Cantabria sets up to four paid hours of leave to vote on 11/29

The Official Gazette of Cantabria publishes this Monday, November 9, 2026, Order IND/54/2026, of November 2, which establishes the rules on working hours to facilitate the exercise of the right to vote in the general elections on November 29. The regulation, approved by the Ministry of Industry, Employment, Innovation, and Trade, recognizes up to four paid free hours for those working full-time on that day and full days for polling station members. It applies to all employees in Cantabria who do not have a scheduled day off on the date of the vote.

The order is issued in compliance with Article 13 of Royal Decree 605/1999, of April 16, on Complementary Regulation of Electoral Processes, and in relation to Royal Decree 806/2026, of October 5, on the dissolution of the Congress of Deputies and the Senate, which set November 29, 2026, as the date for the general elections. The Autonomous Community of Cantabria assumes competence in labor matters via Royal Decree 1900/1996, of August 2, on the transfer of State functions and services, which enables the approval of this provision.

The regulation received a favorable report from the Government Delegation in the Autonomous Community of Cantabria and is signed in Santander, on November 2, 2026, by the minister Eduardo Arasti Barca. Its sole final provision establishes that it will enter into force the day following its publication in the gazette, that is, November 10, 2026.

Up to four paid hours and distribution managed by the company

Article 1 establishes that employees providing services on election day may have, within their working hours, up to four paid free hours to exercise the right to vote. In cases of reduced working hours, the leave will be applied with the corresponding proportional reduction.

Article 6 attributes to the company the distribution of the period during which employees will have the leave to go vote, based on the organization of work. The order does not alter the working day of the rest of the staff nor create obligations outside the election date.

Full day for polling stations, scrutineers, and proxies

Articles 2 to 4 detail the longer leaves for those directly participating in the electoral day:

• Presiding Officers and Poll Clerks: full-day paid leave on voting day, provided they do not have their weekly rest on that date, plus a five-hour reduction in the working day immediately following.
• Scrutineers: right to the same leave provided for presiding officers and poll clerks, upon accreditation of their status.
• Proxies: full-day paid leave on voting day, if they do not have their weekly rest.

Mail-in voting and working away from home

Article 5 covers those who must work on November 29 far from their usual residence or under conditions that hinder the exercise of their vote. In those cases, the leave in Article 1 may be replaced by another of an identical nature intended to personally submit the request for certification of registration in the census, in accordance with Article 72 of Organic Law 5/1985, of June 19, on the General Electoral Regime, as well as for the submission of the mail-in vote.

The order thus closes the labor framework for the electoral event in Cantabria, where the productive fabric includes a high number of small companies with reduced staff. The obligation to pay for the hours of absence and to organize shifts falls entirely on the employer, while the full-day leave for polling station members, scrutineers, and proxies may leave entire services uncovered in retail, hospitality, and industry. Cantabrian companies have had the regulatory reference since November 10 to plan shifts and resolve staff requests before 11/29.

Source: Official Gazette of Cantabria, no. 215, of November 9, 2026, section 7.5 Miscellaneous, pp. 56896-56897 (official reference: CVE-2026-8713).