Spanish legislative election, 2004
Encyclopedia
Legislative elections were held in Spain
on 14 March 2004. At stake were all 350 seats in the lower house of the Cortes Generales
, the Congress of Deputies
, and 208 seats in upper house, the Senate
. The governing People's Party
(PP) was led into the campaign by Mariano Rajoy
, successor to outgoing Prime Minister José María Aznar
. In a result which defied most predictions, the opposition Spanish Socialist Workers' Party
(PSOE), led by José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero
, won a plurality of seats in Congress of Deputies, and was able to form a government with the support of minor parties. The socialists received more votes than expected as a result of the government's handling of the 11 March 2004 Madrid train bombings
. In the early moments following the attacks, the national government maintained the theory of the ETA responsibility; when evidence pointed to the possibility that an Islamic extremist group was behind the massacre, the ETA theory lost weight. If Islamic extremists were responsible, the attack could have been perceived by the electorate to be a consequence of the Spanish government's support of the invasion of Iraq. One of the explanations for the PSOE votes was that a certain number of voters, known as the original non voters (who did not intend to vote in the elections like in prior elections), went to the polls for PSOE. Also many members of United Left
(IU) switched sides and enlarged the PSOE votes and decreased those of IU.
The day after the election, Zapatero announced his intention to form a minority PSOE government, without a coalition, saying in a radio interview: "the implicit mandate of the people is for us to form a minority government negotiating accords on each issue with other parliamentary groups". Two minor left-wing parties, Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC) and IU, immediately announced their intention to support Zapatero's government.
This was the eighth general election since the restoration of democratic government in 1978, or the ninth if the elections to a constitutional assembly in 1977 are included. Each of Spain's autonomous communities
elects a number of deputies
and senators
in rough proportion to its population. The smaller autonomous communities (such as La Rioja
) form a single electoral district (a circumscription). The larger autonomous communities (such as Catalonia
) are divided into several circumscriptions.
All 350 deputies are elected on party lists, by roughly proportional representation
in each electoral district. The method used to allocate the seats is the D'Hondt method
, which favours larger parties over smaller ones, and concentrated minorities over scattered ones.
In the Senate, each of Spain's 50 provinces
(except in the Canary
and Balearic
Islands) elects four Senators regardless of population. This results in under-representation for the large urban circumscriptions of Madrid
and Barcelona
, and over-representation for the conservative provinces of Castile
and Galicia. Further, the Canary Islands
and the Balearic Islands
elect additional senators (since circumscriptions consist of the island governnments rather than the provinces), and the small autonomous cities of Ceuta
and Melilla
(Spanish enclaves on the coast of Morocco
) elect two Senators each. The islands and the enclaves are PP strongholds. The net effect of this system is to advantage the PP at the expense of the PSOE in the Senate. In the senate elections, voters can cast votes for up to three different people. Voters tend to cast all their votes for members of the same party, with the result that most provinces allocate 3 senators to the party with the strongest support, and 1 senator to the second party.
The Congress of Deputies must appoint the prime minister within two months of convening on April 2. Although constitutionally the King, as head of state, submits a proposed prime minister to the approval of the Congress, in practice the King exercises no discretion. Each of the candidates, starting with the candidate of the largest party, comes before the Congress for two investiture votes, the first by majority and the second by plurality. Typically, the leader of the largest bloc becomes Prime Minister of Spain
, unless a coalition
of different parties has a majority of seats.
At the 2000 general election, the People's Party won a majority of seats in Congress with 183 seats, the Socialists won 125, the Catalan nationalist party Convergence and Unity won 15 and the United Left (a coalition around the Communist Party) won 8. Minor parties won the remaining 19 seats.
Elections to Andalusia
's regional parliament were held on the same day. The PSOE retained office in these elections with an increased majority. (El Mundo - results)
The PSOE's victory was celebrated in the street outside the party's headquarters in Calle Ferraz with shouts of "No war!" and "How happy we are, to live without Aznar", but also "Zapatero, don't fail us!". Consistent with the PSOE's long-standing opposition to the Iraq war, Rodríguez Zapatero had promised during the election campaign to withdraw Spanish troops from Iraq by June. Zapatero withdrew the troops shortly after taking office, a decision he justified on his belief that the United Nations was not likely to assume responsibility for Iraq after the U.S.-led occupation formally ended at the end of June, which was his criterion for allowing troops to stay. Subsequent events, indeed, bore out his prediction.
A feature of the result was the increased representation for the ERC, a minor left-wing party which has formed a coalition government with the PSOE in Catalonia
. The Republican Left's leader, Josep-Lluís Carod-Rovira
, had recently held meetings with the Basque separatist group ETA
in France
, a revelation which had forced his exit from the recently formed Catalan regional government and had become a campaign issue in the general election.
More detailed table of share of votes:
Source: Spanish Interior Ministry
Senate seats by Autonomous Community and Constituency
The PSOE and its Catalan affiliate the PSC-ERC thus has 93 seats to the PP's 102. The rest of the nationalist parties, Catalan CiU, Basque EAJ-PNV, and Canary Islands CC are all conservative parties. Even if the six Basque Nationalists (EAJ-PNV), which are strongly at odds with the PP, vote with the left, the PP will still outvote them. The PSOE will thus need to gain the support of the Catalan and Canary Islands regionalists, the CiU and CC, to carry legislation in the Senate. Both parties have supported PSOE and PP governments in 1990-2000, when the largest party did not enjoy an absolute majority in the Congress.
It is possible that voters swung to the PSOE in the vote for the Congress of Deputies, which determines the government, but stuck with the PP in the voting for the Senate, thus placing a brake on a future socialist government. However, a swing in votes that fails to change who leads in a district has a larger effect in the Congress, with large numbers of seats per constituency allocated proportionally, that in the Senate, where constituencies elect up to four representatives and voters cast votes for up to three people (usually all from the same party).
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
on 14 March 2004. At stake were all 350 seats in the lower house of the Cortes Generales
Cortes Generales
The Cortes Generales is the legislature of Spain. It is a bicameral parliament, composed of the Congress of Deputies and the Senate . The Cortes has power to enact any law and to amend the constitution...
, the Congress of Deputies
Spanish Congress of Deputies
The Spanish Congress of Deputies is the lower house of the Cortes Generales, Spain's legislative branch. It has 350 members, elected by popular vote on block lists by proportional representation in constituencies matching the Spanish provinces using the D'Hondt method. Deputies serve four-year terms...
, and 208 seats in upper house, the Senate
Spanish Senate
The Senate of Spain is the upper house of Spain's parliament, the . It is made up of 264 members: 208 elected by popular vote, and 56 appointed by the regional legislatures. All senators serve four-year terms, though regional legislatures may recall their appointees at any time.The last election...
. The governing People's Party
People's Party (Spain)
The People's Party is a conservative political party in Spain.The People's Party was a re-foundation in 1989 of the People's Alliance , a party led and founded by Manuel Fraga Iribarne, a former Minister of Tourism during Francisco Franco's dictatorship...
(PP) was led into the campaign by Mariano Rajoy
Mariano Rajoy
Mariano Rajoy Brey is a Spanish People's Party politician and is the Prime Minister-elect since 20 November 2011. He will be sworn into office in mid-December 2011....
, successor to outgoing Prime Minister José María Aznar
José María Aznar
José María Alfredo Aznar López served as the Prime Minister of Spain from 1996 to 2004. He is on the board of directors of News Corporation.-Early life:...
. In a result which defied most predictions, the opposition Spanish Socialist Workers' Party
Spanish Socialist Workers' Party
The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party is a social-democratic political party in Spain. Its political position is Centre-left. The PSOE is the former ruling party of Spain, until beaten in the elections of November 2011 and the second oldest, exceeded only by the Partido Carlista, founded in...
(PSOE), led by José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero
José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero
José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero is a member of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party . He was elected for two terms as Prime Minister of Spain, in the 2004 and 2008 general elections. On 2 April 2011 he announced he will not stand for re-election in 2012...
, won a plurality of seats in Congress of Deputies, and was able to form a government with the support of minor parties. The socialists received more votes than expected as a result of the government's handling of the 11 March 2004 Madrid train bombings
11 March 2004 Madrid train bombings
The Madrid train bombings consisted of a series of coordinated bombings against the Cercanías system of Madrid, Spain on the morning of 11 March 2004 , killing 191 people and wounding 1,800...
. In the early moments following the attacks, the national government maintained the theory of the ETA responsibility; when evidence pointed to the possibility that an Islamic extremist group was behind the massacre, the ETA theory lost weight. If Islamic extremists were responsible, the attack could have been perceived by the electorate to be a consequence of the Spanish government's support of the invasion of Iraq. One of the explanations for the PSOE votes was that a certain number of voters, known as the original non voters (who did not intend to vote in the elections like in prior elections), went to the polls for PSOE. Also many members of United Left
United Left (Spain)
The United Left is a political coalition that was organized in 1986 bringing together several political organisations opposed to Spain joining NATO. It was formed by a number of groups of leftists, greens, left-wing socialists and republicans, but was dominated by the Communist Party of Spain...
(IU) switched sides and enlarged the PSOE votes and decreased those of IU.
The day after the election, Zapatero announced his intention to form a minority PSOE government, without a coalition, saying in a radio interview: "the implicit mandate of the people is for us to form a minority government negotiating accords on each issue with other parliamentary groups". Two minor left-wing parties, Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC) and IU, immediately announced their intention to support Zapatero's government.
Electoral system
Autonomous communities of Spain
An autonomous community In other languages of Spain:*Catalan/Valencian .*Galician .*Basque . The second article of the constitution recognizes the rights of "nationalities and regions" to self-government and declares the "indissoluble unity of the Spanish nation".Political power in Spain is...
elects a number of deputies
Spanish Congress of Deputies
The Spanish Congress of Deputies is the lower house of the Cortes Generales, Spain's legislative branch. It has 350 members, elected by popular vote on block lists by proportional representation in constituencies matching the Spanish provinces using the D'Hondt method. Deputies serve four-year terms...
and senators
Spanish Senate
The Senate of Spain is the upper house of Spain's parliament, the . It is made up of 264 members: 208 elected by popular vote, and 56 appointed by the regional legislatures. All senators serve four-year terms, though regional legislatures may recall their appointees at any time.The last election...
in rough proportion to its population. The smaller autonomous communities (such as La Rioja
La Rioja (Spanish Congress Electoral District)
La Rioja is one of the 52 electoral districts used for the Spanish Congress of Deputies - the lower chamber of the Spanish Parliament, the Cortes Generales. Logroño is the largest town accounting for nearly half the electorate...
) form a single electoral district (a circumscription). The larger autonomous communities (such as Catalonia
Catalonia
Catalonia is an autonomous community in northeastern Spain, with the official status of a "nationality" of Spain. Catalonia comprises four provinces: Barcelona, Girona, Lleida, and Tarragona. Its capital and largest city is Barcelona. Catalonia covers an area of 32,114 km² and has an...
) are divided into several circumscriptions.
All 350 deputies are elected on party lists, by roughly proportional representation
Proportional representation
Proportional representation is a concept in voting systems used to elect an assembly or council. PR means that the number of seats won by a party or group of candidates is proportionate to the number of votes received. For example, under a PR voting system if 30% of voters support a particular...
in each electoral district. The method used to allocate the seats is the D'Hondt method
D'Hondt method
The d'Hondt method is a highest averages method for allocating seats in party-list proportional representation. The method described is named after Belgian mathematician Victor D'Hondt who described it in 1878...
, which favours larger parties over smaller ones, and concentrated minorities over scattered ones.
In the Senate, each of Spain's 50 provinces
Provinces of Spain
Spain and its autonomous communities are divided into fifty provinces .In other languages of Spain:*Catalan/Valencian , sing. província.*Galician , sing. provincia.*Basque |Galicia]] — are not also the capitals of provinces...
(except in the Canary
Canary Islands
The Canary Islands , also known as the Canaries , is a Spanish archipelago located just off the northwest coast of mainland Africa, 100 km west of the border between Morocco and the Western Sahara. The Canaries are a Spanish autonomous community and an outermost region of the European Union...
and Balearic
Balearic Islands
The Balearic Islands are an archipelago of Spain in the western Mediterranean Sea, near the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula.The four largest islands are: Majorca, Minorca, Ibiza and Formentera. The archipelago forms an autonomous community and a province of Spain with Palma as the capital...
Islands) elects four Senators regardless of population. This results in under-representation for the large urban circumscriptions of Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
and Barcelona
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
, and over-representation for the conservative provinces of Castile
Castile (historical region)
A former kingdom, Castile gradually merged with its neighbours to become the Crown of Castile and later the Kingdom of Spain when united with the Crown of Aragon and the Kingdom of Navarre...
and Galicia. Further, the Canary Islands
Canary Islands
The Canary Islands , also known as the Canaries , is a Spanish archipelago located just off the northwest coast of mainland Africa, 100 km west of the border between Morocco and the Western Sahara. The Canaries are a Spanish autonomous community and an outermost region of the European Union...
and the Balearic Islands
Balearic Islands
The Balearic Islands are an archipelago of Spain in the western Mediterranean Sea, near the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula.The four largest islands are: Majorca, Minorca, Ibiza and Formentera. The archipelago forms an autonomous community and a province of Spain with Palma as the capital...
elect additional senators (since circumscriptions consist of the island governnments rather than the provinces), and the small autonomous cities of Ceuta
Ceuta
Ceuta is an autonomous city of Spain and an exclave located on the north coast of North Africa surrounded by Morocco. Separated from the Iberian peninsula by the Strait of Gibraltar, Ceuta lies on the border of the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. Ceuta along with the other Spanish...
and Melilla
Melilla
Melilla is a autonomous city of Spain and an exclave on the north coast of Morocco. Melilla, along with the Spanish exclave Ceuta, is one of the two Spanish territories located in mainland Africa...
(Spanish enclaves on the coast of Morocco
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
) elect two Senators each. The islands and the enclaves are PP strongholds. The net effect of this system is to advantage the PP at the expense of the PSOE in the Senate. In the senate elections, voters can cast votes for up to three different people. Voters tend to cast all their votes for members of the same party, with the result that most provinces allocate 3 senators to the party with the strongest support, and 1 senator to the second party.
The Congress of Deputies must appoint the prime minister within two months of convening on April 2. Although constitutionally the King, as head of state, submits a proposed prime minister to the approval of the Congress, in practice the King exercises no discretion. Each of the candidates, starting with the candidate of the largest party, comes before the Congress for two investiture votes, the first by majority and the second by plurality. Typically, the leader of the largest bloc becomes Prime Minister of Spain
Prime Minister of Spain
The President of the Government of Spain , sometimes known in English as the Prime Minister of Spain, is the head of Government of Spain. The current office is established under the Constitution of 1978...
, unless a coalition
Coalition
A coalition is a pact or treaty among individuals or groups, during which they cooperate in joint action, each in their own self-interest, joining forces together for a common cause. This alliance may be temporary or a matter of convenience. A coalition thus differs from a more formal covenant...
of different parties has a majority of seats.
At the 2000 general election, the People's Party won a majority of seats in Congress with 183 seats, the Socialists won 125, the Catalan nationalist party Convergence and Unity won 15 and the United Left (a coalition around the Communist Party) won 8. Minor parties won the remaining 19 seats.
Elections to Andalusia
Andalusia
Andalusia is the most populous and the second largest in area of the autonomous communities of Spain. The Andalusian autonomous community is officially recognised as a nationality of Spain. The territory is divided into eight provinces: Huelva, Seville, Cádiz, Córdoba, Málaga, Jaén, Granada and...
's regional parliament were held on the same day. The PSOE retained office in these elections with an increased majority. (El Mundo - results)
Results
In the Congress of Deputies, the PP vote fell by 6.9 percent, and the party lost 39 seats. The PSOE vote rose by 8.5 percent, bringing a gain of 35 seats. On the left, the IU (a coalition led by the Communist Party of Spain), lost four of its nine seats, but the leftwing Catalan party ERC gained seven seats. The conservative Catalan nationalist party, Convergence and Unity, which in the recent past has been allied with the PP, lost five of its 15 seats.The PSOE's victory was celebrated in the street outside the party's headquarters in Calle Ferraz with shouts of "No war!" and "How happy we are, to live without Aznar", but also "Zapatero, don't fail us!". Consistent with the PSOE's long-standing opposition to the Iraq war, Rodríguez Zapatero had promised during the election campaign to withdraw Spanish troops from Iraq by June. Zapatero withdrew the troops shortly after taking office, a decision he justified on his belief that the United Nations was not likely to assume responsibility for Iraq after the U.S.-led occupation formally ended at the end of June, which was his criterion for allowing troops to stay. Subsequent events, indeed, bore out his prediction.
A feature of the result was the increased representation for the ERC, a minor left-wing party which has formed a coalition government with the PSOE in Catalonia
Catalonia
Catalonia is an autonomous community in northeastern Spain, with the official status of a "nationality" of Spain. Catalonia comprises four provinces: Barcelona, Girona, Lleida, and Tarragona. Its capital and largest city is Barcelona. Catalonia covers an area of 32,114 km² and has an...
. The Republican Left's leader, Josep-Lluís Carod-Rovira
Josep-Lluís Carod-Rovira
Josep-Lluís Carod-Rovira was the Vice-president of the Catalan Government from 2006 to 2010. From 1996 to 2008 he was the leader of ERC Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya ....
, had recently held meetings with the Basque separatist group ETA
ETA
ETA , an acronym for Euskadi Ta Askatasuna is an armed Basque nationalist and separatist organization. The group was founded in 1959 and has since evolved from a group promoting traditional Basque culture to a paramilitary group with the goal of gaining independence for the Greater Basque Country...
in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, a revelation which had forced his exit from the recently formed Catalan regional government and had become a campaign issue in the general election.
More detailed table of share of votes:
| Partido Socialista Obrero Español Spanish Socialist Workers' Party The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party is a social-democratic political party in Spain. Its political position is Centre-left. The PSOE is the former ruling party of Spain, until beaten in the elections of November 2011 and the second oldest, exceeded only by the Partido Carlista, founded in... |
PSOE | 11,026,163 | 43.27 | 164 |
| Partido Popular People's Party (Spain) The People's Party is a conservative political party in Spain.The People's Party was a re-foundation in 1989 of the People's Alliance , a party led and founded by Manuel Fraga Iribarne, a former Minister of Tourism during Francisco Franco's dictatorship... |
PP | 9,763,144 | 38.31 | 148 |
| Izquierda Unida-Los Verdes United Left (Spain) The United Left is a political coalition that was organized in 1986 bringing together several political organisations opposed to Spain joining NATO. It was formed by a number of groups of leftists, greens, left-wing socialists and republicans, but was dominated by the Communist Party of Spain... |
IU-LV | 1,359,190 | 5.33 | 5 |
| Convergence and Union | CiU | 835,471 | 3.28 | 10 |
| Republican Left of Catalonia | ERC | 652,196 | 2.56 | 8 |
| Euzko Alderdi Jeltzalea-Partido Nacionalista Vasco Basque Nationalist Party The Basque National Party is the largest and oldest Basque nationalist party. It is currently the largest political party in the Basque Autonomous Community also with a minor presence in Navarre and a marginal one in the French Basque Country... |
EAJ-PNV | 420,980 | 1.65 | 7 |
| Coalición Canaria Canarian Coalition The Canarian Coalition , abbreviated to CC, is a Canarian nationalist and liberal political party in the Canary Islands of Spain. The party aim is for greater autonomy for the islands, but short of independence. The party has governed the Canary Islands since 1993... |
CC | 235,221 | 0.92 | 3 |
| Bloque Nacionalista Galego | BNG | 208,688 | 0.82 | 2 |
| Partido Andalucista | PA | 181,868 | 0.71 | |
| Chunta Aragonesista Aragonese Council The Chunta Aragonesista is a political party of Aragon , influenced by socialism, ecologism and pacifism. CHA defends a federal state, greater financial resources for Aragon, and the protection of the environment and hydrological resources of the Ebro Valley... |
CHA | 94,252 | 0.37 | 1 |
| Eusko Alkartasuna Eusko Alkartasuna Eusko Alkartasuna is a Basque nationalist political party operating in Spain and France. The Basque language name means Basque Solidarity and abbreviated as EA. The party describes itself as a Basque nationalist, democratic, popular, progressive and non-denominational party... |
EA | 80,905 | 0.32 | 1 |
| Nafarroa Bai Nafarroa Bai Nafarroa Bai is a Navarrese coalition of both left and right wing Basque nationalist parties which was created for the 2004 Spanish General election.... |
Na-Bai | 61,045 | 0.24 | 1 |
| Bloc Nacionalista Valencià-Esquerra Verda Valencian Nationalist Bloc The Valencian Nationalist Bloc is a Valencian nationalist party in the Valencian Country, Spain. It is the largest party in the Coalició Compromís.... |
BLOC-EV | 40,759 | 0.16 | |
| Ciudadanos en Blanco Citizens for Blank Votes Citizens for Blank Votes is a Spanish political party.In Spanish electoral law, a distinction is made between valid votes, blank votes and null votes. Blank votes are interpreted as correctly executed votes for "none of the above", and consistently about 2% of votes are blank... |
CENB | 40,208 | 0.16 | |
| Aralar Aralar Party Aralar is a Basque socialist and separatist political party in Spain. The party is led by Patxi Zabaleta. It is opposed to the violent struggle of ETA.... -Zutik Zutik Zutik is a political party in Basque Country, Spain. Zutik was formed in 1991 through the merger of the EMK and LKI . Within Zutik there is a current affiliated to the United Secretariat of the Fourth International. It has a branch in Navarre known as Batzarre.Zutik members have been candidates on... |
ARALAR-ZUTIK | 38,560 | 0.15 | |
| Los Verdes-Ecopacifistas | LV-E | 37,499 | 0.15 | |
| Partido Aragonés Aragonese Party The Aragonese Party is a political party which advocates the interests of Aragon within Spain. The party was founded in 1978 under the name Aragonese Regionalist Party, but changed its name in 1990, keeping the initials PAR.... |
PAR | 36,540 | 0.14 | |
| Centro Democrático y Social | CDS | 34,101 | 0.13 | |
| Els Verds-L'Alternativa Ecologista | EV-AE | 30,528 | 0.12 | |
| Partido Socialista de Andalucía | PSA | 24,127 | 0.09 | |
| Partido Humanista Humanist Party (Spain) The Humanist Party is a Spanish political party founded in 1984 and is a member of the Humanist International.-External links:* *... |
PH | 21,758 | 0.09 | |
| Izquierda Republicana | IR | 16,993 | 0.07 | |
| Partido Cannabis por la Legalización y Normalización | PCANNABIS | 16,918 | 0.07 | |
| Partido Familia y Vida | PFyV | 16,699 | 0.07 | |
| Democracia Nacional National Democracy (Spain) National Democracy is a far right political party in Spain, founded in 1995. It is modelled on the Front National of France, and grew indirectly out of several defunct parties like the CEDADE group and Juntas Españolas. Its leader is Manuel Canduela Serrano, a former member of Accion Radical, a... |
DN | 15,180 | 0.06 | |
| Unión del Pueblo Leonés Leonese People's Union The Leonese People's Union is a regional political party in Castilla y León, Spain. UPL strives to establish a separate autonomous community for the provinces of León, Zamora and Salamanca , now in the Autonomous Community of Castilla y León.UPL was founded in 1986 by a group of people... |
UPL | 14,160 | 0.06 | |
| Partido Comunista de los Pueblos de España Communist Party of the Peoples of Spain Communist Party of the Peoples of Spain is a communist political party in Spain. PCPE was founded out of the unification of several Marxist-Leninist factions. The youth organization is called the Collectives of Communist Youth.On December 13–15 of 1984 a "Communist Unity Congress" was held... |
PCPE | 12,979 | 0.05 | |
| Los Verdes-Grupo Verde | LV-GV | 12,749 | 0.05 | |
| Falange Española de las JONS | FE de las JONS | 12,266 | 0.05 | |
| Unió Mallorquina Mallorcan Union The Majorcan Union is a regional liberal party on the island of Majorca, Spain.It was founded in October 1982, as a nationalist continuation of the then disintegrating Union of the Democratic Centre . The main founder was Jeroni Albertí Picornell.... |
UM | 10,558 | 0.04 | |
| La Falange | FE | 10,311 | 0.04 | |
| Tierra Comunera-Partido Nacionalista Castellano Tierra Comunera Tierra Comunera is a nationalist political party in the Spanish historical region of Castile. It is modelled after the Basque and Catalan nationalist parties but does not advocate full independence for Castile, instead favoring cooperation or unification among what they call the five Castilian... |
TC-PNC | 8,866 | 0.03 | |
| Partido Obrero Socialista Internacionalista | POSI | 8,003 | 0.03 | |
| Movimiento Social Republicano Republican Social Movement The Republican Social Movement is a neo-fascist political party in Spain. It was registered at the Ministry of Interior on November 30, 1999, with offices in Barcelona. The following year it merged with Vértice Social Español to form what it called a Social Patriotic force... |
MSR | 6,768 | 0.03 | |
| Partido Demócrata Español | PADE | 5,677 | 0.02 | |
| Convergencia de Demócratas de Navarra | CDN | 5,573 | 0.02 | |
| Falange Auténtica | FA | 4,589 | 0.02 | |
| Partiu Asturianista | PAS | 4,292 | 0.02 | |
| España 2000 España 2000 España 2000 is a social patriot political party of Spain. At present they are without parliamentary representation, but they have a growing presence in Valencia and a minor presence currently in Catalonia, Granada, Navarra, Sevilla and Madrid.... |
ESPAÑA 2000 | 4,231 | 0.02 | |
| Partido Nacionalista Canario Canarian Nationalist Party The Nationalistic Canary Party is a nationalistic Canary party, which, in the first moment, he was inhaling to that Canaries it was a free and sovereign condition, though later it evolved to positions that defend the free associate condition, or even major competitions inside the autonomous... |
PNC | 4,092 | 0.02 | |
| Extremadura Unida | EU | 3,916 | 0.02 | |
| Partido de los Autónomos y Profesionales | AUTONOMO | 3,124 | 0.01 | |
| Iniciativa por el Desarrollo de Soria | IDES | 2,934 | 0.01 | |
| Asamblea de Andalucía | A | 2,930 | 0.01 | |
| Alternativa Popular Canaria | APCa | 2,715 | 0.01 | |
| Grupo Verde Europeo | GVE | 2,662 | 0.01 | |
| Candidatura Independiente-El Partido de Castilla y León | CI | 2,421 | 0.01 | |
| Escons Insubmisos-Alternativa dels Demòcrates Descontents | Ei-ADD | 2,332 | 0.01 | |
| Partido del Karma Democrático | PKD | 2,300 | 0.01 | |
| Frente Popular Galega Frente Popular Galega The Galician People's Front is a Galician political organization with a socialist and nationalist ideology.After the Galician People's Union accepted the participation of the Bloque Nacionalista Galego in the Galician Parliament in 1986, 13 members of its Central Committee led by Mariano Abalo... |
FPG | 2,257 | 0.01 | |
| Coalición Galega | CG | 2,235 | 0.01 | |
| Alianza para el Desarrollo y la Naturaleza | ADN | 2,215 | 0.01 | |
| Partido de los Trabajadores en Precario | PTPRE | 2,115 | 0.01 | |
| Identidad Reino de Valencia | IRV | 2,111 | 0.01 | |
| Partido de los Autónomos Jubilados y Viudas | PAE | 2,082 | 0.01 | |
| Andecha Astur Andecha Astur thumb|"[[Asturina cola estrella bermeya]]". A [[Red star|socialist]] and nationalist flag of [[Asturias]] used by Andecha AsturAndecha Astur is an Asturian nationalist leftist political party of Spain.-History:The party was founded in 1990... |
AA | 1,970 | 0.01 | |
| Unión del Pueblo Salmantino | UPSa | 1,871 | 0.01 | |
| Els Verds-Alternativa Verda | EV-AV | 1,836 | 0.01 | |
| Partido Carlista Carlist Party The Carlist Party is a Spanish political party that considers itself as a successor to the historical tradition of Carlism. The party was founded in 1969, although it remained illegal until 1977, following the death of the dictator Franco and the democratisation of Spain.The secretary-general of... |
PC | 1,813 | 0.01 | |
| Partido del Mutuo Apoyo Romántico | PMAR | 1,561 | 0.01 | |
| Conceju Nacionaliegu Cántabru | CNC | 1,431 | 0.01 | |
| Salamaca. Zamora. León PREPAL | PREPAL | 1,322 | 0.01 | |
| Otra Democracia es Posible Another Democracy is Possible Another Democracy is Possible was a Spanish activist group , claiming for more democracy .... |
ODEP | 1,302 | 0.01 | |
| Agrupación Social Independiente | ASI | 1,237 | 0.00 | |
| Partit Socialdemocrata Independent de la Comunitat Valenciana | PSICV | 1,096 | 0.00 | |
| Partido Republicano Federal | PRF | 1,051 | 0.00 | |
| Alternativa por Gran Canaria | AxGC | 957 | 0.00 | |
| Alianza por la Unidad Nacional | AUN | 923 | 0.00 | |
| Asamblea de Izquierdas-Iniciativa por Andalucía | A-IZ | 901 | 0.00 | |
| Partido Positivista Cristiano | PPCr | 892 | 0.00 | |
| Izquierda Asturiana | IAS | 854 | 0.00 | |
| Partido Socialista del Pueblo de Ceuta | PSPC | 807 | 0.00 | |
| Unión Centrista Liberal | UCL | 798 | 0.00 | |
| Partido Nacionalista Caló | PNCA | 757 | 0.00 | |
| Zamora Unida | ZU | 754 | 0.00 | |
| Unió Centristes de Menorca | UCM | 751 | 0.00 | |
| Lucha Internacionalista | LI-LIT-CI | 668 | 0.00 | |
| Frente Democrático Español | FDE | 619 | 0.00 | |
| Unidad Castellana | Ud Ca | 601 | 0.00 | |
| Partido Social-demócrata Andaluz | PSDA | 583 | 0.00 | |
| Alternativa Maga Nacionalista | AMAGA | 468 | 0.00 | |
| Unión del Pueblo Balear | UPB | 411 | 0.00 | |
| Estado Nacional Europeo | N | 410 | 0.00 | |
| Coalició Treballadors per la Democràcia | TD | 407 | 0.00 | |
| Partido Nacional de los Trabajadores | PNT | 379 | 0.00 | |
| Partido de la Gente | LG | 378 | 0.00 | |
| Partido Regionalista de Guadalajara | PRGU | 330 | 0.00 | |
| Unión Nacional Unión Nacional Unión Nacional can refer to:* National Union * National Union... |
UN | 318 | 0.00 | |
| Convergencia Ciudadana del Sureste | CCSE | 308 | 0.00 | |
| Partido Demócrata Nacional de España | PDN | 232 | 0.00 | |
| Grupo Político Honradez Absoluta Española | GPHAE | 52 | 0.00 |
Development of voteshares and seats
| (2000) Spanish general election, 2000 Legislative elections were held in Spain on 12 March 2000. The incumbent People's Party of Prime Minister José María Aznar was elected to a second term in office, converting its plurality of seats in the Congress of Deputies into a majority, and increasing its lead over the opposition Spanish... « Spanish general election, 2004 » (2008) Spanish general election, 2008 Legislative elections for the Spanish Cortes Generales were held on March 9, 2008. The elections were for 350 seats in the Congress of Deputies, and the 208 directly elected seats in the upper house, the Senate, determining the Prime Minister of Spain... |
||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Registered Voters | 33,475,376 | +430,058 | +1.3% | Turnout % | ||
| Votes Cast | 25,846,620 | +2,720,847 | +11.8% | 77.21 | +8.50 | |
| Party | Votes | Change | % | ± | Seats | ± |
| Socialist Party Spanish Socialist Workers' Party The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party is a social-democratic political party in Spain. Its political position is Centre-left. The PSOE is the former ruling party of Spain, until beaten in the elections of November 2011 and the second oldest, exceeded only by the Partido Carlista, founded in... (PSOE) |
10,909,687 | +3,080,477 | 42.64 | +8.48 | 164 | +39 |
| People's Party People's Party (Spain) The People's Party is a conservative political party in Spain.The People's Party was a re-foundation in 1989 of the People's Alliance , a party led and founded by Manuel Fraga Iribarne, a former Minister of Tourism during Francisco Franco's dictatorship... (PP) |
9,630,512 | -599,833 | 37.64 | -6.88 | 148 | -35 |
| United Left United Left (Spain) The United Left is a political coalition that was organized in 1986 bringing together several political organisations opposed to Spain joining NATO. It was formed by a number of groups of leftists, greens, left-wing socialists and republicans, but was dominated by the Communist Party of Spain... (IU) |
1,269,532 | +15,673 | 4.96 | -1.00 | 5 | -4 |
| Convergence and Union Convergència i Unió Convergence and Union is a centre-right electoral alliance in Catalonia, Spain. CiU is technically a federation of two constituent parties, the larger Democratic Convergence of Catalonia and its smaller counterpart, the Democratic Union of Catalonia . It is currently led by Artur Mas, who is the... (CiU) |
829,046 | -135,944 | 3.22 | -0.95 | 10 | -5 |
| Republican Left of Catalonia Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya The Republican Left of Catalonia is a left wing Catalan independentist political party in Spain. It is also the main sponsor of the independence movement from France and Spain in the territories known among Catalan nationalists as Països Catalans... (ERC) |
649,999 | +456,370 | 2.54 | +1.70 | 8 | +7 |
| Basque Nationalist Party (EAJ/PNV) | 417,154 | +55,338 | 1.63 | +0.10 | 7 | 0 |
| Canary Islands Coalition (CC) | 221,034 | -22,455 | 0.86 | -0.21 | 3 | -1 |
| Galician Nationalist Bloc Bloque Nacionalista Galego The Galician Nationalist Bloc is a Galician nationalist coalition of political parties. It is self-defined as a "patriotic front".Formed in 1982, under the guidance of historical leader Xosé Manuel Beiras, the BNG advocates for further devolution of powers to the Parliament of Galicia and the... (BNG) |
205,613 | -97,113 | 0.80 | -0.52 | 2 | -1 |
| Andalusian Party (PA) | 181,261 | -24,472 | 0.71 | -0.18 | 0 | -1 |
| Aragonese Council Aragonese Council The Chunta Aragonesista is a political party of Aragon , influenced by socialism, ecologism and pacifism. CHA defends a federal state, greater financial resources for Aragon, and the protection of the environment and hydrological resources of the Ebro Valley... (CHA) |
93,865 | +18,631 | 0.37 | +0.04 | 1 | 0 |
| Eusko Alkartasuna Eusko Alkartasuna Eusko Alkartasuna is a Basque nationalist political party operating in Spain and France. The Basque language name means Basque Solidarity and abbreviated as EA. The party describes itself as a Basque nationalist, democratic, popular, progressive and non-denominational party... (EA) |
80,613 | -19,957 | 0.32 | -0.11 | 1 | 0 |
| Nafarroa Bai Nafarroa Bai Nafarroa Bai is a Navarrese coalition of both left and right wing Basque nationalist parties which was created for the 2004 Spanish General election.... (NB) |
61,645 | new | 0.24 | new | 1 | new |
| Other | 628,280 | 2.43 | 350 total | |||
| Blank | 406,789 | 1.57 | 0.00 | |||
| Null | 261,590 | 1.01 | +0.33 | |||
Source: Spanish Interior Ministry
- The Gallagher/Lijphart indexGallagher IndexThe Gallagher Index is used to measure the disproportionality of an electoral outcome, that is the difference between the percentage of votes received and the percentage of seats a party gets in the resulting legislature. This is especially useful for comparing proportionality across electoral...
of disproportionality for the election is 5.20 - The effective number of elective parties is 3.04
- The effective number of parliamentary parties is 2.49
Investiture votation
On April 17, Zapatero was inaugurated as Prime Minister with 183 votes for, 148 votes against, and 19 abstentions.| Investiture voting for José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero is a member of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party . He was elected for two terms as Prime Minister of Spain, in the 2004 and 2008 general elections. On 2 April 2011 he announced he will not stand for re-election in 2012... (PSOE Spanish Socialist Workers' Party The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party is a social-democratic political party in Spain. Its political position is Centre-left. The PSOE is the former ruling party of Spain, until beaten in the elections of November 2011 and the second oldest, exceeded only by the Partido Carlista, founded in... ) |
||
|---|---|---|
| Vote | Parties | Votes |
| Yes | PSOE Spanish Socialist Workers' Party The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party is a social-democratic political party in Spain. Its political position is Centre-left. The PSOE is the former ruling party of Spain, until beaten in the elections of November 2011 and the second oldest, exceeded only by the Partido Carlista, founded in... , ERC, IU United Left (Spain) The United Left is a political coalition that was organized in 1986 bringing together several political organisations opposed to Spain joining NATO. It was formed by a number of groups of leftists, greens, left-wing socialists and republicans, but was dominated by the Communist Party of Spain... , CC Canarian Coalition The Canarian Coalition , abbreviated to CC, is a Canarian nationalist and liberal political party in the Canary Islands of Spain. The party aim is for greater autonomy for the islands, but short of independence. The party has governed the Canary Islands since 1993... , BNG, CHA Aragonese Council The Chunta Aragonesista is a political party of Aragon , influenced by socialism, ecologism and pacifism. CHA defends a federal state, greater financial resources for Aragon, and the protection of the environment and hydrological resources of the Ebro Valley... |
183 |
| No | PP People's Party (Spain) The People's Party is a conservative political party in Spain.The People's Party was a re-foundation in 1989 of the People's Alliance , a party led and founded by Manuel Fraga Iribarne, a former Minister of Tourism during Francisco Franco's dictatorship... |
148 |
| Abstentions | CiU, PNV Basque Nationalist Party The Basque National Party is the largest and oldest Basque nationalist party. It is currently the largest political party in the Basque Autonomous Community also with a minor presence in Navarre and a marginal one in the French Basque Country... , EA Eusko Alkartasuna Eusko Alkartasuna is a Basque nationalist political party operating in Spain and France. The Basque language name means Basque Solidarity and abbreviated as EA. The party describes itself as a Basque nationalist, democratic, popular, progressive and non-denominational party... , NaBai Nafarroa Bai Nafarroa Bai is a Navarrese coalition of both left and right wing Basque nationalist parties which was created for the 2004 Spanish General election.... |
19 |
Senate
In the Senate the PP won 102 seats to the PSOE's 81, a better result than in the lower house. Even so, this was a 28-seat gain for the PSOE and a 25-seat loss for the PP. In Catalonia, a combined Socialist-Republican left ticket won 12 Senate seats, and the Basque Nationalists won six.Senate seats by Autonomous Community and Constituency
| Andalusia | Total (32) | PP (8) | PSOE (24) | ||||
| Almería | 1 | 3 | |||||
| Cádiz | 1 | 3 | |||||
| Córdoba | 1 | 3 | |||||
| Granada | 1 | 3 | |||||
| Huelva | 1 | 3 | |||||
| Jaén | 1 | 3 | |||||
| Málaga | 1 | 3 | |||||
| Seville | 1 | 3 | |||||
| Aragon | Total (12) | PP (4) | PSOE (8) | ||||
| Huesca | 1 | 3 | |||||
| Teruel | 2 | 2 | |||||
| Zaragoza | 1 | 3 | |||||
| Asturias | Total (4) | PP (3) | PSOE (1) | ||||
| Canary Islands | Total (11) | PP (3) | PSOE (5) | ||||
| CC (3) | |||||||
| Gran Canaria | 2 | 1 | |||||
| Lanzarote | |||||||
| 1 | |||||||
| Fuerteventura | 1 | ||||||
| Tenerife | |||||||
| 2 | |||||||
| 1 | |||||||
| La Palma | |||||||
| 1 | |||||||
| La Gomera | |||||||
| 1 | |||||||
| El Hierro | |||||||
| 1 | |||||||
| Cantabria | Total (4) | PP (3) | PSOE (1) | ||||
| Castile-La Mancha | Total (22) | PP (12) | PSOE (8) | ||||
| Albacete | 3 | 1 | |||||
| Ciudad Real | 1 | 3 | |||||
| Cuenca | 3 | 1 | |||||
| Guadalajara | 3 | 1 | |||||
| Toledo | 2 | 2 | |||||
| Castile-Leon | Total (36) | PP (25) | PSOE (11) | ||||
| Ávila | 3 | 1 | |||||
| Burgos | 3 | 1 | |||||
| León | 1 | 3 | |||||
| Palencia | 3 | 1 | |||||
| Salamanca | 3 | 1 | |||||
| Segovia | 3 | 1 | |||||
| Soria | 3 | 1 | |||||
| Valladolid | 3 | 1 | |||||
| Zamora | 3 | 1 | |||||
| Catalunya | Total (16) | ||||||
| PSC-ERC- ICV-EUA (12) |
|||||||
| CiU (4) | |||||||
| Barcelona | |||||||
| 3 | |||||||
| 1 | |||||||
| Girona | |||||||
| 3 | |||||||
| 1 | |||||||
| Lleida | |||||||
| 3 | |||||||
| 1 | |||||||
| Tarragona | |||||||
| 3 | |||||||
| 1 | |||||||
| Ceuta | Total (2) | PP (2) | |||||
| Extremadura | Total (8) | PP (2) | PSOE (6) | ||||
| Badajoz | 1 | 3 | |||||
| Cáceres | 1 | 3 | |||||
| Galicia | Total (16) | PP (12) | PSOE (4) | ||||
| A Coruña | 3 | 1 | |||||
| Lugo | 3 | 1 | |||||
| Orense | 3 | 1 | |||||
| Pontevedra | 3 | 1 | |||||
| Illes Balears | Total (5) | PP (4) | PSOE (1) | ||||
| Majorca | 2 | 1 | |||||
| Minorca | 1 | ||||||
| Ibiza-Formentera | 1 | ||||||
| La Rioja | Total (3) | PP (3) | PSOE (1) | ||||
| Madrid | Total (4) | PP (3) | PSOE (1) | ||||
| Murcia | Total (4) | PP (3) | PSOE (1) | ||||
| Melilla | Total | PP (2) | |||||
| Navarre | Total (4) | PP (3) | PSOE (1) | ||||
| País Vasco | Total (12) | PP 1 | PSOE 5 | ||||
| EAJ-PNV 6 | |||||||
| Alava | 1 | 3 | |||||
| Guipúzcoa | |||||||
| 1 | |||||||
| 3 | |||||||
| Biscay | |||||||
| 1 | |||||||
| 3 | |||||||
| Valencia | Total | PP 9 | PSOE 3 | ||||
| Alicante | 3 | 1 | |||||
| Castellón | 3 | 1 | |||||
| Valencia | 3 | 1 | |||||
| National Total | (208) | PP (102) | PSOE (81) | PSC-ERC (12) | EAJ-PNV (6) | CiU (4) | CC (3) |
It is possible that voters swung to the PSOE in the vote for the Congress of Deputies, which determines the government, but stuck with the PP in the voting for the Senate, thus placing a brake on a future socialist government. However, a swing in votes that fails to change who leads in a district has a larger effect in the Congress, with large numbers of seats per constituency allocated proportionally, that in the Senate, where constituencies elect up to four representatives and voters cast votes for up to three people (usually all from the same party).