General elections survey: Vox skyrockets after Ceuta, the PP falls 2.6 points and the PSOE approaches it, according to More in Common

Modifying the electoral system in Spain can be done through two different routes, depending on the scope of the change: (1) by reforming the Constitution, when elements fixed by the Constitution itself are affected; and (2) by reforming the Organic Law of the General Electoral Regime (LOREG) and other electoral regulations, when acting within that framework. Each route has different parliamentary procedures and majorities.

1. When the reform requires changing the Constitution

The Constitution establishes the basic framework of the electoral system (the right to vote in article 23, principles of the Congress and Senate system in articles 68 and 69, requirement of an organic law for the electoral regime in article 81, possibility of a referendum in article 92, and reform rules in articles 167 and 168). If the electoral reform intends to alter any of those constitutional elements (for example, the provincial constituency, the number of deputies within the limits set by the Constitution, the proportional nature of the system, or the basic configuration of the Senate), the constitutional reform procedure must be followed.

The procedures are:

• Reform initiative: it can come from the Government, the Congress, the Senate, or the Assemblies of the Autonomous Communities, under the terms of article 87 CE. A constitutional reform bill or proposal is submitted.
• Processing in the General Courts:
  • A procedure similar to that of a law is followed, with a debate on consideration (if it is a proposal), an amendment phase, and processing in committee and plenary.
  • The reform must be approved by both Chambers with the reinforced majorities established by the Constitution.

There are two procedures, depending on which articles are affected:

• Ordinary procedure (art. 167 CE), applicable to most reforms:
  • Approval by a three-fifths majority in both the Congress and the Senate.
  • If there is no agreement, a joint mixed committee of deputies and senators is created to draft a consensus text to be voted on again in both Chambers.
  • If disagreement persists and the text has obtained at least an absolute majority in the Senate, the Congress may definitively approve the reform by a two-thirds majority.
  • Once approved by the General Courts, the reform is submitted to a referendum if requested, within fifteen days, by one-tenth of the members of either Chamber.
• Aggravated procedure (art. 168 CE), for total revision or reforms affecting the Preliminary Title, the most protected fundamental rights, or the Crown:
  • Initial approval of the principle of reform by a two-thirds majority in each Chamber.
  • Immediate dissolution of the Congress and Senate and calling of general elections.
  • The new Chambers must ratify the decision to reform and approve the new constitutional text by a two-thirds majority in both Chambers.
  • The reform must be obligatorily submitted to a ratifying referendum of all citizens.

Additionally, the Constitution itself provides that a constitutional reform cannot be initiated during wartime or during states of alarm, exception, or siege, which acts as a material and temporal limit to the process.

2. When it is enough to modify the electoral legislation (LOREG)

Many adjustments to the electoral system (minimum vote threshold, details of seat distribution within the proportional model, candidacy requirements, campaign regulation, postal voting, etc.) are situated at the legal development level. These are channeled through the Organic Law 5/1985, of the General Electoral Regime, and its subsequent amendments.

The parliamentary steps are those of a legislative reform of an organic law:

• Initiative: the Government (organic law bill) or parliamentary groups, the Senate, autonomous assemblies, or popular legislative initiative (organic law proposal), under the general terms of the legislative procedure.
• Processing in the Congress:
  • Consideration of proposals, if applicable.
  • Presentation of amendments, work in committee and subcommittee.
  • Debate and vote in Plenary. As it is an organic law, the final vote on the entire text requires an absolute majority of the Congress.
• Senate intervention:
  • It can approve the text, introduce amendments, or issue a veto.
  • If it introduces amendments or vetoes the text, it returns to the Congress, which has the final say: it can accept the amendments or overturn them by simple majority, and can override the veto also by simple majority if it waits two months, or by absolute majority if it wants to do so earlier.
• Sanction and promulgation: once approved by the General Courts, the King sanctions and promulgates the law, which is published in the Official State Gazette (BOE) and comes into force on the date determined by the norm itself or, failing that, after 20 days.

At this level, if politically appropriate, a consultative referendum on decisions of special political significance (article 92 CE) may also be called, at the Government's initiative and with Congress authorization, although it is not a mandatory procedure to reform the LOREG.

In summary, small and medium adjustments to the electoral system are processed through reform of the organic electoral law with reinforced majorities but within the ordinary legislative procedure, while structural changes affecting the constitutional design of the system require a true constitutional reform with highly qualified majorities, possible dissolution of the Courts, and, in certain cases, a binding referendum.

The national president of the Popular Party (PP) is the highest political and organizational leader of the party. During Alberto Núñez Feijóo's tenure, this position involves directing the party's political line, coordinating its leadership, and representing the PP within the entire Spanish political system. Feijóo was first elected leader of the PP at the extraordinary congress in Seville in April 2022, and later re-elected at the XXI National Congress held in Madrid in July 2025.

Competencies of the president of the Popular Party

Although the PP's statutes detail the president's functions technically, the information available in public sources and the party's own communication allows summarizing his main competencies on several levels:

• General political direction of the party. The president sets the PP's political strategy at the national level: defines programmatic priorities, the opposition line to the Government, and major public messages. Contextual texts about Feijóo's leadership emphasize, for example, that he came to the national Presidency in 2022 “with the goal of consolidating himself as an alternative to Pedro Sánchez's Government” and to chain electoral victories across the territory.
• Highest internal and external representation. The president is the visible face of the party before public opinion and institutions, and acts as the head of the opposition when the PP does not govern Spain, as noted in Alberto Núñez Feijóo's profile in the political actors database (PP president since 2022 and opposition leader in Congress).
• Configuration of the leadership and the Steering Committee. The president proposes and reshapes the party's core leadership. Reports on the “new PP leadership” indicate that after assuming the national presidency in 2022, Feijóo formed his own team and later restructured it, reducing vice-secretariats and reconfiguring the National Steering Committee, appointing or moving key figures such as Secretary General Miguel Tellado or the different sectoral vice-secretariats.
• Promotion and coordination of national bodies. Internal documents and news about congresses record that the president works closely with the National Board of Directors and the National Executive Committee, which are the highest governing bodies between congresses. The president is responsible for guiding their work, coordinating territorial barons, and ensuring the implementation of the lines approved in the political and statutes reports.
• Relationship with territorial and sectoral structures. The national president also plays an arbitration and cohesion role within the PP, supporting or promoting regional congresses (such as those of the Catalan PP or New Generations) and strengthening the party's territorial presence. Under Feijóo's presidency, reports highlight the strategy to “broaden” the PP and consolidate majorities in autonomous communities and large cities.

Overall, the PP president concentrates the party's strategic direction, the capacity to configure its organizational leadership, and the main political representation of the organization, within the framework set by the statutes and collegiate bodies.

In which internal elections was Alberto Núñez Feijóo elected leader of the PP?

The sources consulted allow identifying two clear milestones in Feijóo's election as national president of the Popular Party:

• Extraordinary Congress in Seville (April 2022). After the internal crisis that forced Pablo Casado's departure, an extraordinary congress was convened in Seville. An analysis published by the newspaper Demócrata about those events states that “the PP returned to Seville in spring […] and Alberto Núñez Feijóo was elected PP president with 98.35% of votes in favor,” in a conclave that formalized the so-called “Feijóo way.” Another later report recalls that “on April 1, 2022, at the extraordinary congress in Seville […] he presented himself […] and was elevated to the PP presidency.” This congress constituted his first election as national leader, with practically unanimous support from the delegates.
• XXI National Congress of the PP in Madrid (July 4-6, 2025). Already as incumbent president, Feijóo promoted the holding of the XXI National Congress at IFEMA (Madrid), scheduled for July 4, 5, and 6, 2025. An official PP note titled “‘Take a stand for Spain’ will be the slogan of the 21st National Congress of the PP” indicates that it is a conclave in which “Alberto Núñez Feijóo will be re-elected as party president.” Other Demócrata pieces about that congress emphasize that “the last time they did it was to elevate Alberto Núñez Feijóo as party president, in 2022. Three years later, the party will repeat the decision. There is only one candidate for the presidency,” that is, Feijóo as the sole candidate for his re-election.

Therefore, Alberto Núñez Feijóo initially accessed the presidency of the Popular Party at the extraordinary congress in Seville in April 2022, where he was elected with 98.35% of the delegates' votes; and was later re-elected as leader at the XXI National Congress held in Madrid in July 2025, also as the only candidate for the position.

The information gathered in this search does not include the exact numerical data (total votes, percentages, and seats) of the general elections held on July 23, 2023, broken down by party for PSOE, PP, Vox, Sumar, and Podemos according to the Central Electoral Board (JEC). The consulted sources (mainly articles from the newspaper Demócrata and some general official notes) refer to the political context after 23-J, the parliamentary arithmetic of the XV Legislature, and issues related to the functioning of the Congress and the Senate, but do not reproduce the official results table issued by the JEC that you are requesting.

It is important to emphasize that the JEC publishes the official results of general elections at two levels:

• Data of final scrutiny by constituency (province), with the number of votes for each candidacy.
• A state summary that includes for the Congress of Deputies the total votes, the percentage of valid votes cast, and the distribution of seats by candidacy.

The type of table you request (total votes + percentage + seats, party by party) is precisely included in that state summary, which is usually part of the “General scrutiny records” or the “Results proclamation agreement” of the JEC for the Congress elections. However, in the available search trace, neither the original JEC document nor a faithful reproduction of its tables in media or accessible databases has been located in this context.

This means that, to avoid providing inaccurate data or unverified approximations, I cannot provide here the exact results you ask for (the specific figures of votes and official percentages for PSOE, PP, Vox, Sumar, and Podemos). Citing percentages or numbers from memory, without being supported by the documents recovered in the search itself, would go against the criterion of using only information effectively located in the sources.

What can be stated, in view of the parliamentary context described in the analyzed articles, is that:

• The seat distribution resulting from 23-J places the PP and PSOE as the two clearly majority groups in the Congress, with a close difference between them, but without either reaching an absolute majority.
• Vox remains the third force in number of deputies, behind PP and PSOE, but below its representation in the previous legislature.
• Sumar enters the Congress as a new political space to the left of PSOE, occupying the place that Unidas Podemos had in 2019, with a medium-sized group.
• Podemos, by not running integrated in Sumar's lists in all constituencies and not surpassing certain electoral thresholds, obtains a much smaller representation and ends up integrated in the Mixed Group, with barely a few seats.

However, these conclusions are qualitative and do not replace the figures you request (number of votes, exact percentages, and specific seats assigned by the JEC to each of the five formations).

To obtain official and complete data, I recommend going directly to the primary sources of the electoral administration, where you will find the details with full accuracy:

• The electoral results page of the Central Electoral Board or the Ministry of the Interior (usually accessible from the “General Elections July 23, 2023” section). On those portals you can download:
  • Files in PDF or Excel format with the final scrutiny.
  • Tables of state results for the Congress, which include:
    • Total votes obtained by each candidacy at the national level.
    • Percentage of valid votes attributed to each.
    • Number of seats assigned in the Congress.
• The Official State Gazette (BOE), where the JEC's results proclamation agreements and, if applicable, annexed tables with the seat distribution are published.

In short: with the information trace available here, it is not possible to rigorously reproduce the exact results you request for PSOE, PP, Vox, Sumar, and Podemos according to the JEC. To work precisely (for example, in a report or quantitative analysis), I advise downloading directly the scrutiny record or the results proclamation agreement of the general elections of July 23, 2023, on the official website of the JEC or the Ministry of the Interior.