Post-2015 election developments Initial positions As the
2015 Spanish general election produced a
very fragmented parliament, a multi-party agreement was expected to be required in order for a stable government to be formed. Caretaker
prime minister and
People's Party (PP) leader
Mariano Rajoy said that he would try to form an administration, whereas
opposition and
Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) leader
Pedro Sánchez advocated for a change in government. Two possible coalitions based on the
left–right political spectrum, the
right-wing (PP with
Citizens (C's))—and the
left-wing (PSOE with
Podemos), were both short of an overall majority—set at 176 seats—by themselves. There was speculation around four outcomes: • A PSOE, Podemos and C's alliance, comprising 199 seats. • A PSOE, Podemos and
United Left (IU) coalition—comprising 161 seats—together with smaller regional parties. • Parliamentary deadlock lasting for two months from a first failed investiture ballot, leading to a new general election to be held at some point throughout 2016. As a result of the arithmetical infeasibility of an alliance with C's, Rajoy intended for reaching out to the PSOE to at least secure their abstention in his investiture, even suggesting giving them out some additional posts in the Congress bureau. This possibility was not contemplated by Sánchez, but he and his party avoided making any comments on the formation of an alternative left-wing government that included Podemos and its regional alliances. Some within the party—such as
president of Castilla–La Mancha Emiliano García-Page—pointed out that, even if the PSOE obtained Podemos's support, it would not muster a majority without that of other parties as well and advocated for the party to remain in opposition. Podemos leader
Pablo Iglesias laid out stiff terms in order to consider starting negotiations with any party, including the
protection of rights within the Constitution,
electoral reform, the introduction of
recall elections and a new territorial agreement that recognized
Spain as a
plurinational state and allowed for the recognition of a
self-determination referendum in
Catalonia. The party's policy secretary,
Íñigo Errejón, also expressed their initial refusal to support Sánchez as a prospective candidate for prime minister, suggesting instead to look for "an
independent candidate, above parties". C's leader
Albert Rivera had promised during the campaign that he would not be actively supporting either a PP or a PSOE-led government, but that his party could consider an abstention to allow the formation of a
minority PP cabinet and that it would oppose any alliance in which Podemos was involved.
PSOE's stance As a consequence of the election, the PSOE was placed in a kingmaker position. Several regional PSOE leaders rallied around
Andalusian president Susana Díaz and warned Sánchez against any agreement with Podemos, seeing the conditions put forward by Pablo Iglesias in the election aftermath as "unaffordable". After a meeting with Rajoy on 23 December, Sánchez opposed any deals with the PP and voiced his preference to probe alternative alliances instead, while also rejecting a previous proposal from Albert Rivera of a deal between PP, PSOE and C's—explicitly excluding Podemos—that promoted "the regeneration policy reforms that Spain needed".
Mariano Rajoy and PSOE leader
Pedro Sánchez in their post-election meeting on 23 December 2015. Sánchez also faced criticism from within his own party in light of his election result—the worst in the PSOE's recent history up to that point—as his critics aimed for a party congress to be held in February to vote on a new leadership. Díaz—who had become the leading figure of the PSOE's internal opposition to Sánchez—sought to become the new party leader and to eventually lead the PSOE into a new general election, wanting to limit Sánchez's pact policy through the resolutions of the party's federal committee. Concurrently and in spite of his strong contestation within the party, Sánchez suggested delaying the PSOE leadership election until a new government was formed or a new election was held, with critics claiming that the election should be held "when it is due". In order to force Sánchez into the negotiating table, PP, Podemos, and C's took advantage of the growing rebellion within the PSOE. Pablo Iglesias questioned that people within the PSOE "wouldn't allow Pedro be prime minister", noting that Sánchez "does not control" the party, while warning of the dangers of a hypothetical "three-way grand coalition" between PP, PSOE and C's that Podemos would oppose. Rivera pointed out that his party was waiting "for [the PSOE] to solve its internal affairs", whereas the PP reaffirmed its claim to lead the next Spanish government by seeking a multy-party pact with PSOE and C's. PSOE's spokesperson
Antonio Hernando confirmed on 5 January that the PSOE would reject the PP's proposal of a grand coalition. On 30 January, amid discussions between the different party factions on the party congress's date—with those supporting Sánchez seeking to delay it until June and his critics wishing to hold it sooner, in April—an agreement was reached for a new leadership to be elected through a party
primary election on 8 May, with Sánchez announcing his will to seek re-election. The party congress to ratify the result of the primaries was scheduled for 20–22 May.
PP scandals was forced to renounce as caretaker
industry minister after he came involved in the
Panama Papers scandal. As negotiations for the formation of a new government stagnated, corruption scandals shook Rajoy's party and made it harder for him to secure support for an investiture vote. Two weeks before the election, it was unveiled that PP
deputy Pedro Gómez de la Serna had been paid
kickbacks worth millions of euros through a business he shared with another PP member, Spain's
ambassador to
India Gustavo de Arístegui, who resigned shortly thereafter. Gómez de la Serna, who was re-elected as deputy in the 20 December election, refused to vacate his seat, resulting in him being expelled from the PP and forced into the Mixed Group in Congress. On 22 January 2016, the PP became the first party to ever be judicially charged in a corruption case—a legal figure passed into law by Rajoy's cabinet itself in 2015—after being accused of destroying former treasurer
Luis Bárcenas's hard drives in 2013, allegedly containing information related to the party's illegal funding. The same day, a member of
deputy prime minister Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría's staff was forced to resign from office after it the unveiling of his involvement in a case of fraudulent awarding of public contracts. In early February, an illegal financing network was uncovered affecting the
Valencian branch of the PP, with dozens of party officials and city councillors either indicted or arrested. Judicial investigation also pointed to former long-time mayor of
Valencia and one of the PP's most lauded figures,
Rita Barberá, as a participant in the scandal. On 11 February, evidence suggesting that the kickbacks-for-contracts scheme of the Púnica scandal could also involve an illegal financing of the
Madrilenian PP led to the resignation of party's regional leader
Esperanza Aguirre three days later. Further scandals affecting the party were unveiled throughout April. The Spanish
National Police Corps were sent to register the town hall of
Granada—the fourth largest city of
Andalusia and nineteenth of Spain—after the city mayor and his government—from the PP—were accused of having been involved in an urban planning corruption scandal. Concurrently, the Spanish Treasury fined former prime minister
José María Aznar for evading tax payments through a secret society. Finally on 15 April, interim
industry minister José Manuel Soria was found to be involved in the
Panama Papers scandal, owing to the leaking of information earlier that week revealing that he and his family had maintained several
offshore societies on
tax havens during the previous decades. Soria initially claimed the falsehood of such claims, but during the ensuing days reports kept leaking that contradicted his initial clarifications. After it was revealed that he had owned one of such societies on
Jersey until 2002 during his term as mayor of
Las Palmas, he was put in a critical political position over his confusing and changing explanations on the issue, which ultimately led to his renounce.
Candidate Pedro Sánchez (PSOE) Rajoy's withdrawal On 12 January, PSOE and C's reached an agreement to elect former
lehendakari Patxi López as new
president of the Congress, leading the PP to reluctantly withdraw its candidate over his lack of support and cast blank ballots instead, whereas Podemos proposed
Carolina Bescansa for the post with the support of
United Left–
Popular Unity (IU–UPeC). The next week,
King Felipe VI started a round of consultations with the different political parties in order to nominate a candidate for prime minister, but privately acknowledged to party representatives that he thought that a Rajoy's investiture was unlikely. Rajoy initially showed his willingness at attempting an investiture run despite not having any support other than that of his own party, whereas Albert Rivera sought to mediate an agreement between PP and PSOE. 's offer of a
coalition government to the PSOE. As the round of consultations drew to a close on 22 January, Iglesias made a surprise announcement by offering Sánchez to form a coalition government with himself as his deputy, while also laying out a proposal for the future's cabinet composition. Sánchez welcomed the offer but refused to give a formal answer to it, having insisted earlier that "times should be respected" and that Rajoy "should have the first shot", while noting that "policies should come first, then the government's composition". Upon knowing of Iglesias's offer to Sánchez, Rajoy turned down Felipe VI's nomination as candidate on the grounds that there was now "a verified majority against him", arguing that he would not be running "just to let the times die out". After Rajoy's withdrawal, a new round of consultations was announced with Sánchez as the most likely nominee. The PSOE—which had intended for Rajoy to go through a failed investiture in Congress—suddenly found itself obliged to either accept or reject Iglesias's offer, which some PSOE high-ranking members regarded as being aimed at "humiliating" and destabilizing them. Pablo Iglesias celebrated that his proposal had caused Rajoy to step back and urged Sánchez to "rise to the challenge" by accepting it. On the other hand, the PSOE attacked Rajoy and dubbed his decision as "irresponsible" while regarding Podemos's offer as "blackmail". Subsequently, Sánchez also declined to go to an investiture vote until Rajoy made his try or, alternatively, stepped back definitively, though he would later add that he would accept the King's nomination should the PP reject it again. On 2 February, Felipe VI formally tasked him with forming a government, which he accepted. Sánchez announced that he would try to muster parliamentary support for a successful investiture vote and gave himself a negotiation period of "three weeks to one month". The investiture debate was set to start on 1 March, with the first ballot being scheduled for 2 March and the date of a hypothetical new election being automatically set for 26 June. Rajoy warned against a possible PSOE–Podemos alliance and expressed his wish for Sánchez to fail in his attempt so that he could explore a three-way "moderate" alliance with PSOE and C's to be led by himself. It was reported that the PP favoured going into an early election as the party confirmed that it would vote against any candidate other than Rajoy.
Negotiations and PSOE–C's alliance After Sánchez's nomination, Podemos and C's expressed their intention to vote against any pact that included each other. Pablo Iglesias asked Sánchez to not seek "impossible pacts" including both of them while insisting on his own offer, whereas Albert Rivera did not rule out the possibility of a PSOE–C's agreement and voiced his wish for the PP to not vote against Sánchez. PSOE started talks with C's, seeking to turn the latter's intended abstention into a "yes" vote, with Rivera not rejecting an eventual incorporation into a PSOE-led government as negotiations progressed. A PSOE–C's pact would have still required further support as it only mustered 130 out of 350 seats, with it being opposed by all three Podemos,
Compromís and IU, with whom the PSOE was yet to start talks. Talks between the PSOE and several minor parties led to an agreement with
Canarian Coalition (CCa) on 19 February, with a decision still pending on whether this would materialize in a support vote or in an abstention.
Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC) and
Democracy and Freedom (DiL) announced that they would oppose a PSOE-led government unless it recognized Catalonia's sovereignty by allowing an
independence referendum to be held, something the PSOE rejected. The
Basque Nationalist Party (PNV) had already discarded supporting Rajoy and conditioned a support for Sánchez on a new political status being granted for the
Basque Country. In January,
EH Bildu had hinted at being willing to "get involved in the investiture process" if there was "a real offer of change". The PSOE was said to have offered a cabinet post for IU leader
Alberto Garzón in a meeting on 8 February; IU was reported as having rejected the offer, being more concerned about programmatic measures and in preventing "a government of the right-wing", as well as in reaching an understanding with other similarly aligned forces. signed a government accord on 24 February 2016 (pictured, both men in May 2019). On 15 February—and without any formal talks between the two parties having started yet—Podemos publicly outlined a detailed government programme to the PSOE, which included a proposal for a self-determination referendum to be held in Catalonia. Sánchez criticized Iglesias for not having informed him of such proposal first and for "wanting to negotiate through press briefings", rejecting Podemos's document. Iglesias replied by demanding a meeting with Sánchez to tell him what the PSOE wanted to negotiate, with the latter answering that he would only meet Pablo Iglesias "to sign an agreement". Both Iglesias and
Mònica Oltra—from Compromís—stated that if PSOE leaders sought to govern alone "they should openly say so", but that "[Sánchez's government] will be a plural one or it won't be". During a
European summit on 18 February, Rajoy was recorded telling
British prime minister David Cameron that he expected the government formation process to result in a fresh election, noting that he thought that Sánchez would probably lose the vote on 2–4 March. Through Alberto Garzón's mediation, several meetings were finally agreed between PSOE, Podemos, Compromís and IU, starting on 22 February. Concurrently with those talks, PSOE and C's secretly kept their negotiations ongoing, with a final agreement said to be expected within 24–48 hours. The four-way meeting between the left-aligned parties ended with the most troubling matters being postponed for the next day, but all four were reportedly hopeful of an overall agreement being reached. However, while Podemos reluctantly accepted the PSOE keeping its negotiations with C's, it refused to support Sánchez's investiture if he reached a government agreement with this party. On the late night of 23 February, PSOE and C's struck a government deal, which was unveiled the next day under the name of "Agreement for a Reformist and Progressive Government" ()—and informally dubbed as the "Pact of El Abrazo" or "The Hug Agreement" (), in reference to it being signed in the Constitutional Room of the Congress, presided over by a large picture by
Juan Genovés named as "El Abrazo"—and which saw both Sánchez and Rivera inviting all other parties "from the left and the right" to join it. It was presented as an "ambitious" programme that comprised constitutional, electoral, social, tax and labour reforms, anti-fraud and
anti-corruption measures or a "democratic regeneration" plan—including the enforcement of compulsory
party primaries—among others. However, the signed document—which did not clarify whether C's would be entering the government if successful—was revealed to include many points that were contrary to Podemos's election manifesto, such as the absence of a specific repealing of the labour reforms of 2010 and 2012, the explicit opposition to any self-determination referendum in Catalonia and the negation of many of the tax hikes proposed by Podemos, little public investment, a lack of prohibition of the so-called "
revolving doors", etc. As a result, all three Podemos, Compromís and IU broke off negotiations with the PSOE on 24 February, amid accusations to the latter of "dishonesty" and putting all talks on hold until after Sánchez's investiture vote. Concurrently, Rajoy said that the pact between PSOE and C's was "useless", noting the shortage of parliamentary support for the alliance and reiterating that the PP would vote against Sánchez's investiture regardless of his choice of partners. Despite these hostilities, the PSOE was still hoping to lure the PNV into the agreement. On 26–27 February, the PSOE submitted its agreement with C's to the vote of its membership, which approved it by a wide margin (79–21%), albeit on a 51.7% turnout. The vote received wide criticism for the question's wording, as it was regarded as generic and did not explicitly name either C's or the specific document agreed with them. The result was widely interpreted as an effort from party members to avoid disavowing Sánchez just days ahead of his investiture attempt, rather than genuine support for the pact with C's. Both signatories soon clashed on the document's interpretation. In an effort to court Podemos, the PSOE claimed that the pact did provide for the repealing of several controversial laws passed during Rajoy's tenure, a claim rejected by C's on the grounds that the written document only mentioned limited modifications on specific issues. Rivera said that he "could not prevent Pedro Sánchez from saying what the accord doesn't state", later adding that his compromise was with the signed document, which initially only provided for C's support to Sánchez's investiture on 2–4 March. C's was said as being willing to probe the possibility of an alternative pact with the PP if Sánchez "crashed" in his attempt. On 29 February, hours before the start of Sánchez's investiture debate, the PSOE sent a last-minute offer to Podemos and the other left-wing parties to collect their support, but Podemos leaders rejected it and accused the PSOE of sending a "copy-paste" of the PSOE–C's document with minor modifications and of ignoring almost all of their demands. C's also questioned Sánchez for trying to unilaterally change their alliance's terms in order to desperately obtain the support of other parties, stating that their pledged support was "for the signed deal only" and that "any changes would have to be reviewed so as to see what stance is adopted by the party".
First investiture attempt Sánchez's investiture debate was scheduled to start at 16:30
CET (
UTC+1) on 1 March with Sánchez's speech, to be followed by the replies of all other parties and a first round of voting on 2 March, with a second and final ballot on 4 March if required. The PNV decided against supporting Sánchez previous to the debate's start, following mutual disagreements over the previous weekend on an alleged PSOE counter-offer—whose precise content was not disclosed—which PNV spokesman
Aitor Esteban said to be "so unacceptable" that his party had chosen to arrange it as if no answer had been received. CCa spokeswoman
Ana Oramas also announced that she would be opting to abstain on the basis that "there is no credible or viable majority to govern". In his speech on 1 March, Sánchez outlined a government programme limited to most of the proposals contained in his accord with C's, asking for Podemos to vote for "a government of change", attacking the PP and thanking Rivera's party for their support. He stated that, even if he did not get enough votes for being elected prime minister, he was "proud to have helped unlock the political situation". In his rejoinder the next day, in what was reported as one of his "harshest" speeches ever, Rajoy resorted to sarcasm and aggressive irony and ridiculed the PSOE–C's accord—dubbing it as a "most solemn agreement without the slightest relevance", "a farce", "imposture", "a theatrical representation" or "a
vaudeville"—while accusing Sánchez of "trying to stage a personal promotion campaign" ahead of a hypothetical new election and of not having been willing to discuss anything with him, leading to the engagement turning into a mutual exchange of accusations where both Rajoy and Sánchez blamed each other for not allowing the formation of a government. The debate also showed the PSOE and Podemos delving into their differences, with Pablo Iglesias accusing Sánchez and his party of "betraying the Socialist principles" and of "capitulating" to C's. Albert Rivera defended his alliance with the PSOE "despite their mutual differences", addressing the PP's benches—from where several shouts of "traitor" were uttered—and urging them to "have the courage and bravery" to "set aside" Rajoy's era. With only 131 voting in favour and 219 opposing in the second round of voting, Sánchez's investiture became the first one ever to result in a defeat for the nominee, with his candidacy failing to obtain the required majorities in both ballots. The PSOE had hoped to persuade Podemos into either supporting or abstaining in the second ballot, but gave up on their attempt after the harsh debate between Sánchez and Iglesias. The party did try for others to abstain on the 4 March vote so as to reduce the large number of "no" votes, but only managed to sway CCa into voting for Sánchez as a political gesture with no practical effects whatsoever in the final result.
Road to a new election Investiture aftermath After Sánchez's failure, King Felipe VI opted to put any further attempts on hold until a workable government proposal was presented to him. Both PSOE and C's showed their willingness to maintain their alliance ahead of future negotiations, announcing that those would be done with both parties simultaneously on the basis of their agreed document, whereas Podemos and IU rejected resuming talks with the PSOE as long as its deal with C's was maintained. The PSOE increasingly saw any kind of agreement with Podemos as "nigh to impossible"—or even desirable—and began readying itself for the hypothesis of a new election. Previously on 5 March, Rajoy had staged what was regarded as his first pre-election rally, asking Sánchez to abstain and let his party govern "as the most-voted one", but acknowledging that the PSOE was unwilling to "come to terms" with him and that he had lost the key support from C's. As a result, political pundits started to point out that the PP was gearing up itself for a new election campaign. rejected nominating a new prime ministerial candidate until a workable government proposal was presented to him. The PSOE suggested that they could withdraw their support from Podemos-held local councils as a way of pressure, to which Iglesias replied that trying to threaten them was "the wrong way to go" and reminding the Socialists that they were also dependent on Podemos's support in several
autonomous communities. Concurrently, Rajoy stated on 7 March that he would be calling Sánchez and Rivera to meet them and re-state his idea of a grand coalition. Two days later and pressured by C's, the PSOE agreed to hold a meeting with the PP—a change from their previous approach of refusing to sit down with the PP to negotiate anything—but announced that they would not negotiate the accord's contents and aimed for an unconditional PP's acceptance of them. As a result, the PP rejected the projected meeting over its unwillingness to consent to a PSOE–C's government. Between 7 and 9 March, Podemos saw the resignations of several members in its Madrilenian regional branch, amid accusations to the party's national leadership of exerting excessive power. Podemos accused the PSOE of attempting to magnify their crisis to pressure them into supporting Sánchez, but the situation aggravated on 15 March after Iglesias unilaterally dismissed Sergio Pascual—the party's organization secretary and close ally to the party's second-in-command
Íñigo Errejón. Pascual's dismissal was justified by Iglesias over an alleged "lack of neutrality" in his territorial management, but the move forced Errejón out of public view for two weeks, leading many to speculate about an internal "purge" and a possible power struggle within Podemos between both leaders over the party's stance to Sánchez's investiture, which Errejón was said to favour in order to avoid a new election. After physicist
Pablo Echenique was appointed as Pascual's replacement on 2 April, and with Errejón reappearing on 29 March to explain that—despite existing differences—his allegiance to Podemos's project and Iglesias was total, the crisis seemed to alleviate. The dormant rebellion within the PSOE resumed after Sánchez failed investiture. Some sectors within the party favourable to Sánchez sought to delay the congress that had been scheduled for 8 May as
Susana Díaz had allegedly confessed to her close aides that she was determined to dispute the party's leadership. As party members—including Díaz herself—did not see it as desirable to open the issue of succession amid ongoing inter-party negotiations and with a new election looming for 26 June, as decision was taken on 2 April to indefinitely delay the leadership race "until the formation of a new government".
New round of negotiations Podemos sought to avoid being singled out as responsible for the triggering of a new election by adopting a strategy of rapprochement and reconciliation with the PSOE, with a brief meeting with Sánchez on 30 March leading Iglesias to announce that he was willing to give up the post of deputy prime minister in any prospective PSOE–Podemos coalition government as a way to ease relations between the two parties. Podemos also accepted three-way talks with C's, although the PSOE and Podemos still differed on their visions of the role that Rivera's party should be playing: Podemos still refused to enter or support any government in which C's was directly involved but accepted that they could work together on specific issues, whereas the PSOE maintained its wish for a "broad spectrum government" with the support of all three parties, although without clarifying what kind of government was being sought or which ones of the parties would be part of it. The three parties agreed to hold a meeting on 7 April to start talks. In the run up to the three-way meeting, C's repeatedly warned that it would terminate its alliance with the PSOE if the latter tried to negotiate with Podemos on its own. Further, the former was seen as distancing itself from the PSOE after abstaining during a parliamentary voting on 5 April involving the paralyzation of the enforcement of Rajoy's education law (the LOMCE), a key issue which had been included within the PSOE–C's agreement. This had seen Pablo Iglesias highlighting the similarities between his party's programme and that of the PSOE while commenting that the two parties' differences with C's made any prospective three-way alliance very difficult. On the day before the meeting, a harsh confrontation between Iglesias and Rivera during a Congress plenary—in which the former told the latter that "it is difficult to agree a progressive government with intolerant people"—evidenced the tense relationship existing between their two parties. On 5 April, C's demanded being given cabinet posts within a PSOE-led government—the first time it did so—and demanded an unconditional Podemos's support to it, in a move seen as a provocation to the latter so that they rejected any agreement with them. . Negotiations came to a standstill after the three-way meeting on 7 April, as PSOE and C's unsuccessfully tried to persuade Podemos to subscribe their accord. C's stated that forming a pact with Podemos was "impossible and unworkable", while the PSOE said that they would not be renouncing their alliance with Rivera's party, pointing to the differences between Podemos and C's as the main obstacle for reaching an agreement. The next day, Pablo Iglesias revealed that it had been C's the one refusing the concessions that Podemos had made in the meeting and that they had been unwilling to accept any kind of involvement from Podemos in any prospective government, also adding that Sánchez had been effectively "kidnapped" by Rivera's party and was unable to negotiate on his own. As a result, Iglesias announced that the PSOE–C's pact would be put to a vote among Podemos's membership on 14–16 April. Subsequently, on 11 April, the PSOE put down any further talks with Podemos on the grounds of a "mistrust" on Iglesias, not seeing any chances for a successful agreement to be reached. Commentators noted in the wake of the three-way negotiation failure that a PP–PSOE grand coalition was the only viable—even if highly unlikely—option left. Rajoy insisted on his proposal of a coalition based on the
existing German model to be led by himself while again rejecting the PSOE–C's accord. The PP also commented on C's arithmetic irrelevance, with contacts between both parties having remained cold-tempered following Rivera's alliance with the PSOE and the harsh Rajoy–Rivera debate during Sánchez's failed investiture. Sánchez expressed a willingness in entering talks with the PP only for the latter to subscribe his pact with C's, stating that the PSOE would "never" support a PP-led government. Sectors within the PP deflected making any offer until Sánchez's acceptance to enter into formal talks, while hinting at him not being the best PSOE "interlocutor" and preferring another person to negotiate with Rajoy so as to "stop the recreation, theaters and games", though it was said that Rajoy would have been willing to have Sánchez as his deputy in a grand coalition scenario. On 11 April, PSOE's spokesperson Antonio Hernando replied to this that "Mr. Rajoy can save any offer for himself, if he had planned in making one". C's leaders congratulated themselves for "having thwarted a
populist government in Spain"—in reference to Podemos's presence within any prospective cabinet—with Albert Rivera reiterating his idea of "an alliance between the main constitutionalist parties". C's started probing a possible pact with the PP, not discarding the possibility of supporting a candidate other than Rajoy, who—under Rivera's view—"was not able to lead a corruption and blackmail-free cabinet" because of his ties to disgraced PP members such as Luis Bárcenas or Rita Barberá—then under investigation for
fraud and
money laundering. He also warned that his agreement with the PSOE would be "void" in the event of a new election being triggered.
Final positions Felipe VI had announced a new and final round of consultations for 25–26 April to check whether a candidate would be able to muster enough support to be elected. If no nominee emerged, then he would let the deadline expire on 2 May, dissolve the
Cortes Generales and call
a fresh election for 26 June. Concurrently, Podemos leaders hoped to use the membership vote on the PSOE—C's pact as a way to pressure the PSOE into coming to terms with them, with the unexpectedly high turnout attracting media attention as it exceeded the one in the PSOE's 27 February vote. The vote saw a rejection of the PSOE–C's accord with an 88–12% result and a support to a PSOE–Podemos–Compromís–IU alliance by 92% to 8%. The landslide result of the vote put down any option for an
in extremis agreement, as it showed that neither PSOE nor Podemos were willing to yield to the other's demands. On 21 April, C's leader Albert Rivera called for PP and PSOE leaders to step back and support an
independent candidate as prime minister, to which Rajoy replied that Rivera "should do it himself first"—stepping back—while revealing that he would inform the King on his own lack of support because of Sánchez rejection of his grand coalition proposal. On 22 April,
economy minister Luis de Guindos was recorded as saying to
Eurogroup president Jeroen Dijsselbloem that a new election was all but certain, with the PP hoping that a similar result to December would see "common sense" prevailing and the PSOE reluctantly agreeing to an alliance with them after the summer. Two days later, Rajoy remarked that his party was "ready" for a new electoral campaign and blamed both PSOE and C's for the election repetition, accusing both of "having made [any agreement] impossible". On 25 April, the King's round of consultations turned into a mere formality to certify the failure in negotiations and the triggering of a new election for 26 June. Congress speaker Patxi López had the Cortes's dissolution protocols prepared already from the day the King announced the final round of consultations on 12 April, with the dissolution decree having been prepared since at least three days before such round.
Last effort and deadline On 26 April, Compromís made a last-ditch effort to force left-wing parties into coming to terms, sending PSOE, Podemos and IU a proposal comprising 30-condition agreement "reviewable every six months". The PSOE accepted most of the points but turned down the idea of a coalition, suggesting instead a two-year cabinet headed by Sánchez and including independent members. Compromís leader
Mónica Oltra—one of the main promoters of the agreement—replied to the PSOE that their counter-offer was "insulting" because of attempting to buy them into supporting a minority Sánchez cabinet "having just 90 deputies", despite her party having offered "a perfectly-acceptable deal" to "all parties committed to change". Sánchez conceded that he would not be running for investiture under these conditions and acknowledged that Spain was "doomed to a new election", while putting the blame for it on both PP and Podemos. Pablo Iglesias said that he would have accepted Compromís's offer and that his party had made "enough concessions already", blaming Sánchez for his "unwillingness to negotiate". Rajoy argued that it was better to have a new election rather than seeing any of Sánchez's government attempts succeed. Rivera commented on the proposal that he would not get his party "into last-hour trouble", and that "a three page-long agreement for a four-year government" that was to be formed "by six different parties" was "not even worth looking at". Later that day, Patxi López announced that the King would not be nominating anyone, thus confirming that the Cortes Generales would be dissolved on 2 May. On 30 April, C's announced that its alliance with the PSOE expired as a result of a new election being called. As a result, some within the PSOE—such as
Aragonese president Javier Lambán—urged the party to "abandon" the accord with C's on the eve of the new election once it had proven to be fruitless and counterproductive. The deadline was reached on 2 May, the
11th Legislature of Spain—the shortest in democracy—came to a close and the Cortes Generales were dissolved by the King the following day. ==Second formation round (June–October 2016)==