Spain’s two main right-wing parties, the People’s Party (PP) and Vox, agreed on Monday to coordinate their Senate bids in the 29 November general election to maximize their combined seat count.

Under the deal, Vox will withdraw its Senate candidates in six provinces—Las Palmas, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Cádiz, Valencia, Castellón and the Balearic Islands—while the PP will do the same in three: Gipuzkoa, Girona and Tarragona. In the Balearics, the PP will include a Vox-nominated independent candidate in second or third place on its list. Vox will also run just one candidate in 14 additional provinces, encouraging its voters to select that candidate plus two from the PP’s slate to concentrate the conservative vote.

The PP’s secretary general, Miguel Tellado, said the party had never won a Senate seat in Girona or Tarragona and had not done so in Gipuzkoa for 26 years, making the withdrawals a pragmatic choice. He framed the agreement as a response to a left-wing coalition between the Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE) and Frente Amplio, stating, “The understanding between the two parties aims to protect the centre-right majority in the Senate against the moves of the radical left to take it away.” Tellado added, “Sánchez has tried to alter the will for change through every means, and this time it has not worked.”

Vox’s statement echoed the justification, calling the pact a defense against “the attempt by Pedro Sánchez to assault the institutions of the hand of extremists and radicals.” The party’s secretary general, Ignacio Garriga, described the move as one of “utility.”

In the remaining 23 provinces, both parties will field full slates as usual. The agreement covers all three archipelagos, where Senate seats are allocated differently: three seats for the major islands and one for the smaller ones. The PP secured an absolute Senate majority in the 2023 election.

Tellado emphasized that the collaboration is limited to the Senate race and stems from a belief that it is “the best for Spain,” not the protection of any single person’s interests. He also noted that the pact does not guarantee Vox a separate parliamentary group, which requires a minimum of 10 senators.