2019–2020 Spanish government formation
Pedro Sánchez and Pablo Iglesias after signing the PSOE–Unidas Podemos pre-agreement for a coalition government on 12 November 2019 | |
| Date | 29 April 2019 – 7 January 2020 (8 months, 1 week and 2 days) |
|---|---|
| Location | Spain |
| Type | Government formation |
| Cause | Hung parliaments following the April and November 2019 Spanish general elections |
| Participants | |
| Outcome | April–September 2019:
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After the Spanish general election of 28 April 2019 failed to deliver an overall majority for any political party, extensive negotiations ensued to form a government in the country. As a result, the previous cabinet headed by Pedro Sánchez was forced to remain in a caretaker capacity for 254 days until the next government could be sworn in.
Despite the April 2019 election delivering a clear plurality for the left-of-centre bloc, with the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) and Unidas Podemos being able to command a majority together with regionalist and nationalist political forces, negotiations were frustrated as a result of conflicting positions between the two parties on the future government's composition. Both parties' opposite stances saw Pedro Sánchez trying and failing to pass an investiture vote on 23–25 July. Subsequently, a political impasse set in as King Felipe VI could not find a new candidate to nominate with sufficient parliamentary support. As a result, a snap election was held on 10 November.
The second election delivered a diminished plurality for PSOE and Unidas Podemos, which ended up accepting their shared responsibility and agreed on a joint government two days after the vote. A new investiture attempt on 5–7 January 2020 saw Sánchez re-elected as prime minister, leading to the formation of the first nationwide coalition cabinet in Spain since the Second Spanish Republic.