A general election will be held in Spain no later than 22 August 2027 to elect the members of the 16th Cortes Generales under the Spanish Constitution of 1978. All 350 seats in the Congress of Deputies will be up for election, as well as 209 of 267 seats in the Senate.

Following the 2023 election, Pedro Sánchez was able to get re-elected as prime minister of Spain and form a third government—formed by the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) and Sumar—with the support of Together for Catalonia (Junts), in exchange for a controversial amnesty law. Tensions with the opposition People's Party (PP) and far-right Vox dominated Sánchez's third term, as well as an unraveling international situation (with the ongoing war in Ukraine, the Gaza war, the tariff policy of the second Trump administration, and the 2026 Iran war and its economic impact), economic growth amid a rising cost of living (together with an affordable housing crisis), and a number of corruption probes affecting the government (mainly, the Koldo case). Also notable were the alleged mismanagements of a number of environmental disasters by PP-controlled administrations (particularly the 2024 Valencian floods and the summer 2025 wildfires), sexual misconduct allegations affecting various parties and institutions, and increased scrutiny on the quality and condition of public services (particularly following the 2025 Iberian Peninsula blackout and the 2026 Adamuz and Gelida railway accidents).

While Sánchez has admitted to having twice hesitated whether to resign—once in April 2024, amid a judicial probe into his wife; and then in July 2025, after his second-in-command in the party, Santos Cerdán, resigned over the Koldo case—he has voiced his intention to run for a new term as prime minister in the next general election, which he has scheduled for 2027.

The 2023 general election saw Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and his ruling coalition—formed by the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) and Sumar—re-elected with the support of Together for Catalonia (Junts), in exchange for a controversial amnesty law for those tried and convicted for events linked to the 2017–2018 Catalan crisis and the 2019 protests. This deal sparked widespreadprotests, some of them violent in the days before Sánchez's investiture, seeing clashes near the PSOE's national headquarters in Madrid and the involvement of far-right groups.

Sánchez’s third term was marked by a booming economy and falling unemployment, but also by rising living costs and an affordable housing crisis. During this period, a constitutional reform in 2024 introduced people-first language, and a bipartisan agreement ended the five-year blockade of the judiciary council. Political tensions with the People's Party (PP) and far-right Vox intensified, with the government accusing both of "lawfare", disinformation and harassment campaigns. These tensions peaked in April 2024, when Sánchez briefly considered resigning after a controversial judicial investigation into his wife, Begoña Gómez, over alleged influence peddling and embezzlement accusations brought by the far-right-linked group Manos Limpias (Spanish for "Clean Hands"). Public services also came under scrutiny after a major blackout across the Iberian Peninsula in April 2025 and repeated failures in Spain's rail network, especially following the Adamuz and Gelida accidents in January 2026 which together caused 47 deaths.

On the international stage, Sánchez's government had to deal with continued EU support for Ukraine in its war against Russia, the tariff policy of the second Trump administration, and Spain's role within NATO amid a debate over the five percent defence spending hike. Its strong criticism of the Gaza genocide led Spain to recognize Palestine and worsened relations with Israel, sparking pro-Palestinian protests and calls to boycott Israeli participation in international competitions such as the 2025 Vuelta a España and Spain's RTVE joining others' bid to withdraw from the Eurovision Song Contest 2026. The 2026 Iran war saw a clash between Sánchez and U.S. President Donald Trump over the use of joint military bases at Rota and Morón, reviving the "No to war" slogan previously used during the 2003 invasion of Iraq. At the same time, the Spanish government sought to address the war's economic impact.

Several political scandals affected the PSOE government during this period, including the Koldo case—linked to former transport minister José Luis Ábalos and party official Santos Cerdán—and judicial probes involving Sánchez's brother (for alleged cronyism) and the Spanish Attorney General, Álvaro García Ortiz (for an alleged data leak in a judicial investigation affecting the opposition). Other probes into alleged irregularities in public procurement affected the SEPI holding company and ADIF (Spain's railway infrastructure manager), leading to arrests and police raids. The PP was also hit by scandals, including an investigation into the partner of Madrilenian president Isabel Díaz Ayuso for alleged tax fraud, forgery and organized crime; renewed attention on corruption cases from the Rajoy era such as the Montoro and Kitchen cases (alleged cash-for-favours, influence peddling, lobbying, police misconduct, espionage and deep state networks operated by the finance and interior ministries); as well as a resume padding controversy. Between 2024 and 2026, several parties and institutions were also shaken by sexual misconduct allegations that led to multiple resignations and dismissals, with the political backlash often compared to the MeToo movement.

Relations between the PP and Vox remained ambivalent, as the two parties competed electorally while still depending on each other to govern at all levels of administration. Vox leader Santiago Abascal forced the break up of all PP–Vox regional governments in July 2024 over a dispute on the distribution of unaccompanied migrant minors. Alleged crisis mismanagement by PP-controlled administrations—including environmental disasters such as the 2024 Valencian floods (which led to the resignation of the regional president, Carlos Mazón) and major wildfires in August 2025; as well as public outrage over the Andalusian Health Service's mishandling of breast cancer screening—was seen as contributing to Vox’s rise in opinion polls, helped by growing anti-political sentiment, denialism, conspiracist ideation and fake news. Immigration (particularly following the 2025 Torre-Pacheco unrest), and renewed attempts to restrict abortion, further pushed the PP closer to Vox's agenda and raised doubts about Alberto Núñez Feijóo's leadership. At the same time, internal conflicts in Vox led to the expulsion of several high-profile figures as the party tried to broaden its appeal among working-class voters.