support: CIS studies 3571 and 3577. Offices: the composition page, the Congress presidency page, and the control-session note of 9 September 2026. Culture: Gallup 2016 and the Migrant Integration Policy Index headed 2024.

How foreigners are seen

Pew asks adults for their opinion of a country. That is a view of the country, not of its people or of any visitor. We never estimate a pair that was not asked; it shows as unknown.

InterNations ranks come from expats living in the country (46 destinations in 2025). Gallup's Migrant Acceptance Index runs from 0 to 9. MIPEX scores integration law and policy from 0 to 100.

Welcoming index: the mean of the Gallup index rescaled to 0–100 (score ÷ 9 × 100) and the MIPEX overall score, rounded to one decimal. It is derived, not a survey result, and the two inputs come from different years. If either input is missing the index is unknown: it is not estimated, it sorts last and it is left out of the average.

What it means for you

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