What changes for holidaymakers and residents on Tenerife?

Nothing changes directly. No new rules, prices or deadlines for the Canary Islands, such as on tariffs or entry for US visitors, are known from the result.

Petrol prices and the cost of living shaped how Americans voted, but there are no figures for Tenerife. Anyone booking or living in the south of the island has no need to change plans.

A different date matters more for Tenerife: Spain holds an early general election on 29 November 2026. Prime Minister Sánchez announced it on 5 October, after his government lost two votes on housing decrees.

How did the Democrats win in the US?

The Democrats have retaken the Senate, according to projections from the news agency AP. They hold at least 54 seats, some races are still open, and on balance they needed four more seats.

In the House of Representatives, they reached the threshold of 218 of 435 seats, AP says. In the Senate, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina and Texas switched sides.

In Texas, James Talarico beat the Republican Ken Paxton, and Gina Hinojosa defeated Governor Greg Abbott. In Kansas, Adam Hamilton won against Roger Marshall, the first Democratic Senate victory there since 1932.

Trump wrote on Truth Social that he was not on the ballot, or he would have won in a landslide. He says he will accept the result and veto Democratic bills.

Why did many Trump voters turn away?

Voters turned away over the economy. Two thirds of respondents saw Trump's policies as making it worse.

When Joe Biden left the White House, inflation stood at 2.9%, according to published data. It is now above 3.7%, and petrol has become more than 31% dearer over that time.

For 35% of respondents, the war against Iran played a part in their vote, and two in three reject it and Trump's leadership. Trump himself said the war probably played a role, because voters did not want to pay higher petrol prices.

Among Latinos, the violent raids by the immigration agency ICE also weighed heavily. At least 57 people died in ICE custody, according to a count from September, and nine more were shot by federal officers, based on data up to November.

Has the ultra-right wave been broken?

Guillermo Fernández does not see a brake on the right in the West. He is a political scientist at the Universidad Carlos III and an expert on the radical right in Europe, and he compares the defeat with those of Viktor Orbán in Hungary and PiS in Poland.

Metaphors such as tsunami or beast make the right seem unbeatable, Fernández criticises. Its rise runs as a curve with peaks and troughs, and he says: “It is not invincible.”

In Austria, France and Germany, the far right leads the polls, the analysis says, and Giorgia Meloni could be re-elected in Italy. In Spain, polls suggest Vox could enter government.

Geert Wilders in the Netherlands has lost support, as has the radical right in Finland and Sweden. In Brazil, Lula held back the right-winger Flávio Bolsonaro, but Fernández speaks of a setback, not a change of cycle.

The crisis of the traditional conservatives matters more, the political scientist says. In France, Italy and Portugal, where Chega is taking ground from the centre-right, the radical right is growing at their expense.

How strong is Vox in the Canary Islands?

In the regional election of 28 May 2023, Vox entered the Canarian Parliament for the first time with four deputies, according to the interim count of 29 May 2023. In the Cabildo (island government) of Tenerife, the party holds two island councillors.

A Sigma Dos poll from June 2026 puts Vox at 12.8% in the Canary Islands, up from 8% before. That would mean 7 to 8 seats, against four today, and only three after one deputy left the party group.

In a GESOP poll from 13 October 2026, Vox ranks first in the Canary Islands for direct voting intention, but the poll gives no figure. For the Spanish election, September polls put the party at about 17 to 18% nationwide, and 40dB gives 18.4%.

The Canarian Parliament must be re-elected by 27 June 2027 at the latest, usually on local election day, Sunday 23 May 2027. That vote will also decide how the Cabildos are made up.

In the US, the new Congress convenes on 3 January 2027. Laws and the federal budget will then need the Democrats' approval.