Alberto Núñez Feijóo is rationing the communication of the PP's lists for the general elections on November 29, and this secrecy has already triggered nervousness among deputies and senators who want to repeat their seats.
In the popular group, several voices privately admit that there is concern, although they also take for granted that the party leader will reserve the full names for the final stretch. For now, some movements are already known, such as Xavier García Albiol for Barcelona or Sergio Sayas as number two on the joint UPN and PP candidacy for Congress.
Candidacy deadlines set the pace and 'Génova 13' retains the final word
Feijóo's team, with Miguel Tellado as his main lieutenant, consults barons and territorial officials, but the final word remains in Génova. The leadership is now working with a very specific calendar: the deadline to register candidacies with the Electoral Boards opens on October 21, closes on October 26, and the definitive proclamation will arrive on November 2, with official publication the following day.
In parallel, Feijóo must fit the gender balance required by the Parity Law, which came into force in August 2024, and which obliges alternating men and women in candidacies.
Undersecretaries with options for 'number one': from Ezcurra's dilemma to the role of spokespersons
Feijóo plans to place almost all his undersecretaries as "number ones" in their respective provinces, as already happened three years ago: Miguel Tellado (A Coruña), Cuca Gamarra (Logroño), Ester Muñoz (León), Elías Bendodo (Málaga), Juan Bravo (Seville) and Carmen Fúnez (Ciudad Real).
The big question is what position Alma Ezcurra, undersecretary for Sectoral Coordination and PP MEP, will occupy, whom party voices place on the Madrid list that Alberto Núñez Feijóo will head.
Meanwhile, despite the PP leader's secrecy, the party believes that this time the deputy spokesperson of the Popular Group in Congress, Cayetana Álvarez de Toledo, may have a more prominent position. Some sources place her as a possible number two on the Madrid list, where three years ago she occupied the sixth position.
In addition, in the ranks of the PP, it is taken for granted that the Undersecretary of Economy, Alberto Nadal, will have a place on the Madrid list, as will the Undersecretary of Education, Jaime de los Santos, who already occupied the 12th position in that candidacy and could now climb positions. The Undersecretary of Culture and national spokesperson for the PP, Borja Sémper, who was the number three on the Madrid list, could retain the same position.
Madrid concentrates the most visible doubts and bets
In Madrid, one of the lists with the most changes, the party is considering important placements. Cayetana Álvarez de Toledo appears strongly for a more prominent position, even as a possible number two, although three years ago she occupied the sixth; PP voices describe her as a brilliant orator, but also as a "loose cannon."
It is also taken for granted that Alberto Nadal, former Secretary of State for Budgets and Energy, will have a place in the candidacy, as will Jaime de los Santos, while Borja Sémper could retain his 2023 position. In parallel, the list will lose names such as Pablo Vázquez, who recently passed away; Noelia Núñez, who resigned from her positions in 2025 due to the controversy with her resume; and Antonio González Terol, who moved to the private sector.
Barcelona and Valencia change the 'headliner' to measure vote leakage
Outside Madrid, the PP is preparing a change in two key places. In Barcelona, Feijóo has opted for Xavier García-Albiol instead of Nacho Martín Blanco, a decision read in the party as an attempt to attract votes closer to Vox due to the forceful tone of the mayor of Badalona on security and immigration.
In Valencia, where Esteban González Pons headed the list in 2023, the pool places Susana Camarero as a possible headliner, which would force her to leave the vice-presidency of the Valencian Government. In Alicante and Castellón, on the other hand, the PP foresees continuity with Macarena Montesinos and Alberto Fabra.
The same logic is repeated in other provinces. In A Coruña, Lugo and Ourense, the party plans to keep Miguel Tellado, Francisco Conde and Ana Vázquez, while in Pontevedra the departure of Ana Pastor, who led the list in the last general elections, forces them to look for a substitute. PP sources consulted by Europa Press point to Pedro Puy as the best positioned to be the headliner for Pontevedra.
Feijóo must also resolve Vizcaya, where Beatriz Fanjul has announced that she is leaving active politics: "I am 35 years old and I want to do other things," she confessed this week to Europa Press.
In the party, it is assumed that the names that finally emerge will say more than a simple distribution of positions: if Feijóo places profiles like Álvarez de Toledo or Albiol in prominent positions, the internal reading will be that Génova seeks to stop leaks to Vox, a party to which some polls attribute the possibility of doubling its current 33 seats.
