This marks the first time that a regional premier in Castile and León has made use of the presidential prerogative to call an early election.

In March 2021, a PSOE-tabled vote of no confidence was defeated, but it indirectly led to the defection of one Cs legislator to the opposition, leaving the PP–Cs government in minority status.

[2][3][4] On 20 December 2021, Mañueco expelled Cs from his government and called the election for 13 February 2022,[5] catching his coalition partner off-guard, with his (now former) deputy Francisco Igea learning of it during a live interview.

The vote share for Cs collapsed and the party was barely able to retain Igea's seat in Valladolid but was successful in its primary goal of preventing a total wipeout.

The far-right Vox party secured its best result in an autonomous community election in Spain up until that point, with 17.6% of the vote share and 13 seats.

Unidas Podemos underperformed opinion polls, whereas regionalist Leonese People's Union (UPL) and For Ávila (XAV) secured their best results to date.

[7] Voting for the Cortes was on the basis of universal suffrage, which comprised all nationals over 18 years of age, registered in Castile and León and in full enjoyment of their political rights.

[8] All members of the Cortes of Castile and León were elected using the D'Hondt method and a closed list proportional representation, with an electoral threshold of three percent of valid votes—which included blank ballots—being applied in each constituency.

[7] By 2021, the relationship between the two ruling coalition partners, the People's Party (PP) and Citizens (Cs) had become strained to the point that President Alfonso Fernández Mañueco was considering to call a snap election for late in the year or early 2022, taking advantage of the momentum gained by the PP in opinion polls as a result of its victory in the 2021 Madrilenian regional election.

[5] The Cortes of Castile and León was officially dissolved on 21 December 2021 after the publication of the dissolution decree in the BOCYL, setting the election date for 13 February 2022 and scheduling for the chamber to convene on 10 March.

[32] By November 2021, it was confirmed that over 160 collectives and associations from about 30 Spanish provinces had committed themselves to finalizing the electoral platform before January 2022,[33] and that it would be ready to contest any snap election in Castile and León.

[54] Both debates were assigned to the regional broadcasting company (Radio Televisión de Castilla y León, RTVCyL) to be held on 31 January and 9 February.

The table below lists opinion polling on the perceived likelihood of victory for each party in the event of a regional election taking place.

[67] Mañueco insisted in a PP minority government and warned Vox about "not taking a single step back" regarding women and LGBT rights.

[71] The formation of the new government was endorsed by Alberto Núñez Feijóo, the sole candidate in the PP's upcoming leadership election, although he said he would not repeat it on the national level.