Sánchez places Margarita Robles second on PSOE Madrid list ahead of Marlaska

Robles takes the second slot in Madrid

Pedro Sánchez will lead the PSOE list for Madrid in the 29 November general election, and Defence Minister Margarita Robles will stand second, according to sources in the Madrid party federation cited by Europa Press. El País and El Periódico report that Félix Bolaños will take third place. Fernando Grande-Marlaska moves to fifth place, while José Manuel Albares swaps with him and will head the list for Cádiz. The Madrid executive was scheduled to approve the slate on the afternoon of 14 October, a step that sources said was not expected to produce surprises. El País also places Rafael Simancas, Borja Cabezón, Pilar Sánchez Acera, Aranzazu Figueroa and Manuela Villa on the Madrid slate.

The Ceuta dispute behind the move

Robles's promotion follows a public clash inside the government over the mass entry of more than 80,000 migrants into Ceuta at the end of July, according to RTVE. In RTVE's account she was the first minister to point openly at Morocco's responsibility for the influx. Marlaska maintained that the CNI intelligence service had produced no reports on the mass entry, while Robles said the service had warned of it a day earlier. El Mundo reports that declassified reports corroborated the warning. El Mundo also notes that the placement puts Robles ahead of Marlaska on the Madrid list. Marlaska's standing in Cádiz had suffered, according to El País and LaSexta, after several Guardia Civil officers died in the fight against drug trafficking.

Lists across the rest of Spain

Socialist sources cited by RTVE say Óscar Puente will head the Castilla y León list and Ana Redondo will be second. Milagros Tolón is tipped to lead the Toledo list, though that has not been confirmed. The Puertollano party has proposed Isabel Rodríguez to head the Ciudad Real list. LaSexta reports that Jordi Hereu will lead Barcelona, Elma Saiz the Pamplona list, and Arcadi España will be second in Valencia alongside Pilar Bernabé. El País counts eleven ministers in total on the national lists. Carlos Cuerpo will not stand but will take part in the campaign, while Óscar López, Diana Morant and Ángel Víctor Torres are absent because they will lead their regional parties in the May 2027 regional elections, according to La Vanguardia.

Steps before the vote

The Madrid list passes to the Federal List Commission at Ferraz, which reviews the names on Friday, 16 October. The Federal Committee then meets in Fuenlabrada on Saturday, 17 October, to ratify the 52 socialist candidacies across Spain, El Periódico reports. Sánchez is also holding rallies during the precampaign, including a third event in Zaragoza with Pilar Alegría, where the socialists lost a seat three years ago, according to El País. With the Albares swap the party expects to capitalise on the Gibraltar agreement signed in July, which El País says will benefit about 15,000 cross-border workers. The general election is set for 29 November.