Resignation after days of criticism

Montse Mínguez, spokesperson of the PSOE Federal Executive, announced on Friday, 16 October 2026 that she is stepping back from politics. She is giving up the Congress spokesperson post she has held since July 2025, the party's Secretariat of Studies and Programs, and her place at the head of the Lleida list for the general election set for 29 November. In a statement posted on X, she said she was leaving with a clear conscience and her head held high, and framed the decision as serving the collective interest of the party at a moment she called crucial for Spain and for social rights.

The partner's property business

The controversy took off when reports identified her partner, Sergi Vélez Viola, a Lleida businessman, as head of a real estate holding with investments valued at 6.2 million euros according to its latest balance sheet. The portfolio includes 30 flats for rent, and media reports said several tenants had been evicted. Speaking on the television programme Espejo Público, Mínguez defended the companies as compliant with the law and their tax obligations, and rejected the idea that the activity clashed with her political positions. The contrast with the PSOE's campaign against large landlords and "rentistas" drew sharp criticism, and an earlier parliamentary line of hers, asking whether the choice was between vulture funds and a social majority, was recirculated on social media. That remark predates her resignation and is not part of her announcement.

Party and political reactions

Before the resignation, Patxi López said Mínguez had never voted in favour of her partner's real estate interests, and Pedro Sánchez had also backed her while questioning the PP's own housing controversies. After the announcement, Sánchez said he had told her not to step down, and that she had cited personal reasons after the summit of EU leaders in Brussels ended. He expressed regret in these words:

“I feel sorry that Montse is unfortunately not continuing as a deputy because she is a great politician and a very good person.”

Miguel Tellado, the PP secretary general, said her departure showed that the PP "was right", arguing she had not left out of consistency but because she had been caught. Félix Bolaños, the minister of the Presidency, Justice and Relations with the Cortes, played down the property business and accused PP and Vox of using it to avoid a debate on housing. He said the matter was of little concern to most people:

“The controversy over her partner's business and an eviction case have absolutely no importance for the vast majority of people.”

Salvador Illa, president of the Generalitat and first secretary of the PSC, stressed the importance of the party's collective project.

Lleida list and Morón's candidacy

Cristina Morón, third deputy mayor of Lleida, will head the PSC list in Lleida. Jordi Hereu and Salvador Illa announced this at the PSC extraordinary National Council on Friday, which is to ratify the party's general election lists. Before the resignation, the PSC of the Lleida, Pyrenees and Aran comarcas had proposed that Mínguez lead the list again, with Amador Marqués, Lorena González and Xavier Oriol Granados alongside her. Her exit forced the party to change those plans.

Track record in Congress

Mínguez had headed the Lleida candidacy in the April and November 2019 elections and in 2023, winning a seat each time. She had been Congress spokesperson since July 2025, and the timeline below sets out these milestones.