2009 European Parliament election in Spain
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An election was held in Spain on 7 June 2009 as part of the concurrent EU-wide election to the 7th European Parliament. All 50 seats allocated to the Spanish constituency as per the Treaty of Nice—54 after the Treaty of Lisbon came into force on 1 December 2011—were up for election.
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2.3%
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7 June 2009
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All 54[a] Spanish seats in the European Parliament | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Registered | 35,492,567 2.3% | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Turnout | 15,935,147 (44.9%) 0.2 pp | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The election saw the first national victory for the People's Party (PP) since the 2000 Spanish general election, scoring 42.1% of the share in its best showing in a European Parliament election to date, as well as its third best in a national election overall. The ruling Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE), on the other hand, fell to second place with 38.8% of the votes after a cycle of electoral victories starting in 2004. As in the previous election, the result was close, as both parties came within three percentage points of each other. The Coalition for Europe (CEU), the alliance of regionalist and peripheral nationalist parties that came to succeed the late Galeusca–Peoples of Europe coalition, remained in third place with 5.1% of the votes, whereas United Left (IU)—which ran under The Left banner—saw its worst showing in a nationwide election up to that point, barely surpassing 3.7% of the share. On the other hand, the new Union, Progress and Democracy (UPyD) party had a strong performance by comfortably doubling its result from the 2008 Spanish general election, being the only national party that saw a net gain of votes compared to that electoral contest. The abertzale left-supported Internationalist Initiative–Solidarity among Peoples (II–SP) candidacy, which had been initially banned from running by the Supreme Court of Spain but later allowed by the Constitutional Court on the grounds that there was not enough evidence of its ties to the ETA terrorist group,[3][4] scored 1.1% of the votes nationwide but failed to secure any parliamentary representation.
As the 2009 election was held under the provisions of the Treaty of Nice, Spain was allocated 50 MEP seats which, come Election Day, were distributed as follows: PP 23, PSOE 21, CEU 2, IU–ICV 2, UPyD 1 and EdP–V 1. After the Treaty of Lisbon came into force on 1 December 2011, Spain's delegation was increased to 54, granting additional seats to the PSOE (two) and to PP and CEU (one each) according to their June 2009 election results.
Overview
Electoral system
Voting for the European Parliament in Spain was based on universal suffrage, which comprised all Spanish nationals and resident non-national European citizens over 18 years of age with full political rights, provided that they had not been deprived of the right to vote by a final sentence, nor were legally incapacitated.[5]
50 European Parliament seats were allocated to Spain as per the Treaty of Nice.[6][a] All were elected in a single multi-member constituency—comprising the entire national territory—using the D'Hondt method and closed-list proportional voting, with no electoral threshold.[7] The use of this electoral method resulted in an effective threshold depending on district magnitude and vote distribution.[8]
The law did not provide for by-elections to fill vacant seats; instead, any vacancies arising after the proclamation of candidates and during the legislative term were filled by the next candidates on the party lists or, when required, by designated substitutes.[9]
Outgoing delegation
The table below shows the composition of the Spanish delegation in the chamber at the time of the election call.[10]
| Groups | Parties | MEPs | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seats | Total | ||||
| Party of European Socialists | PSOE | 24 | 24 | ||
| European People's Party | PP | 23 | 24 | ||
| UPN | 1 | ||||
| Greens–European Free Alliance | ICV | 1 | 3 | ||
| EA | 1 | ||||
| LVdE | 1 | ||||
| Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe | CDC | 1 | 2 | ||
| EAJ/PNV | 1 | ||||
| European United Left–Nordic Green Left | IU | 1 | 1 | ||
Parties and candidates
The electoral law allowed for parties and federations registered in the interior ministry, alliances and groupings of electors to present lists of candidates. Parties and federations intending to form an alliance were required to inform the relevant electoral commission within 10 days of the election call. In order to be entitled to run, parties, federations, alliances and groupings of electors needed to secure the signature of at least 15,000 registered electors; this requirement could be lifted and replaced through the signature of at least 50 elected officials—deputies, senators, MEPs or members from the legislative assemblies of autonomous communities or from local city councils. Electors and elected officials were disallowed from signing for more than one list.[11] Amendments in 2007 required a balanced composition of men and women in the electoral lists, so that candidates of either sex made up at least 40 percent of the total composition.[12]
Below is a list of the main parties and alliances which contested the election:
Campaign
Party slogans
| Party or alliance | Original slogan | English translation | Ref. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSOE | « Este partido se juega en Europa » | "This match plays out in Europe" | [22] | |
| PP | « Ahora soluciones. Ahora PP » | "Now, solutions. Now, PP" | [23] | |
| CEU | CiU: « Ara » EAJ/PNV: « Europara, inoiz baino indar gehiagorekin » / « A Europa, con más fuerza que nunca » |
CiU: "Now" EAJ/PNV: "To Europe, with more strength than ever" |
[24] | |
| IU–ICV | « Izquierda Unida, tu voz en Europa » | "United Left, your voice in Europe" | [25] | |
| EdP–V | ERC: « Pròxima estació, Europa » BNG: « Imos a Europa, ves? » Aralar–EA: « Langileen Europa » / « La Europa de los trabajadores » |
ERC: "Next stop, Europe" BNG: "We are going to Europe, are you coming?" Aralar–EA: "The Europe of workers" |
[26] [27] [28] | |
| UPyD | « Una España fuerte en una Europa unida » | "A strong Spain within a united Europe" | [29] | |
Debates
| Date | Organisers | Moderator(s) | P Present[d] S Surrogate[e] NI Not invited I Invited A Absent invitee | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSOE | PP | CEU | IU–ICV | EdP–V | Audience | Refs | |||
| 25 May | RTVE | Ana Blanco | P L. Aguilar |
P M. Oreja |
NI | NI | NI | 13.9% (2,653,000) |
[30] [31] |
| 1 June | Antena 3 | Gloria Lomana | P L. Aguilar |
P M. Oreja |
NI | NI | NI | 10.9% (1,864,000) |
[30] [31] |
| 3 June | RTVE | Pepa Bueno | S Jáuregui |
S De Grandes |
P Tremosa |
P Meyer |
P Junqueras |
8.3% (1,461,000) |
[30][31] [32] |
Opinion polls
The tables below list opinion polling results in reverse chronological order, showing the most recent first and using the dates when the survey fieldwork was done, as opposed to the date of publication. Where the fieldwork dates are unknown, the date of publication is given instead. The highest percentage figure in each polling survey is displayed with its background shaded in the leading party's colour. If a tie ensues, this is applied to the figures with the highest percentages. The "Lead" column on the right shows the percentage-point difference between the parties with the highest percentages in a poll.
Voting intention estimates
The table below lists weighted voting intention estimates. Refusals are generally excluded from the party vote percentages, while question wording and the treatment of "don't know" responses and those not intending to vote may vary between polling organisations. When available, seat projections determined by the polling organisations are displayed below (or in place of) the percentages in a smaller font.
| Polling firm/Commissioner | Fieldwork date | Sample size | Turnout |  |
 |
CEU |  |
EdPV |  |
 |
Lead |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 EP election | 7 Jun 2009 | N/a | 44.9 | 38.8 21 |
42.1 23 |
5.1 2 |
3.7 2 |
2.5 1 |
2.9 1 |
1.1 0 |
3.3 |
| PSOE[p 1] | 5 Jun 2009 | ? | 45–50 | 42.4 23 |
42.7 23 |
– | 3.6 1 |
– | – | – | 0.3 |
| TNS Demoscopia/Antena 3[p 2] | 28 May 2009 | ? | ? | 39.7 21/22 |
42.4 22/23 |
4.8 2 |
3.9 2 |
2.4 1 |
3.1 1 |
0.8 0 |
2.7 |
| Metroscopia/El País[p 3] | 27–28 May 2009 | 1,000 | 45 | 39.3 21 |
43.0 22 |
5.0 2 |
4.1 2 |
3.9 2 |
3.0 1 |
– | 3.7 |
| NC Report/La Razón[p 4] | 26–28 May 2009 | 1,000 | ? | 40.2 21 |
43.2 23 |
4.7 2 |
3.9 2 |
2.3 1 |
3.0 1 |
– | 3.0 |
| Sigma Dos/El Mundo[p 5][p 6][p 7] | 26–28 May 2009 | 1,000 | 39–44 | 40.6 21/22 |
42.8 23/24 |
4.0 2 |
3.4 1 |
2.7 1 |
2.6 1 |
– | 2.2 |
| DYM/ABC[p 8] | 25–28 May 2009 | 1,040 | ? | 38.7 21 |
40.9 23 |
5.4 2 |
3.3 1 |
1.8 1 |
2.2 1 |
– | 2.2 |
| Noxa/La Vanguardia[p 9] | 25–28 May 2009 | 1,000 | ? | 42.5 23 |
40.9 22 |
4.9 2 |
3.2 1 |
2.2 1 |
3.3 1 |
– | 1.6 |
| Obradoiro de Socioloxía/Público[p 1][p 10] | 11–27 May 2009 | 2,402 | ? | 40.0 21 |
42.6 23 |
3.8 2 |
4.0 2 |
2.7 1 |
2.8 1 |
0.9 0 |
2.6 |
| PSOE[p 11][p 12] | 25 May 2009 | 2,500 | 45–48 | 42.7 23 |
42.5 23 |
– | ? 1/2 |
– | ? 0 |
– | 0.2 |
| NC Report/La Razón[p 13][p 14] | 18–21 May 2009 | 1,000 | 40.1 | 41.0 21/22 |
43.7 23 |
4.5 2 |
3.7 1/2 |
2.0 1 |
2.9 1 |
– | 2.7 |
| CIS[p 15][p 16] | 29 Apr–17 May 2009 | 4,692 | ? | 42.8 23 |
42.2 23 |
5.1 2 |
3.1 1 |
3.6 1 |
1.3 0 |
– | 0.6 |
| GESOP/El Periódico[p 17] | 11–15 May 2009 | 1,500 | ? | 39.0 21 |
43.0 23 |
4.2 2 |
4.7 2 |
3.6 1 |
2.6 1 |
– | 4.0 |
| INVESOP/COPE[p 18] | 8 May 2009 | 1,700 | 58 | 40.7 22 |
44.0 23 |
? 2 |
? 1 |
? 1 |
? 1 |
– | 3.3 |
| 40 | 41.1 22 |
45.1 24 |
? 2 |
? 1 |
? 0 |
? 1 |
– | 4.0 | |||
| NC Report/La Razón[p 19] | 4–8 May 2009 | 1,000 | 42.9 | 40.0 21 |
42.8 22/23 |
4.6 2 |
5.1 2 |
2.2 1 |
3.4 1/2 |
– | 2.8 |
| Obradoiro de Socioloxía/Público[p 20][p 21] | 14 Apr–8 May 2009 | ? | ? | 40.0 21/22 |
44.0 23/24 |
4.0 2 |
3.5 1 |
1.7 0 |
3.7 1/2 |
– | 4.0 |
| NC Report/La Razón[p 22] | 20 Apr 2009 | ? | 42.5 | 39.0 21 |
43.3 23 |
4.8 2 |
5.3 2 |
2.2 1 |
3.2 1 |
– | 4.3 |
| Sigma Dos/El Mundo[p 23][p 24] | 3–8 Apr 2009 | 900 | ? | 37.9 20/21 |
42.3 22/23 |
4.3 2 |
5.0 2 |
2.2 1 |
4.4 2 |
– | 4.4 |
| Obradoiro de Socioloxía/Público[p 25] | 10 Mar–2 Apr 2009 | 3,204 | ? | 39.0 21 |
43.5 23 |
4.8 2 |
4.9 2 |
1.9 1 |
3.2 1 |
– | 4.5 |
| 2004 EP election | 13 Jun 2004 | N/a | 45.1 | 43.5 25 |
41.2 24 |
5.1 2 |
4.1 2 |
2.5 1 |
– | – | 2.3 |
Voting preferences
The table below lists raw, unweighted voting preferences.
| Polling firm/Commissioner | Fieldwork date | Sample size | |
|
CEU | |
EdPV | |
 |
 |
Lead |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 EP election[f] | 7 Jun 2009 | N/a | 17.6 | 19.3 | 2.3 | 1.7 | 1.1 | 1.3 | N/a | 54.0 | 1.7 |
| Obradoiro de Socioloxía/Público[p 10] | 25–27 May 2009 | ? | 21.8 | 18.8 | – | – | – | – | – | – | 3.0 |
| Obradoiro de Socioloxía/Público[p 10] | 18–20 May 2009 | ? | 21.6 | 18.9 | – | – | – | – | – | – | 2.7 |
| CIS[p 15] | 29 Apr–17 May 2009 | 4,692 | 30.7 | 23.7 | 2.6 | 2.1 | 1.6 | 0.9 | 22.3 | 13.8 | 7.0 |
| Obradoiro de Socioloxía/Público[p 10] | 11–13 May 2009 | ? | 20.3 | 20.5 | – | – | – | – | – | – | 0.2 |
| Obradoiro de Socioloxía/Público[p 20] | 14 Apr–8 May 2009 | ? | 21.4 | 19.3 | 1.6 | 1.9 | 0.5 | 2.0 | 36.6 | 15.7 | 2.1 |
| Obradoiro de Socioloxía/Público[p 25] | 10 Mar–2 Apr 2009 | 3,204 | 21.6 | 20.6 | 2.3 | 2.7 | 0.8 | 1.7 | 33.3 | 16.3 | 1.0 |
| 2004 EP election[f] | 13 Jun 2004 | N/a | 19.7 | 18.8 | 2.4 | 1.9 | 1.1 | – | N/a | 54.1 | 0.9 |
Victory preferences
The table below lists opinion polling on the victory preferences for each party in the event of a European Parliament election taking place.
| Polling firm/Commissioner | Fieldwork date | Sample size | |
|
CEU | |
EdPV | |
Other/ None |
|
Lead |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Metroscopia/El País[p 3] | 27–28 May 2009 | 1,000 | 45.0 | 32.0 | – | – | – | – | 23.0 | 13.0 | |
| Noxa/La Vanguardia[p 9] | 25–28 May 2009 | 1,000 | 42.0 | 33.0 | – | – | – | – | 25.0 | 9.0 | |
| PSOE[p 11][p 12] | 25 May 2009 | 2,500 | 34.8 | 34.7 | – | – | – | – | 30.5 | 0.1 | |
| CIS[p 15] | 29 Apr–17 May 2009 | 4,692 | 37.8 | 27.4 | 2.7 | 2.5 | 1.7 | 1.0 | 8.4 | 18.5 | 10.4 |
Victory likelihood
The table below lists opinion polling on the perceived likelihood of victory for each party in the event of a European Parliament election taking place.
| Polling firm/Commissioner | Fieldwork date | Sample size | |
|
Other/ None |
|
Lead |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Metroscopia/El País[p 3] | 27–28 May 2009 | 1,000 | 35.0 | 36.0 | 29.0 | 1.0 | |
| Noxa/La Vanguardia[p 9] | 25–28 May 2009 | 1,000 | 39.0 | 38.0 | 23.0 | 1.0 | |
| PSOE[p 11][p 12] | 25 May 2009 | 2,500 | 33.5 | 33.3 | 33.2 | 0.2 | |
| CIS[p 15] | 29 Apr–17 May 2009 | 4,692 | 30.9 | 31.5 | 2.2 | 35.4 | 0.6 |
| Obradoiro de Socioloxía/Público[p 20] | 14 Apr–8 May 2009 | ? | 18.3 | 29.5 | 0.1 | 52.4 | 11.2 |
| Obradoiro de Socioloxía/Público[p 25] | 10 Mar–2 Apr 2009 | 3,204 | 21.3 | 22.0 | 0.3 | 56.4 | 0.7 |
Results
Overall
 | ||||||
| Parties and alliances | Popular vote | Seats | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | ±pp | Total | +/− | ||
| People's Party (PP)1 | 6,670,377 | 42.12 | +0.91 | 24 | ±0 | |
| Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE)1 | 6,141,784 | 38.78 | −4.68 | 23 | −2 | |
| Coalition for Europe (CEU)1 2 | 808,246 | 5.10 | −0.12 | 3 | +1 | |
| United Left–Initiative for Catalonia Greens: The Left (IU–ICV) | 588,248 | 3.71 | −0.44 | 2 | ±0 | |
| Union, Progress and Democracy (UPyD) | 451,866 | 2.85 | New | 1 | +1 | |
| Europe of the Peoples–Greens (EdP–V)3 | 394,938 | 2.49 | −0.95 | 1 | ±0 | |
| Internationalist Initiative–Solidarity among Peoples (II–SP) | 178,121 | 1.12 | New | 0 | ±0 | |
| The Greens–European Green Group (LV–GVE) | 89,147 | 0.56 | +0.12 | 0 | ±0 | |
| Anti-Bullfighting Party Against Mistreatment of Animals (PACMA) | 41,913 | 0.26 | New | 0 | ±0 | |
| For a Fairer World (PUM+J) | 24,507 | 0.15 | +0.09 | 0 | ±0 | |
| Libertas–Citizens of Spain (Libertas) | 22,903 | 0.14 | New | 0 | ±0 | |
| Anti-capitalist Left–Global Revolt (IzAn–RG) | 19,735 | 0.12 | New | 0 | ±0 | |
| Spanish Alternative (AES) | 19,583 | 0.12 | New | 0 | ±0 | |
| Communist Party of the Peoples of Spain (PCPE) | 15,221 | 0.10 | +0.07 | 0 | ±0 | |
| Socialist Party of Andalusia (PSA)4 | 13,993 | 0.09 | +0.05 | 0 | ±0 | |
| Internationalist Socialist Workers' Party (POSI) | 12,344 | 0.08 | +0.03 | 0 | ±0 | |
| Family and Life Party (PFyV) | 10,456 | 0.07 | +0.02 | 0 | ±0 | |
| Democratic and Social Centre (CDS) | 10,144 | 0.06 | −0.02 | 0 | ±0 | |
| Spanish Phalanx of the CNSO (FE de las JONS) | 10,031 | 0.06 | +0.03 | 0 | ±0 | |
| National Democracy (DN) | 9,950 | 0.06 | +0.02 | 0 | ±0 | |
| Feminist Initiative (IFem) | 9,721 | 0.06 | New | 0 | ±0 | |
| National Front (FrN) | 7,970 | 0.05 | New | 0 | ±0 | |
| Catalan Republican Party (RC) | 7,547 | 0.05 | New | 0 | ±0 | |
| Humanist Party (PH) | 7,009 | 0.04 | +0.01 | 0 | ±0 | |
| Valencian Union (UV)5 | 6,072 | 0.04 | −0.01 | 0 | ±0 | |
| Republican Social Movement (MSR) | 6,009 | 0.04 | New | 0 | ±0 | |
| Internationalist Solidarity and Self-Management (SAIn) | 5,877 | 0.04 | New | 0 | ±0 | |
| Liberal Democratic Centre (CDL) | 5,733 | 0.04 | New | 0 | ±0 | |
| Authentic Phalanx (FA) | 5,165 | 0.03 | +0.02 | 0 | ±0 | |
| United Extremadura (EU)6 | 5,007 | 0.03 | +0.02 | 0 | ±0 | |
| Regionalist Party of the Leonese Country (PREPAL) | 4,767 | 0.03 | +0.01 | 0 | ±0 | |
| Communist Unification of Spain (UCE) | 3,483 | 0.02 | New | 0 | ±0 | |
| Asturian Nationalist Unity (UNA) | 3,183 | 0.02 | New | 0 | ±0 | |
| Andecha Astur (AA) | 2,255 | 0.01 | New | 0 | ±0 | |
| Liberal Centrist Union (UCL) | 1,991 | 0.01 | ±0.00 | 0 | ±0 | |
| Blank ballots | 220,471 | 1.39 | +0.78 | |||
| Total1 | 15,835,767 | 54 | ±0 | |||
| Valid votes | 15,835,767 | 99.38 | +0.36 | |||
| Invalid votes | 99,380 | 0.62 | −0.36 | |||
| Votes cast / turnout | 15,935,147 | 44.90 | −0.24 | |||
| Abstentions | 19,557,420 | 55.10 | +0.24 | |||
| Registered voters | 35,492,567 | |||||
| Sources[33][34][35][36] | ||||||
Footnotes:
| ||||||
Maps
Vote winner strength by province.
Vote winner strength by autonomous community.
Distribution by European group
| Groups | Parties | Seats | Total | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| European People's Party (EPP) |
|
24 1 |
25 | 46.30 | |
| Party of European Socialists (PES) | 23 | 23 | 42.59 | ||
| Greens–European Free Alliance (Greens/EFA) | 1 1 |
2 | 3.70 | ||
| European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party (ELDR) |
|
1 1 |
2 | 3.70 | |
| European United Left–Nordic Green Left (GUE/NGL) |
|
1 | 1 | 1.85 | |
| Non-Inscrits (NI) | 1 | 1 | 1.85 | ||
| Total | 54 | 54 | 100.00 | ||
Notes
- Note that, once the Treaty of Lisbon came into force on 1 December 2011, Spain's MEP delegation was increased from 50 to 54 and applied retroactively.[1][2]
- Denotes a main invitee attending the event.
- Denotes a main invitee not attending the event, sending a surrogate in their place.
- Does not include non-resident citizens.