Congress Approves Majority Vote on Sánchez's Resignation

PP, VOX, Junts and UPN form a majority to vote on Sánchez's resignation

Pedro Sánchez will not resign. That is the prevailing view dominating the political landscape, and it's not because he lacks sufficient votes against him. The Congress has processed the vote on his resignation for the upcoming plenary session, according to reports circulating among those covering the government: PP, VOX, Junts, and UPN would gather enough majority to compel the President to step down. The Speaker of the Chamber, Francina Armengol, reportedly admitted the initiative after several points from a previous Junts motion were added to it and subsequently rejected.
If the arithmetic holds up, the outcome is a majority mandate without immediate legal effect.

What Congress can and cannot force

The nuance matters, and greatly. Such a vote, even if passed, is not equivalent to a motion of no confidence or a confidence vote: it does not oblige the President to dissolve Congress or present his resignation. What it does, however, is officially record that the Chamber has withdrawn its confidence in the occupant of La Moncloa.
Much of this political standoff is built upon that distance between the gesture and the legal consequence. Feijóo already obtained a majority by formally calling for a confidence vote, and Sánchez himself laughed in the chamber after losing the vote. In politics, laughter is rarely a minor detail.

The encirclement widens: from Junts to PNV

Junts demands that Sánchez abandon the presidency and proposes that it be Congress itself which selects a new head of the Executive, an exit that in practice would lead to a different government without going through the ballot box. ERC, Podemos, and other allies have simultaneously hardened their criticism regarding the cases surrounding the PSOE, and Vozpópuli notes the PNV's willingness to break with Aitor Esteban to force the President's departure. The map of support is narrowing on the flank supporting the government, not just in opposition.

Laughter and the battle of narratives

Parallel to this, opposition-friendly media is waging its own war of framing. The Objective publishes an analysis with six pieces of evidence claiming to prove that the rescue attempt for Plus Ultra should never have peine. El Debate signs a column interpreting Sánchez’s laughter after losing the vote as the mask of a dangerous temperament. These are published opinions and information, not proven facts, and they should be treated as such: in a week like this, the narrative carries as much weight as parliamentary arithmetic.

Two theories on the end of the legislature

Some maintain that Sánchez will hold out until 2027 and his plan involves rebuilding majorities with mobilized voters and institutional control. Another, minority current goes further, speaking directly of an authoritarian drift—a thesis unsupported by any data and which should be read as mere opinion. The most widespread hypothesis, however, is the most prosaic. He does not resign because he can, and until Congress converts the gesture into a consequence, resignation remains a headline, not a fact. The clash between PP and Junts over who capitalizes on the offensive adds noise to a scenario that has yet to be scripted.

The question, therefore, is not whether there will be a vote, but if it will serve any purpose. Junts has placed on the table the option of Congress choosing another president; PP and VOX have the numbers to demand accountability. With these options, an early departure is probable, but not inevitable. No one should write down the end of a legislature that is still being written.