Expansion | Feijóo and Abascal seal an agreement in the Senate: Vox withdraws in six provinces and the PP in three

As of October 26, 2026, the alliance of PSOE, Frente Amplio, and various territorial forces is in the electoral phase, not yet constituted as a parliamentary group. The agreement, called Senate of Progress, is finalized to run jointly in the November 29 elections. Its parliamentary translation will depend on the results and the constitution of the new Senate (Demócrata, October 16).

What has been agreed

The pact was announced on October 16, coinciding with the deadline to communicate electoral coalitions. It brings together PSOE with Izquierda Unida, Movimiento Sumar, Más Madrid, and Ceuta Ya, as well as territorial agreements with Compromís, Chunta Aragonesista, Batzarre, and Més. It should not be interpreted as an alliance that automatically includes all the territorial formations usually mentioned in political debate (Candidate agreement).

Initial information placed its scope in 43 provinces and 47 constituencies. Later information, from October 23, spoke of 45 constituencies and a distribution of 70% of the positions for PSOE and 30% for Frente Amplio and its allies, without these leading the provincial candidacies. The published figures are not identical: it is advisable to distinguish the initial announcement from the subsequent development of the lists (Distribution of positions).

Current status

The deadline for submitting candidacies closes on October 26. Therefore, the current situation is that of an agreed coalition that is finalizing its lists before the provincial electoral boards; not that of a new functioning senatorial majority (Presentation and Aragonese agreements).

• In León, the candidacy has already formalized its list and reserves the second position for Laura Fernández Bermejo, from Frente Amplio (León list).
• In Ávila, the announced agreement places Carlos Montesinos, from PSOE, first; Cristina Pindado López-Samaniego, from Frente Amplio, second; and Juan Carlos del Bosque Portero, from PSOE, third (Ávila list).
• In Aragón, PSOE occupies the first and third positions; CHA, the second in Zaragoza and Teruel; and IU, the second in Huesca (Distribution in Aragón).

What it implies for future groups

The relevant parliamentary consequence is in article 27.3 of the Senate Regulations, reproduced by Demócrata: “senators who have run in elections as part of the same party, federation, coalition, or grouping may not form more than one parliamentary group.” This prevents presenting the joint candidacy and assuming that their elected members can later freely separate into different groups (Parliamentary consequences).

That journalistic article anticipates a shared group and a common spokesperson. It is a description of the planned arrangement for the next legislature, not a parliamentary constitution already produced. It is also not enough to state that the Socialist Group has disappeared today or that the definitive name of the future group has been approved (Group forecast).

In short: formalized electoral coalition, candidacies being presented, and future parliamentary organization pending. The Cortes have been dissolved since October 6 and the constitution of the new Senate is scheduled for December 23; the composition of the outgoing Chamber does not represent the seats of Senate of Progress (Senate information).

The president of the Partido Popular has as main functions representing the party, coordinating its political action, presiding over its governing bodies, and executing its agreements. Their specific powers mainly come from the PP Statutes, not from a law that specifically regulates that position. Therefore, their position of highest responsibility does not allow them to replace the competencies of collegiate bodies.

1. Applicable legal framework

The Organic Law 6/2002, of June 27, on Political Parties, establishes the general framework: democratic organization and functioning, governing bodies elected by free and secret suffrage, and a general assembly of members, directly or through delegates, as the highest governing body.

The law requires that the statutes determine the governing bodies, their competencies, and election procedures. In the PP, the specific reference is article 44 of the 2025 Statutes, approved at the XXI National Congress. This provision places the president as the highest responsible of the party in their corresponding territorial scope.

2. Main functions of the national president

• Political and legal representation. Holds the representation of the PP before third parties. They are the main representative figure of the organization, although they must act respecting legal and statutory limits.
• Presidency of governing bodies. Presides over the National Board of Directors and the National Executive Committee. They have a casting vote when there is a tie in their sessions: this is a power to resolve that tie, not an additional ordinary vote.
• Execution of agreements. Takes the necessary measures to fulfill and develop the agreements of the Congress and the corresponding governing bodies, as well as those adopted by bodies of superior statutory competence. Their responsibility includes turning collective decisions into political and organizational action.
• Political coordination. Coordinates the political action of the party within their area of responsibility. This function allows articulating a common action, without eliminating the own attributions of other bodies.
• Authorization of official statements. Must authorize statements made in the name of the PP that affect or politically commit the party. This is control over the official position of the organization, not a general power over any personal opinion of its members.
• Proposal of appointments. Proposes to the Executive Committee the appointments of the secretary general, general coordinator, deputy secretaries general, coordinators, secretaries, and director general of Finance and Organization. Also proposes, if applicable, the president and members of the Electoral, Rights and Guarantees, and Membership Committees. The distinction is important: proposing does not mean unilaterally appointing.
• Presidency of parliamentary groups. Is president of the PP groups in the Congress, the Senate, and the European Parliament, according to their respective regulations. This condition does not eliminate the functions of their spokespersons and internal bodies.

3. Limits of their competencies

The president is not a body placed above the National Congress nor has unlimited powers. They must respect the congress agreements, the competencies of the Board of Directors and the Executive Committee, the rights of members, and the internal procedures of participation, control, and guarantees.

Moreover, presiding over the PP does not by itself grant state government powers. The described faculties belong to the party organization; they should not be confused with those of someone holding the Presidency of the Government or another public office.

In summary, the president concentrates the direction, representation, and political coordination of the PP, but exercises these functions within a democratic and collegiate structure defined by law and statutes.

Vox did not obtain any directly elected senator in the July 23, 2023 elections in the six provinces where it now announces it will not present its own candidacy: Las Palmas, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Cádiz, Valencia, Castellón, and Balearic Islands. That is the result in seats; the individual votes and percentages of its candidates in those territories are not recorded in the consulted sources.

The withdrawal for the November 29, 2026 elections was announced on October 26 and affects those six provinces, according to information published by Demócrata about the agreement. It is advisable to separate, therefore, two issues: how many representatives it obtained then and how many votes its candidates received.

The 2023 result in those territories

The representation balance was the same in all six cases:

• Las Palmas: zero Vox senators elected at the polls in 2023.
• Santa Cruz de Tenerife: zero Vox senators elected at the polls in 2023.
• Cádiz: zero Vox senators elected at the polls in 2023.
• Valencia: zero Vox senators elected at the polls in 2023.
• Castellón: zero Vox senators elected at the polls in 2023.
• Balearic Islands: zero Vox senators elected at the polls in 2023.

This territorial balance coincides with the national one: Vox did not achieve any senator by direct election in that call. Its most voted candidates gathered more than 2.7 million votes across all constituencies, according to the precedent recorded by Demócrata about the 2023 results. That national figure does not allow deducing how many votes it obtained in each of the six provinces.

Why there is no single equivalent percentage as in the Congress

To answer precisely about electoral support, it is not enough to transfer Vox's percentage in the Congress to this comparison. In the Senate, people are voted for: each voter can mark several names, with a maximum depending on the constituency. In peninsular provinces, four senators are elected and each voter can select up to three candidates, as explained in the cited Demócrata analysis.

Therefore, a complete result should identify each Vox aspirant and their votes, or expressly use the most voted candidate as a reference. Adding the votes of all its candidates does not equal counting distinct voters, because the same person may have supported several. It would also be incorrect to present as a Senate result the percentage obtained by the Congress candidacy.

What the comparison allows to conclude

The conclusion supported by the available information is that Vox now renounces competing with its own candidacy in six provinces where it did not obtain direct representation in 2023. The announced withdrawal is distinguished from another part of the agreement: in fourteen provinces it will present a single aspirant, instead of not running, according to Demócrata's extension.

This describes the starting point in seats, but does not quantify the vote that could shift to other candidacies nor allows anticipating the distribution on November 29. For that comparison, the individualized votes from 2023 are missing. In summary: zero senators in the six provinces; the necessary breakdown to accompany that balance with territorial vote and percentage figures has not been located.