The 29-N calendar: 54 days, from the lists to election night

The Boletín Oficial del Estado published on 6 October the royal decree calling the general election of 29 November 2026, and every deadline runs from today. There are 54 days to go, eight weeks whose rhythm is set by the Ley Orgánica del Régimen Electoral General (LOREG): first the lists, then the campaign, then the polling silence and, finally, the ballot boxes.

A word on method before getting the diary out. Several of these dates are Su Momento estimates based on the deadlines set by the LOREG and will be confirmed when the BOE publishes them; among them, those for coalitions, candidacies and the postal vote. The rest, such as the start of the campaign or polling day, are already fixed by the royal decree. The table brings them all together in order.

From coalitions to final lists

The first deadline is short. Under the LOREG, parties wishing to stand in coalition must notify the relevant electoral board within ten days of the election being called, which puts the deadline at 16 October. This is when the map of party labels begins to take shape.

Then come the candidacies. Between the fifteenth and twentieth days after the election is called, that is, from 21 to 26 October, parties submit their lists to the provincial electoral boards. On 28 October they are published in the BOE and in each province's official gazette, so that they can be corrected or challenged, and on 2 November the boards proclaim the final candidacies. From that day on, the lists no longer change: whatever is printed is what will be on the ballot papers.

Campaign, post and blackout

The election campaign begins at 00:00 on 13 November, with the traditional midnight poster-hanging ceremony. That makes fifteen days of rallies and propaganda, ending at 24:00 on 27 November, because the law sets its close at midnight on the day before the vote. From that moment, no one may ask for votes.

Anyone who will not be at their polling station has two dates to note down. Applications for a postal vote can be made at any Correos post office or online with digital identification until the tenth day before the vote, 19 November. The envelope containing the vote must be handed in at Correos no later than the fourth day before, 25 November. Details of the procedure are in how to vote.

Between those two dates falls the last day on which polls may be published: 23 November. From 00:00 on 24 November the blackout laid down in article 69.7 of the LOREG begins, lasting until 20:00 on 29 November. At Su Momento, the polling average and the projection are frozen on that date, so the last figures seen here before the vote will be those of that day.

28 November is the day of reflection: no campaign events and no electoral propaganda, while polling stations get ready for the following day. It is the only date in the calendar on which the task is, precisely, that nothing should happen.

Election night

On 29 November polling stations open at 9:00 and close at 20:00. In the Canary Islands they close at 20:00 local time, 21:00 on the mainland, and no exit polls are published until then. The archipelago, with its one-hour time difference, thus has the final say on when the talking can begin.

From 21:00 mainland time, the Ministerio del Interior begins publishing the provisional count, which can be followed live on Su Momento. Anyone who would like notifications at each of these milestones can switch on alerts, and the full calendar will be updated as the BOE confirms the dates that are today legal estimates.