Five subjects will shape the 19 November exchange. Alberto Núñez Feijóo is set to speak first, while Pedro Sánchez will close it after the order was decided by draw. The debate is scheduled for 22:00 at Studio A of Madrid Content City, operated by Secuoya Content Group, and will be moderated by María Casado, president of the Academia de Televisión. The PSOE and PP agreed on 10 November to hold the general-election debates through the Academy, which is organizing this face-to-face encounter.
RTVE says the debate will air live on La 1, Canal 24 horas, TVE Internacional and Radio Nacional de España (RNE), as well as on RTVE.es and RTVE Play. Pepa Bueno will present the public broadcaster’s special coverage before and after the debate, including analysis of the candidates’ interventions. The Academy is organizing the event; RTVE will carry it on its television, radio and digital services.
The topics range from Vivienda and Economía y Fiscalidad to Política Social y Servicios Públicos. The other blocks cover Lucha contra la corrupción y regeneración democrática, then Migración y política exterior. The agenda puts housing and economic policy alongside public services, corruption and foreign affairs in one debate.
Four days later, RTVE is due to broadcast a separate parliamentary debate at 22:00 on Monday 23 November, five days before the 29 November general election. Eight parties with a group in the Congress of Deputies are scheduled to take part at Prado del Rey in Madrid, with Xabier Fortes as moderator. The debate is set to last one hour and 30 minutes. It will have three thematic blocks: housing and the welfare state; the economy, employment and infrastructure; and the sociopolitical climate and potential governing agreements. Each participant will close with a “minuto de oro”.
The participants are Ester Muñoz for the PP, Patxi López for the PSOE, Pepa Millán for Vox and Emilio Delgado for Frente Amplio. Gabriel Rufián will represent ERC; Míriam Nogueras, Junts; Oskar Matute, EH Bildu; and Maribel Vaquero, EAJ-PNV. The debate will also air on La 1, Canal 24 horas and TVE Internacional, alongside RNE, RTVE.es and RTVE Play.
The arrangements follow disputes over the format and conditions of campaign debates. Libertad Digital reported that the PSOE had made Podemos’s participation conditional on Alvise taking part. The outlet also reported controversy over PSOE pressure to set the rules for electoral debates. This report on the campaign launch covers the wider campaign context.
RTVE says it will make its institutional signal available free of charge to media outlets and institutions that request it. They can use it to carry both debates in their own broadcasts.
