Europe’s last socialist heavyweight Sánchez calls snap Spanish elections for Nov. 29 – POLITICO

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez on Monday called a snap election for Nov. 29, a vote that could signal the demise of the EU’s last major Socialist government and remove one of Europe’s chief critics of U.S. President Donald Trump from the political front line. 

Already weakened by the corruption cases battering his Socialist Party, Sánchez took a further knock this summer when he faced fierce blowback over his handling of the ongoing migrant crisis in the North African exclave of Ceuta.

But the bitter topic of unaffordable housing — something that tops the list of voters’ concerns in Spain and which has sparked nationwide protests — has finally prompted Sánchez to call an early election in an apparent bid to seize a campaign battleground he believes could work to his advantage.