Legislative elections in Spain: After the tragic train accident in Urda, Pedro Sánchez forced to “start from scratch”

July 2023. The PSOE, Pedro Sánchez's socialist workers' party, comes in second place in the early legislative elections in Spain. The Prime Minister, in office since 2018, is largely the loser, but he is still alive. Better still, he will be reappointed for a new mandate, the Popular Party (PP), a right-wing opposition party, failing to obtain an absolute majority in Parliament. The reputation of the “phoenix” is made for the fifty-year-old from Madrid.

“He particularly excels during electoral campaigns,” recognizes Jorge Resina, professor of political science at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid and specialist on the Spanish left, interviewed by 20 Minutes. It seems to transcend itself, to take on a new dimension. » But three years later, can the miracle still take place?

While new general elections are due to take place on November 29, Pedro Sánchez appears in an unfortunate position. After a difficult mandate without a sufficient parliamentary majority, the statesman must face the consequences of last week's tragic Urda train accident, which left 69 dead and plunged Spain into mourning and anger. “There is a before and an after the accident,” analyzes the professor. According to the average of polls published in El Periódico, the PSOE was credited with 28.2% of voting intentions before the accident. Since then, they have fallen to 25.2%. Opposite, the PP of Alberto Núñez Feijóo could obtain 32.2% of the votes, governing with Vox, a far-right formation around 20%.

Missing figures

The fatal train accident, the second in less than a year on the historic Madrid-Seville line, weighs on the socialist government. On Tuesday, the Minister of Transport, Óscar Puente, close to Pedro Sánchez and a PSOE figure, ended up resigning, cornered by criticism. A hard blow for the party, which loses one of its faces. “He was called upon to play a very visible role during the campaign but he became unusable,” underlines Jorge Resina, author of the book The left after the left, from where, to whom and how to speak (Ed. Comares, 2026). He can no longer even appear at a meeting because he no longer constitutes an asset, but a liability.”

Other incarnations will be missed like José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, former president of the party and head of government, key player in the 2023 comeback. He is today the subject of an investigation for influence peddling and corruption, like others close to the Spanish Prime Minister: José Luis Ábalos, his former right-hand man, Koldo García, his former advisor, Begoña Gómez, his wife and even David Sánchez, his brother. “Other figures who served in the government, who have since left the executive or were defeated in regional elections, cannot be highlighted either,” recalls the researcher. Like María Jesús Montero, defeated in Andalusia.

“Starting from scratch”

For Pedro Sánchez, it is therefore a question of “starting from scratch”, explains Jorge Resina. “Before the accident, the PSOE's political strategy consisted of increasing the number of appearances in shows and podcasts, particularly establishing itself in what we could call “politainment”, the fusion between politics and entertainment,” he explains. The tone of the campaign was optimistic, joyful, praising progressivism in the face of the conservatism and austerity of a possible coalition of the right and far-right government. “Everything collapses because, obviously, we can no longer go on set to joke or dance; we also cannot adopt a speech or an attitude that is too optimistic, when we find ourselves in a state of mourning,” continues the professor.