Four Constitutional Court magistrates’ mandates have expired, putting the Senate’s next balance in focus as appointments come due. PSOE and Frente Amplio will run together, while PP and Vox are still weighing how to coordinate.
The Constitutional Court’s renewal is overdue: four magistrates, including its president, have mandates that expired. The Senate appoints part of the Court, so the balance of seats after the 29 November election could affect who fills those posts. The four seats are held by Court president Cándido Conde-Pumpido, María Luisa Balaguer, Ricardo Enríquez and José María Macías. Their mandates expired in December 2025, but they remain in office until their successors are appointed.
The four mandates had been extended until 30 November, a day after the scheduled vote. The election call means the renewal must be postponed again. The Court currently has seven progressive magistrates and five conservatives; a conservative bloc reaching three-fifths of the Senate could shift that balance. As of 20 October, the Senate had not held a plenary vote on the four replacements, and the parties had not reached a final agreement on candidates. The Senate’s latest deadline, 30 November at 18:00, is for submitting candidacies, not electing the magistrates. The four outgoing members are split between the Court’s progressive and conservative wings: Conde-Pumpido and Balaguer are progressive, while Enríquez and Macías are conservative.
That threshold gives the Senate contest weight beyond the chamber’s role as a second legislative body. It also scrutinises the government and represents Spain’s autonomous communities. The chamber has a say in appointments to the Constitutional Court, the General Council of the Judiciary and the president of the Supreme Court. For the four Senate-quota Constitutional Court appointments, three-fifths of the full 266-member Senate, or 161 votes, is required. El Mundo reported that even in a favourable projection, PP and Vox with UPN could fall six seats short of that threshold.
Senate ballots work differently from those for Congress. Voters choose individual candidates on open lists and can mark up to three names, including candidates from different parties. In each province, the leading force usually takes three of the four directly elected seats; the runner-up gets the fourth.
That system rewards parties that coordinate their candidates. Of the 267 senators in this legislature, 209 were elected directly and 58 were appointed by regional parliaments. Their representation shows the balance of forces in each assembly.
PSOE and Frente Amplio will run together as Senado de Progreso. The Socialists will lead every list and keep the first three positions in provinces where PSOE won three Senate seats in 2023. Where it won two, Frente Amplio takes the third place; where PSOE won one, Frente Amplio or a regional partner gets the second.
PP and Vox are also exploring coordination. Their Senate pact discussions have included joint lists. Another option is for Vox to stand aside in some provinces, leaving more votes for the PP. The coalition-filing deadline has passed; lists must be submitted by the following Monday.
During the outgoing legislature, the PP used its Senate majority to launch seven inquiry committees and registered an eighth, into irregular mass entries of migrants in Ceuta. That inquiry did not begin before the election was called. The party also summoned Pedro Sánchez to testify, along with former prime minister Zapatero and former minister Ábalos.
Santiago Abascal urged the PP to cooperate to protect the Senate from left-wing agreements. Alberto Núñez Feijóo later said the parties were considering options, citing regional arrangements where PP and Vox govern together. If conservatives secured all four replacements, El Mundo reported, the change would shift the Constitutional Court’s balance toward a conservative majority.
