The dispute over where election debates should be held left two planned encounters without an agreed format. The PSOE argued that one should take place on public broadcaster RTVE; the PP objected to appearing there, saying the network was biased in favour of the government. On 9 November, the PP accepted the PSOE’s proposal for the Television Academy to organize the two principal debates, resolving the immediate dispute over whether RTVE would host either event.
The agreement covered a head-to-head between Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and PP leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo, proposed for 16 November, and a debate involving the main political forces on 26 November, three days before the general election on 29 November. Before the compromise, Feijóo had confirmed he would attend a Mediaset face-off on 16 November and an Atresmedia four-way debate originally scheduled for 26 November. The PP had wanted Mediaset to host the bilateral contest and Atresmedia the multi-party debate. Party sources said its acceptance of the Academy proposal depended on commercial media groups taking part in preparing the debates.
RTVE had proposed a separate three-debate schedule: a Sánchez-Feijóo head-to-head on 17 November, a debate among parliamentary-group spokespersons on 23 November, and a four-way encounter on 26 November involving Sánchez, Feijóo, Vox leader Santiago Abascal and Frente Amplio leader Ada Colau. The spokespersons’ debate was to include PSOE, PP, Vox, Frente Amplio, ERC, Junts, PNV and Bildu. RTVE planned to distribute its debates across La 1, Canal 24 Horas, TVE Internacional, RNE, Radio 5, Radio Exterior, RTVE.es and RTVE Play.
Atresmedia moved its four-way debate to 23 November after its original date clashed with RTVE’s schedule. The company said the PP, Vox and Frente Amplio had confirmed their attendance, while Sánchez had not. It kept its invitation to the PSOE candidate open and offered to arrange a separate head-to-head on a date acceptable to both major-party candidates. The Academy proposal later became the agreed route for the two principal debates, with commercial media groups involved in their preparation.
The PSOE had argued that one debate should take place on RTVE, whether the one-on-one or the four-way contest. It pointed to PP leaders’ participation in regional public broadcasters, including Juan Manuel Moreno Bonilla on Canal Sur and Isabel Díaz Ayuso on Telemadrid. The party also noted that Feijóo had taken part in debates on Galicia’s TVG when he was president of the Xunta. The PSOE called the PP’s opposition to an RTVE-hosted debate a veto and said the Academy arrangement would let interested media outlets broadcast the encounters freely.
Before the agreement, the PSOE proposed that the parties and media groups hold both debates at the Television Academy if the PP continued to reject RTVE as a venue. The Academy, chaired by journalist María Casado, had organized six election debates since 2008. Its past events included the 2008 debates between José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero and Mariano Rajoy, the 2011 debate between Rajoy and Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba, and debates associated with the 2015, 2016 and 2019 election cycles. Podemos backed the Academy proposal and offered to help make it happen.
The previous election cycle set a precedent for separate broadcasters: Sánchez and Feijóo met on Atresmedia in 2023, while RTVE hosted a four-way debate that Feijóo did not attend. The current disagreement over RTVE was separate from the political investigation covered in a Koldo case report. Feijóo also set a condition for an RTVE interview: it should be conducted by a staff journalist, not someone from an external production company hired by the broadcaster.
