The Government of Pedro Sánchez will hold four Councils of Ministers during the election campaign for the general elections of 29 November. The schedule announced by the Minister of the Presidency, Félix Bolaños, includes two extraordinary meetings on Fridays, the days 13 and 20, which are added to the ordinary meetings scheduled for 17 and 24 November.
The comparison with the last five general election campaigns shows that no Executive had concentrated so many meetings during this period.
Legislative activity also shows differences. In those five election processes, only one royal decree-law was approved during the campaign: the one corresponding to the organization of the United Nations Climate Summit (COP25) in Madrid, in November 2019.
Councils of Ministers from the last five election campaigns
The Government of Mariano Rajoy held three meetings during the general election campaign of 20 December 2015: on the days 4, 11 and 18 December. The same number was recorded for the call of 26 June 2016, with Councils of Ministers on the days 10, 17 and 24 June.
Pedro Sánchez kept that schedule for the elections of 28 April 2019. During the fifteen days of the campaign, the Council of Ministers met on three occasions: on 12, 17 and 26 April.
The repeat election of 10 November 2019 had a particular feature: the campaign was reduced to eight days, between 1 and 8 November. During that interval, a single Council of Ministers was held, that of the last day of the campaign. The meetings of 11 and 31 October were outside the election period.
In the elections of 23 July 2023, the Executive held two meetings during the campaign, on the days 11 and 18 July.
| Elections | Campaign | Councils held |
|---|---|---|
| 20-D of 2015 | 4-18 December | 3 |
| 26-J of 2016 | 10-24 June | 3 |
| 28-A of 2019 | 12-26 April | 3 |
| 10-N of 2019 | 1-8 November | 1 |
| 23-J of 2023 | 7-21 July | 2 |
| 29-N of 2026 | 13-27 November | 4 scheduled |
One royal decree-law in five campaigns
The review of the rules approved during those same election intervals leaves an even more limited result. Only one royal decree-law approved within the five campaigns analyzed was approved.
It concerns Royal Decree-Law 15/2019, of 8 November, which established urgent measures to organize in Spain the 25th United Nations Conference on Climate Change. The regulation was approved by the Council of Ministers held that same day, coinciding with the last day of the campaign for the general elections of 10-N.
The text was published in the Official State Gazette on 11 November, after the elections, although its date of approval was 8 November. For this comparison, the date of approval of the regulation has been used, not the date of its publication. In the other four electoral processes, no royal decrees-laws were approved during the campaign.