Melilla’s single Congress seat will go to the candidate with the most votes on 29 November. Of the 63,968 people eligible to vote, 2,983 can take part in a national election for the first time. The city will also elect two senators.
Five parties have registered candidates: the Partido Popular (PP), the Partido Socialista Obrero Español (PSOE), Vox, Se Acabó la Fiesta (SALF) and Frente Obrero (FO). All operate nationally. Sofía Acedo Reyes is standing for the PP; Riduan Moh Abdelkader is the PSOE candidate, while José Miguel Tasende Souto is running for Vox. David Vidal Mas is the Frente Obrero candidate, and Susana Morillo Espinosa is standing for SALF. The Congress contest uses closed party lists.
The Senate contest works differently: voters choose individual candidates, and the two highest-polling candidates are elected. The listed candidacies are Fernando Adolfo Gutiérrez Díaz de Otazu and Isabel María Moreno Mohamed for the PP; Lucía Rubio Cruz and Manuel García Alonso for Senado de Progreso; and Sendy Nanwani Ramchand Ghanshandas and Emilio Buendía Pérez for Vox. Voters can select up to two names, from the same candidacy or different ones. Marking more than two invalidates the ballot, according to the Spanish Government’s election guide. Turnout will be closely watched: only 45.24% of Melilla’s electorate voted in the 2023 general election, the lowest figure recorded there for a national parliamentary election.
Neither localist party represented in the Melilla Assembly is contesting the vote. Coalición por Melilla (CpM) has urged its supporters to back the PSOE, citing the party’s position on Palestine. In the 2023 general election, CpM received 4.75% of the vote, its lowest share in a national election.
CpM president Mustafá Aberchán has appeared before the courts and declined to answer questions. He is also due to appear as a person under investigation on 8 January. The Santiago-Rusadir case concerns alleged vote-buying in the 2023 regional election. It examines possible offences, including criminal organisation and embezzlement, as well as alleged money laundering and illegal financing. The investigation began in April 2023 and was divided into six investigative pieces. A police analysis cited in reporting examines 371 minor contracts and a youth-employment subsidy, alongside alleged conduct linked to elections in 2019 and 2023. Aberchán was arrested in March 2024 and spent 72 days in pre-trial detention. The allegations remain under investigation; CpM has maintained that those investigated are innocent.
Somos Melilla has also decided against standing. Its leader, Amín Azmani, said the party would focus its efforts on the local elections in May 2027. He denied that another party had asked it to withdraw or that a hidden alliance was involved. The wider campaign has included debate over electoral cooperation, including left-party coordination. The PP has also appealed to voters not to divide the centre-right vote.
Migration and security have gained prominence since the migration crisis of 30 July. Melilla’s social policies department is caring for more than 330 migrant minors, compared with 84 allocated to the city. Acedo has called for faster family-reunification procedures and argued that Morocco is a safe country of origin. The PSOE supports regular migration routes and the distribution of minors under the reform of the Aliens Law; Vox advocates repatriation. Vox also puts the annual cost per child in care at €60,000, or €19.2 million for unaccompanied minors.
Relations with Morocco are another dividing line. Vox wants the return of Spanish border landmarks located in Moroccan territory and respect for the neutral zone. The PSOE favours diplomacy, while the PP calls for commercial normalisation and fulfilment of border commitments. Melilla business confederation president Enrique Alcoba told RTVE that neither the commercial customs post nor the travellers’ regime is operating. He cited a lack of trust and legal certainty.
Transport infrastructure is also on the campaign agenda. Melilla recorded 398,000 air passengers between January and September 2026, up 0.4% on the same period in 2025. Weather, particularly low cloud, accounted for 54.3% of flight cancellations; technical problems accounted for 38.5%. The PP proposes improvements to air links and infrastructure, alongside supplies of water and energy and telecommunications. Vox wants airport expansion and upgraded navigation aids. It also wants operating hours extended to midnight. PSOE secretary general in Melilla Sabrina Moh told RTVE that some approach systems cannot be installed because they would need to be placed in Moroccan airspace; alternatives are being studied.
Pensions are another campaign issue. More than 11,000 people in Melilla receive an average monthly pension of €1,619, according to Social Security figures. PSOE candidate Moh has pledged to continue uprating pensions in line with the Consumer Price Index. Acedo has rejected claims that pensions would stop rising and said the system should bring younger people and pensioners closer together.
Health and education remain under state management in Melilla and Ceuta: INGESA provides healthcare, while the Provincial Education Directorate oversees education. Local demands include more healthcare staff and shorter waiting lists. Schools are also seeking additional teachers and action on high classroom ratios.
