Spain's Sánchez calls snap election for 29 November

Spain's prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, has decided to call an early general election for 29 November, after Congress rejected two housing decrees put forward by his government, Euronews reported.

The lower house voted down the two decree-laws on Friday, defeating measures the government had drawn up in response to the housing crisis. They fell despite last-minute negotiations to secure the support needed.

After the defeat, Sánchez took a short period of reflection, holding talks over the weekend with ministers and senior figures in his Socialist Party (PSOE) to weigh up whether to see out the parliamentary term or send voters to the polls.

The announcement follows a particularly difficult few months for the coalition government, marked by its struggle to muster support in Congress, court cases involving figures close to the PSOE and a severe migration crisis in Ceuta.

The Spanish enclave in North Africa came under unprecedented pressure at the end of July, when tens of thousands of migrants crossed the border from Morocco. The scale of the arrivals forced the government to deploy extraordinary resources and, weeks later, to declare a "situation of interest for national security" for the first time in Spain's democratic era, in order to strengthen coordination between the different levels of government.

The handling of the crisis has sparked a fierce political row. The conservative People's Party (PP) and far-right Vox have accused the government of reacting too late and have questioned its policy towards Morocco, while Sánchez has defended the actions of the security forces and his government's response, according to Euronews.

On top of the situation in Ceuta, several corruption cases and other legal proceedings involving people in the prime minister's political circle have emerged, which the opposition has used to step up the pressure on the government.