2011 Spanish general election
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A general election was held in Spain on 20 November 2011 to elect the members of the 10th Cortes Generales under the Spanish Constitution of 1978. All 350 seats in the Congress of Deputies were up for election, as well as 208 of 266 seats in the Senate.
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20 November 2011
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All 350 seats in the Congress of Deputies and 208 (of 266) seats in the Senate 176 seats needed for a majority in the Congress of Deputies | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Registered | 35,779,491 2.0% | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Turnout | 24,666,441 (68.9%) 4.9 pp | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The second term of Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero was quickly overshadowed by the impact of the Great Recession in Spain, aggravated by the Spanish property bubble's crash that led to a real estate crisis. Unemployment reached record highs as public deficit and bond yields soared, with the popularity of Zapatero's government and his ruling Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) plummeting after being forced to U-turn in economic policy and adopt tough spending cuts and austerity measures, as well as a 2011 constitutional reform introducing a balanced budget amendment. Concurrently, the curtailment of the Catalan Statute of Autonomy by the Constitutional Court of Spain in 2010 sparked protests and helped fuel pro-independence sentiment in the region. Despite the economic outlook, the government still attempted to push through some measures in its social agenda, such as a liberalization of abortion laws.
Growing discontent saw a general strike in September 2010, an air traffic controllers' strike in December 2010 (which led to the first use of emergency powers since 1975), and the onset of the anti-austerity movement in Spain in May 2011. This, together with consistent opinion polling leads for the opposition People's Party (PP) under Mariano Rajoy—who had survived a plot to overthrow him during a 2008 party congress—materialized in the PSOE's collapse in the 2011 local and regional elections. Zapatero renounced seeking a third term in office, with the first deputy prime minister, Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba, being selected as PSOE candidate unopposed. Mounting political and economic pressure forced Zapatero to call a snap election for November 2011, five months ahead of schedule. During this period, separatist group ETA announced a permanent ceasefire and subsequent cessation of all armed operations, turning the election into the first since the Spanish transition to democracy without ETA activity.[1]
Under falling voter turnout, the election resulted in the PSOE being swept out from power in the worst defeat for a sitting government in Spain up until that time since 1982, losing 4.3 million votes and scoring its worst result in a general election ever since the first democratic election in 1977.[2] In contrast, Rajoy's PP won an absolute majority in a landslide, being his party's best historic result as well as the second largest and, to date, last single-party majority in a nationwide Spanish election.[3] Also for the first time in a general election, the PSOE failed to come out on top in both Andalusia and Catalonia, with the nationalist Convergence and Union emerging victorious in the later, whereas the abertzale left Amaiur achieved a major breakthrough in both the Basque Country and Navarre.[4] United Left saw a turnaround of its electoral fortunes with its first remarkable increase in fifteen years,[5] whereas centrist Union, Progress and Democracy exceeded expectations with over one million votes, five seats and just short of the five percent threshold required for being recognized a parliamentary group in Congress.[6][7]
Background
The 2008 general election brought a second consecutive victory for the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) which won 169 (just seven short of an overall majority).[8] Declining to form a coalition or seek confidence and supply agreements with smaller parties, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero was re-elected as prime minister of Spain on the second ballot of investiture and went on to form the going on to form the first female-majority cabinet in Spain's history.[9][10] By then, however, the Spanish economy was already showing signs of fatigue and slowing after a decade of growth.[11]
The defeat of the opposition People's Party (PP) led some internal factions and conservative media to question Mariano Rajoy's leadership.[12][13] After fending off a challenge from the Madrilenian president, Esperanza Aguirre,[14] Rajoy was re-elected at the July 2008 PP congress,[15] but the internal crisis continued for months amid several political scandals.[16][17] In early 2009, El País revealed an alleged plot by the Madrid regional government to spy on Aguirre's political rivals.[18][19][20] Soon after, the National Court of Spain opened a judicial probe into the Gürtel case, which implicated the PP—especially its Madrid and Valencia branches—in a bribery, money laundering, and tax evasion scheme.[21][22] Investigations were delayed due to the examining magistrate, Baltasar Garzón, being tried for violating lawyer-client privilege through wiretapping,[23] while criticism over a hunting trip with him led formed justice minister Mariano Fernández Bermejo to resign.[24] The PP victories in the 2009 Galician and European Parliament elections helped reassert Rajoy's authority within his party amid voters' growing economic concerns.[25][26]
The impact of the Great Recession in Spain dominated Zapatero's second term, with early criticism focused on his delay in acknowledging the crisis and acting sooner.[27][28][29] Worsening forecasts and rising fuel prices pushed the government to approve a first stimulus package based on tax rebates and the removal of the wealth tax,[11][30] while a truck drivers' strike erupted in June 2008.[31][32] The crash of the Spanish property bubble triggered a real estate crisis, and the July 2008 bankruptcy of Martinsa-Fadesa in July 2008 became Spain's largest corporate default.[33][34] A second stimulus package followed in August, including further tax deductions, the opening up of the services sector, red tape cuts for small and medium enterprises (SMEs), and simplified environmental plan requirements.[35][36] The bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers in September deepened the global financial crisis and caused historic losses for the Madrid Stock Exchange.[37][38] By the end of 2008 Spain had entered recession,[39] with inflation and unemployment rising sharply.[40] The Spanish government's €50-billion "Plan E" public works program[41][42] failed to meet its goals and drew criticism for unsustainable spending.[43][44] A banking crisis forced the state to bailout several failing savings banks,[45][46][47] with the FROB being established to manage restructuring.[48] In 2009, economy and finance minister Pedro Solbes was replaced by Elena Salgado,[49] and further austerity measures—including tax hikes (such as a rise in the VAT) and cuts in non-essential spending—were introduced to contain the growing public deficit.[50][51][52]
Zapatero's government initially tried to avoid cutting social security and welfare state policies.[27][53] However, a ballooning deficit,[54] unemployment levels unseen since the 1993 crisis,[55] and fears of contagion from the Greek government-debt crisis (which threatened a euro area crisis),[56][57] forced a change of course. On 12 May 2010, Zapatero announced emergency measures aimed at preventing a possible default and bailout,[58] including cuts to civil servants' wages and dependency spending, a pension freeze and the removal of birth allowances.[59][60] A labour reform followed, introducing incentives to youth employment, decentralizing of collective bargaining, and reducing severance payments for layoffs.[61][62] These U-turns caused approval ratings for both Zapatero and the PSOE to collapse,[63][64] and a general strike was called against the reforms.[65][66] Zapatero attempted to regain political initiative with a major cabinet reshuffle in October 2010,[67] but his government had to deal with an air traffic controllers' strike in December, which led to a state of alarm (the first since the Spanish transition to democracy).[68] Rising bond yields and threats to Spain's credit ratings prompted further measures,[69][70][71] including the partial privatizations of AENA and the State Lotteries, higher tobacco taxes, limits on unemployment benefits, and a tax cut for SMEs.[72][73] A pension reform saw the compulsory retirement age rising from 65 to 67 years.[29][74] Growing discontent with austerity culminated in the 15-M Movement in May 2011, also known as "the indignant ones" (Spanish: indignados),[27] which would spark protests, demonstrations and occupations in Spain in the ensuing years.[75][76]
Domestically, the government also faced public outrage after the hijacking of the fishing trawler Alakrana to piracy off the coast of Somalia in October 2009.[77] It approved a new abortion law based on a time limits-scheme (allowing abortion without conditions up to the 14th week and up to the 22nd week in cases of pregnancy complications), while also removing parental consent for minors aged 16–17.[27][78] During this period, the government passed a new regional financing model, a sustainable economy law (which included the controversial Sinde Law on internet copyright infringements), and a major Criminal Code reform that introduced harsher penalties for terrorism, sex crimes and real-estate corruption.[79] In 2010, a Constitutional Court ruling that curtailed the Catalan Statute of Autonomy—following a PP appeal—sparked protests in the region, fueling a sovereigntist movement and, ultimately, pro-independence sentiment.[80][81] Economic hardship also contributed to the fall of the tripartite government in the 2010 Catalan election and the victory of Convergence and Union under Artur Mas.[82][83]
The activity of the ETA group saw an attack on the EITB offices in 2008,[84] and the Burgos and Palma Nova bombings in 2009,[85][86] although police operations dealt severe blows to the group's capabilities.[27][87] ETA's first murder of a French policeman in March 2010 also became its last,[88][89] as the organization announced a ceasefire in September 2010,[90] declaring it permanent in January 2011.[91] A judicial investigation uncovered a tip-off during the 2006 ceasefire that had delayed the dismantling of an ETA extortion network (the so-called Faisán case); the opposition PP tried to link the case to the interior minister, Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba, but only two police officers were ultimately tried and convicted.[92][93] Concurrently, the Supreme and the Constitutional courts banned several parties with alleged ties to ETA and the outlawed Batasuna,[94] including the Communist Party of the Basque Homelands;[95] the Basque Nationalist Action,[96] several groups formed to contest the 2009 Basque election (D3M and Askatasuna),[97] as well as Sortu in March 2011.[98] The Constitutional Court allowed the abertzale left to contest the 2011 local elections under the Bildu banner,[99] which achieved a major electoral breakthrough.[100]
On 2 April 2011, Zapatero announced that he would not seek a third term as prime minister,[101] but his initial plan to hold a party primary to choose a successor was scrapped following the PSOE's heavy defeats in the 2011 local and regional elections.[102] Defence minister and likely contender Carme Chacón withdrew from the race in favour of Rubalcaba,[103] who became the party's prime ministerial candidate unopposed.[104] The final months of Zapatero's term were marked by a constitutional reform in the summer of 2011 introducing a balanced budget amendment,[105] and by his decision to bring forward the general election to 20 November in response to mounting political and economic pressure.[106]
Overview
Under the 1978 Constitution, the Spanish Cortes Generales were conceived as an imperfect bicameral system.[107][108] The Congress of Deputies held greater legislative power than the Senate, having the ability to grant or withdraw confidence from a prime minister and to override Senate vetoes by an absolute majority.[109] Nonetheless, the Senate retained a limited number of specific functions—such as ratifying international treaties, authorizing cooperation agreements between autonomous communities, enforcing direct rule, regulating interterritorial compensation funds, and taking part in constitutional amendments and in the appointment of members to the Constitutional Court and the General Council of the Judiciary—which were not subject to override by Congress.[110]
Date
The term of each chamber of the Cortes Generales—the Congress and the Senate—expired four years from the date of their previous election, unless they were dissolved earlier.[111] The election decree was required to be issued no later than 25 days before the scheduled expiration date of parliament and published on the following day in the Official State Gazette (BOE), with election day taking place 54 days after the decree's publication.[112] The previous election was held on 9 March 2008, which meant that the chambers' terms would have expired on 9 March 2012. The election decree was required to be published in the BOE no later than 14 February 2012, setting the latest possible date for election day on 8 April 2012.
The prime minister had the prerogative to propose the monarch to dissolve both chambers at any given time—either jointly or separately—and call a snap election, provided that no motion of no confidence was in process, no state of emergency was in force and that dissolution did not occur before one year after a previous one.[113] Additionally, both chambers were to be dissolved and a new election called if an investiture process failed to elect a prime minister within a two-month period from the first ballot.[114] Barring this exception, there was no constitutional requirement for simultaneous elections to the Congress and the Senate.[115] Still, as of 2026, there has been no precedent of separate elections taking place under the 1978 Constitution.
As the Great Recession took its hold in Spain, prime minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero rejected several demands from the opposition PP to call a snap election in 2009 and 2010,[116][117][118] as well as following the PSOE's heavy defeat in the May 2011 local and regional elections, assuring that it would be held when due in March 2012.[119][120] However, on 29 July 2011, Zapatero announced that he had opted for the next general election to be held on 20 November of that same year, justifying it so that "a new government can take charge of the economy in 2012, fresh from the balloting".[106] Behind the scenes, it was said that the decision was the result of PSOE candidate Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba's desire to avoid further political erosion due to the worsening economic indicators.[121]
The Cortes Generales were officially dissolved on 27 September 2011 with the publication of the corresponding decree in the BOE, setting election day for 20 November and scheduling for both chambers to reconvene on 13 December.[122]
Electoral system
Voting for each chamber of the Cortes Generales was based on universal suffrage, comprising all Spanish nationals 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.[123][124] Amendments earlier in 2011 required non-resident citizens to apply for voting, a system known as "begged" voting (Spanish: Voto rogado).[125][126]
The Congress of Deputies had a minimum of 300 and a maximum of 400 seats, with electoral provisions fixing its size at 350. Of these, 348 were elected in 50 multi-member constituencies corresponding to the provinces of Spain—each of which was assigned an initial minimum of two seats and the remaining 248 distributed in proportion to population—using the D'Hondt method and closed-list proportional voting, with a three percent-threshold of valid votes (including blank ballots) in each constituency. The remaining two seats were allocated to Ceuta and Melilla as single-member districts elected by plurality voting.[127] The use of this electoral method resulted in a higher effective threshold depending on district magnitude and vote distribution.[128]
As a result of the aforementioned allocation, each Congress multi-member constituency was entitled the following seats:[129]
| Seats | Constituencies[d] |
|---|---|
| 36 | Madrid(+1) |
| 31 | Barcelona |
| 16 | Valencia |
| 12 | Alicante, Seville |
| 10 | Málaga, Murcia |
| 8 | A Coruña, Asturias, Balearic Islands, Biscay, Cádiz(–1), Las Palmas |
| 7 | Granada, Pontevedra, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Zaragoza |
| 6 | Almería, Badajoz, Córdoba, Gipuzkoa, Girona, Jaén, Tarragona, Toledo |
| 5 | Cantabria, Castellón, Ciudad Real, Huelva, León, Navarre, Valladolid |
| 4 | Álava, Albacete, Burgos, Cáceres, La Rioja, Lleida, Lugo, Ourense, Salamanca |
| 3 | Ávila, Cuenca, Guadalajara, Huesca, Palencia, Segovia, Teruel, Zamora |
| 2 | Soria |
208 Senate seats were elected using open-list partial block voting: voters in constituencies electing four seats could choose up to three candidates; in those with two or three seats, up to two; and in single-member districts, one. Each of the 47 peninsular provinces was allocated four seats, while in insular provinces—such as the Balearic and Canary Islands—the districts were the islands themselves, with the larger ones (Mallorca, Gran Canaria and Tenerife) being allocated three seats each, and the smaller ones (Menorca, Ibiza–Formentera, Fuerteventura, La Gomera, El Hierro, Lanzarote and La Palma) one each. Ceuta and Melilla elected two seats each. Additionally, autonomous communities could appoint at least one senator each and were entitled to one additional seat per million inhabitants.[131][132]
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.[133]
Outgoing parliament
The tables below show the composition of the parliamentary groups in both chambers at the time of dissolution.[134][135]
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Candidates
Nomination rules
Spanish citizens with the right to vote could run for election, provided that they had not been criminally imprisoned by a final sentence or convicted—whether final or not—of offences that involved loss of eligibility or disqualification from public office (such as rebellion, terrorism or other crimes against the state). Additional causes of ineligibility applied to the following officials:[138]
- Members of the Spanish royal family and their spouses;
- Holders of a number of senior public or institutional posts, including the heads and members of higher courts and state institutions;[g] the Ombudsman; the State's Attorney General; high-ranking officials of government departments, the Office of the Prime Minister and other state agencies; government delegates in the autonomous communities; the chair of RTVE; the director of the Electoral Register Office; the governor and deputy governor of the Bank of Spain; the heads of official credit institutions; and members of electoral commissions and of the Nuclear Safety Council;
- Heads of diplomatic missions abroad;
- Judges and public prosecutors in active service;
- Members of the Armed Forces and law enforcement bodies in active service.
Other ineligibility provisions also applied to a number of territorial officials in these categories within their areas of jurisdiction, as well as to employees of foreign states and members of regional governments.[138]
Incompatibility rules included those of ineligibility, and also barred running in multiple constituencies or lists, holding office if the candidacy was later declared illegal (by a final ruling), and combining legislative roles (deputy, senator, and regional lawmaker) with each other or with:[139]
- A number of senior public or institutional posts, including the presidency of the National Commission on Markets and Competition; and leadership positions in RTVE, government offices, public authorities (such as port authorities, hydrographic confederations, or highway concessionary companies), public entities and state-owned or publicly funded companies;
- Any other paid public or private position, except university teaching.
Parties and lists
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, whereas groupings of electors needed to secure the signature of at least one percent of the electorate in the constituencies for which they sought election, disallowing electors from signing for more than one list. Concurrently, parties, federations or alliances that had not obtained a mandate in either chamber of the Cortes at the preceding election were required to secure the signature of at least 0.1 percent of electors in the aforementioned constituencies.[140] Additionally, a balanced composition of men and women was required in the lists of candidates, so that candidates of either sex made up at least 40 percent of the total composition.[141]
Below is a list of the main parties and alliances which contested the election:
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The Socialists' Party of Catalonia (PSC), Initiative for Catalonia Greens (ICV) and United and Alternative Left (EUiA) continued their Catalan Senate alliance without ERC, under the Agreement for Catalonia Progress name.[155][156] Concurrently, the new green Equo party allied itself with PSM–Nationalist Agreement (PSM–EN), Initiative Greens (IV) and Agreement for Majorca (ExM) in the Balearic Islands and with Sí Se Puede (SSP) and Socialists for Tenerife (SxTf) in the Santa Cruz de Tenerife constituency.[157][158][159]
Campaign
Timetable
The key dates are listed below (all times are CET. The Canary Islands used WET (UTC+0) instead):[160]
- 26 September: The election decree is issued with the countersign of the prime minister, after deliberation in the Council of Ministers, ratified by the King.[161]
- 27 September: Formal dissolution of parliament and start of prohibition period on the inauguration of public works, services or projects.[161]
- 30 September: Initial constitution of provincial and zone electoral commissions with judicial members.
- 3 October: Division of constituencies into polling sections and stations.
- 7 October: Deadline for parties and federations to report on their electoral alliances.
- 10 October: Deadline for electoral register consultation for the purpose of possible corrections.
- 17 October: Deadline for parties, federations, alliances, and groupings of electors to present electoral lists.
- 19 October: Publication of submitted electoral lists in the Official State Gazette (BOE).
- 22 October: Deadline for non-resident citizens (electors residing abroad (CERA) and citizens temporarily absent from Spain) to apply for voting.
- 24 October: Official proclamation of validly submitted electoral lists.
- 25 October: Publication of proclaimed electoral lists in the BOE.
- 26 October: Deadline for the selection of polling station members by sortition.
- 3 November: Deadline for the appointment of non-judicial members to provincial and zone electoral commissions.
- 4 November: Official start of electoral campaigning.[162]
- 10 November: Deadline to apply for postal voting.
- 15 November: Start of legal ban on electoral opinion polling publication; deadline for CERA citizens to vote by mail.
- 16 November: Deadline for postal and temporarily absent voting.
- 18 November: Last day of electoral campaigning;[162] deadline for CERA voting.
- 19 November: Official election silence ("reflection day").
- 20 November: Election day (polling stations open at 9 am and close at 8 pm or once voters present in a queue at/outside the polling station at 8 pm have cast their vote); provisional vote counting.
- 23 November: Start of general vote counting, including CERA votes.
- 26 November: Deadline for the general vote counting.
- 5 December: Deadline for the proclamation of elected members.
- 15 December: Deadline for the reconvening of parliament (date determined by the election decree, which for the 2011 election was set for 13 December).[122][163]
- 14 January: Deadline for the publication of definitive election results in the BOE.
Party slogans
| Party or alliance | Original slogan | English translation | Ref. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSOE | « Pelea por lo que quieres » | "Fight for what you want" | [164] | |
| PP | « Súmate al cambio » | "Join the change" | [165] | |
| CiU | « La nostra força » | "Our strength" | [166][167] | |
| EAJ/PNV | « Euskadiren alde. Euskadi puede » | "For the Basque Country. The Basque Country can do it" | [168] | |
| Esquerra | « República del Sí » | "Republic of Yes" | [169] | |
| IU–LV | « Rebélate! » | "Rebel!" | [170] | |
| BNG | « A alternativa que te defende. O voto útil en Galiza » | "The alternative that defends you" & "The tactical vote in Galicia" | [171][172] | |
| UPyD | « Cada voto vale » | "Each vote counts" | [173] | |
| GBai | « Sí, tenemos futuro » « Bai, dadugu geroa » |
"Yes, we have a future" | [174][175] | |
| FAC | « Más Asturias, Mejor España » | "More Asturias, Better Spain" | [176] | |
| Amaiur | « Eraiki zubia » « Tendiendo puentes » |
"Bridging" | [177] | |
| Compromís–Q | « Som com tu » | "We are like you" | [178] | |
Debates
| Date | Organisers | Moderator(s) | P Present[p] S Surrogate[q] NI Not invited I Invited A Absent invitee | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSOE | PP | IU | CiU | PNV | Share | Ref. | |||
| 7 November | TV Academy | Manuel Campo Vidal | P Rubalcaba |
P Rajoy |
NI | NI | NI | 54.2% (12,006,000) |
[179] |
| 9 November | TVE | María Casado | S Jáuregui |
S Gallardón |
S Llamazares |
S Macias |
P Erkoreka |
11.5% (2,164,000) |
[180] |
- Opinion polls
| Debate | Polling firm/Commissioner | PSOE | PP | Tie | None |  |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 November | Metroscopia/El País[181] | 41.0 | 46.0 | 6.0 | 6.0 | 1.0 |
| Sigma Dos/El Mundo[182] | 44.2 | 51.4 | – | – | 4.4 | |
| TNS Demoscopia/Antena 3[183] | 33.1 | 43.9 | – | 23.0 | – | |
| Invymark/laSexta[184][185] | 39.9 | 48.6 | 11.5 | – | – | |
| CIS[186] | 23.4 | 39.6 | 5.4 | 24.4 | 7.2 |
Opinion polls
Voter turnout
The table below shows registered voter turnout on election day, without including non-resident citizens.
| Region | Time | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14:00 | 18:00 | 20:00 | |||||||
| 2008 | 2011 | +/– | 2008 | 2011 | +/– | 2008 | 2011 | +/– | |
| Andalusia | 39.06% | 37.76% | −1.30 | 59.51% | 57.66% | −1.85 | 73.79% | 70.69% | −3.10 |
| Aragon | 42.40% | 39.54% | −2.86 | 61.39% | 57.44% | −3.95 | 76.79% | 72.57% | −4.22 |
| Asturias | 38.39% | 36.71% | −1.68 | 59.55% | 56.23% | −3.32 | 73.82% | 70.33% | −3.49 |
| Balearic Islands | 39.18% | 35.17% | −4.01 | 56.07% | 50.37% | −5.70 | 68.19% | 62.20% | −5.99 |
| Basque Country | 37.30% | 38.34% | +1.04 | 53.42% | 56.08% | +2.66 | 64.90% | 69.22% | +4.32 |
| Canary Islands | 30.65% | 28.03% | −2.62 | 49.86% | 45.95% | −3.91 | 67.61% | 63.72% | −3.89 |
| Cantabria | 42.66% | 40.44% | −2.22 | 65.17% | 61.53% | −3.64 | 78.35% | 75.37% | −2.98 |
| Castile and León | 41.83% | 38.12% | −3.71 | 63.94% | 59.33% | −4.61 | 79.60% | 75.08% | −4.52 |
| Castilla–La Mancha | 42.65% | 39.53% | −3.12 | 65.30% | 61.71% | −3.59 | 80.64% | 76.71% | −3.93 |
| Catalonia | 39.31% | 35.55% | −3.76 | 57.45% | 53.21% | −4.24 | 71.22% | 66.83% | −4.39 |
| Extremadura | 43.82% | 39.67% | −4.15 | 63.76% | 59.60% | −4.16 | 79.68% | 75.63% | −4.05 |
| Galicia | 35.60% | 32.87% | −2.73 | 60.73% | 57.28% | −3.45 | 75.46% | 71.82% | −3.64 |
| La Rioja | 45.81% | 41.88% | −3.93 | 65.08% | 59.73% | −5.35 | 80.77% | 75.88% | −4.89 |
| Madrid | 41.67% | 39.61% | −2.06 | 65.18% | 61.33% | −3.85 | 80.88% | 76.03% | −4.85 |
| Murcia | 45.74% | 42.50% | −3.24 | 67.46% | 63.36% | −4.10 | 80.47% | 75.53% | −4.94 |
| Navarre | 42.72% | 39.11% | −3.61 | 59.92% | 55.82% | −4.10 | 73.25% | 71.34% | −1.91 |
| Valencian Community | 47.57% | 43.95% | −3.62 | 66.74% | 62.73% | −4.01 | 79.66% | 75.50% | −4.16 |
| Ceuta | 31.87% | 26.63% | −5.24 | 49.81% | 42.50% | −7.31 | 64.75% | 55.05% | −9.70 |
| Melilla | 31.08% | 25.56% | −5.52 | 47.93% | 40.08% | −7.85 | 66.59% | 52.85% | −13.74 |
| Total | 40.46% | 37.88% | −2.58 | 60.95% | 57.65% | −3.30 | 75.35% | 71.71% | −3.64 |
| Sources[187] | |||||||||
Results
Congress of Deputies
 | ||||||
| Parties and alliances | Popular vote | Seats | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | ±pp | Total | +/− | ||
| People's Party (PP)1 | 10,866,566 | 44.63 | +4.52 | 186 | +32 | |
| Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) | 7,003,511 | 28.76 | −15.11 | 110 | −59 | |
| United Left–The Greens: Plural Left (IU–LV)2 | 1,686,040 | 6.92 | +3.00 | 11 | +9 | |
| Union, Progress and Democracy (UPyD) | 1,143,225 | 4.70 | +3.51 | 5 | +4 | |
| Convergence and Union (CiU) | 1,015,691 | 4.17 | +1.14 | 16 | +6 | |
| Amaiur (Amaiur)3 | 334,498 | 1.37 | +1.05 | 7 | +7 | |
| Basque Nationalist Party (EAJ/PNV) | 324,317 | 1.33 | +0.14 | 5 | −1 | |
| Republican Left (esquerra) | 256,985 | 1.06 | −0.10 | 3 | ±0 | |
| Equo (Equo) | 216,748 | 0.89 | New | 0 | ±0 | |
| Galician Nationalist Bloc (BNG) | 184,037 | 0.76 | −0.07 | 2 | ±0 | |
| Canarian Coalition–New Canaries (CC–NC–PNC)4 | 143,881 | 0.59 | −0.24 | 2 | ±0 | |
| Bloc–Initiative–Greens–Equo: Commitment Coalition (Compromís–Q)5 | 125,306 | 0.51 | +0.39 | 1 | +1 | |
| Animalist Party Against Mistreatment of Animals (PACMA) | 102,144 | 0.42 | +0.25 | 0 | ±0 | |
| Forum of Citizens (FAC) | 99,473 | 0.41 | New | 1 | +1 | |
| Blank Seats (EB) | 97,673 | 0.40 | +0.38 | 0 | ±0 | |
| Andalusian Party (PA)6 | 76,999 | 0.32 | +0.05 | 0 | ±0 | |
| Platform for Catalonia (PxC) | 59,949 | 0.25 | New | 0 | ±0 | |
| Regionalist Party of Cantabria (PRC) | 44,010 | 0.18 | New | 0 | ±0 | |
| Yes to the Future (GBai)7 | 42,415 | 0.17 | −0.07 | 1 | ±0 | |
| For a Fairer World (PUM+J) | 27,210 | 0.11 | +0.02 | 0 | ±0 | |
| Communist Party of the Peoples of Spain (PCPE) | 26,254 | 0.11 | +0.03 | 0 | ±0 | |
| Anti-capitalists (Anticapitalistas) | 22,289 | 0.09 | New | 0 | ±0 | |
| Pirates of Catalonia (Pirata.cat) | 21,876 | 0.09 | New | 0 | ±0 | |
| Communist Unification of Spain (UCE) | 15,869 | 0.07 | New | 0 | ±0 | |
| Humanist Party (PH) | 10,132 | 0.04 | ±0.00 | 0 | ±0 | |
| Spain 2000 (E–2000) | 9,266 | 0.04 | +0.01 | 0 | ±0 | |
| Internationalist Solidarity and Self-Management (SAIn) | 6,863 | 0.03 | +0.01 | 0 | ±0 | |
| Republicans (RPS) | 5,430 | 0.02 | New | 0 | ±0 | |
| Hartos.org (Hartos.org) | 3,820 | 0.02 | New | 0 | ±0 | |
| Pirate Party (Pirata) | 3,426 | 0.01 | New | 0 | ±0 | |
| Canarian Nationalist Alternative (ANC) | 3,180 | 0.01 | +0.01 | 0 | ±0 | |
| Spanish Phalanx of the CNSO (FE de las JONS) | 2,898 | 0.01 | −0.04 | 0 | ±0 | |
| Liberal Democratic Centre (CDL) | 2,848 | 0.01 | ±0.00 | 0 | ±0 | |
| Castilian Party (PCAS)8 | 2,431 | 0.01 | −0.01 | 0 | ±0 | |
| United for Valencia (UxV)9 | 2,210 | 0.01 | ±0.00 | 0 | ±0 | |
| Individual Freedom Party (P–LIB) | 2,065 | 0.01 | New | 0 | ±0 | |
| Regionalist Party of the Leonese Country (PREPAL) | 2,058 | 0.01 | +0.01 | 0 | ±0 | |
| Internationalist Socialist Workers' Party (POSI) | 2,007 | 0.01 | −0.02 | 0 | ±0 | |
| National Democracy (DN) | 1,867 | 0.01 | −0.04 | 0 | ±0 | |
| Regionalist Party for Eastern Andalusia (PRAO) | 1,784 | 0.01 | New | 0 | ±0 | |
| Caballas Coalition (Caballas) | 1,712 | 0.01 | New | 0 | ±0 | |
| XXI Convergence (C.XXI) | 1,443 | 0.01 | New | 0 | ±0 | |
| Unity of the People (UP) | 1,138 | 0.00 | ±0.00 | 0 | ±0 | |
| Convergence for Extremadura (CEx) | 1,090 | 0.00 | New | 0 | ±0 | |
| Andecha Astur (Andecha) | 1,087 | 0.00 | −0.01 | 0 | ±0 | |
| Citizens of Democratic Centre (CCD) | 1,074 | 0.00 | New | 0 | ±0 | |
| Citizens' Action for Málaga (ACIMA) | 966 | 0.00 | New | 0 | ±0 | |
| Family and Life Party (PFyV) | 829 | 0.00 | −0.04 | 0 | ±0 | |
| Death to the System (+MAS+) | 791 | 0.00 | New | 0 | ±0 | |
| Union of Independent Citizens of Toledo (UCIT) | 785 | 0.00 | New | 0 | ±0 | |
| Let us Give the Change (DeC) | 778 | 0.00 | New | 0 | ±0 | |
| Centre and Democracy Forum (CyD) | 720 | 0.00 | New | 0 | ±0 | |
| Regionalist Unity of Castile and León (URCL) | 709 | 0.00 | ±0.00 | 0 | ±0 | |
| Party for the Regeneration of Democracy in Spain (PRDE) | 678 | 0.00 | New | 0 | ±0 | |
| Internet Party (Internet) | 603 | 0.00 | New | 0 | ±0 | |
| Left Republican Party–Republicans (PRE–R) | 419 | 0.00 | New | 0 | ±0 | |
| Enough is Enough, Open Grouping of Political Parties (Basta Ya) | 380 | 0.00 | New | 0 | ±0 | |
| Constitutional and Democratic Party (PDyC) | 304 | 0.00 | New | 0 | ±0 | |
| The Greens–Green Group (LV–GV) | 293 | 0.00 | −0.12 | 0 | ±0 | |
| Democratic Hygiene (HD) | 206 | 0.00 | New | 0 | ±0 | |
| Socialists for Teruel (SxT) | 169 | 0.00 | New | 0 | ±0 | |
| Navarrese and Spanish Right (DNE) | 0 | 0.00 | New | 0 | ±0 | |
| Blank ballots | 333,461 | 1.37 | +0.26 | |||
| Total | 24,348,886 | 350 | ±0 | |||
| Valid votes | 24,348,886 | 98.71 | −0.65 | |||
| Invalid votes | 317,555 | 1.29 | +0.65 | |||
| Votes cast / turnout | 24,666,441 | 68.94 | −4.91 | |||
| Abstentions | 11,113,050 | 31.06 | +4.91 | |||
| Registered voters | 35,779,491 | |||||
| Sources[187][188][189][190] | ||||||
Footnotes:
| ||||||
Senate
 | ||||||
| Parties and alliances | Popular vote | Seats | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | ±pp | Total | +/− | ||
| People's Party (PP)1 | 29,363,775 | 46.31 | +5.90 | 136 | +35 | |
| Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) | 16,469,470 | 25.97 | −11.25 | 48 | −40 | |
| United Left–The Greens: Plural Left (IU–LV)2 | 3,234,188 | 5.10 | +2.06 | 0 | ±0 | |
| Agreement for Catalonia Progress (PSC–ICV–EUiA) | 2,842,651 | 4.48 | −3.09 | 7 | −5 | |
| Convergence and Union (CiU) | 2,590,266 | 4.09 | +0.60 | 9 | +5 | |
| Union, Progress and Democracy (UPyD) | 1,060,766 | 1.67 | +0.68 | 0 | ±0 | |
| Amaiur (Amaiur)3 | 953,349 | 1.50 | +1.18 | 3 | +3 | |
| Basque Nationalist Party (EAJ/PNV) | 928,724 | 1.46 | +0.17 | 4 | +2 | |
| Republican Left (esquerra) | 665,554 | 1.05 | +1.01 | 0 | ±0 | |
| Galician Nationalist Bloc (BNG) | 593,076 | 0.94 | −0.10 | 0 | ±0 | |
| Blank Seats (EB) | 517,733 | 0.82 | +0.80 | 0 | ±0 | |
| Equo (Equo) | 516,150 | 0.81 | New | 0 | ±0 | |
| Animalist Party Against Mistreatment of Animals (PACMA) | 374,483 | 0.59 | +0.40 | 0 | ±0 | |
| Bloc–Initiative–Greens–Equo: Commitment Coalition (Compromís–Q)5 | 306,260 | 0.48 | +0.35 | 0 | ±0 | |
| Forum of Citizens (FAC) | 286,394 | 0.45 | New | 0 | ±0 | |
| Canarian Coalition–New Canaries–Canarian Nationalist Party (CC–NC–PNC)4 | 264,803 | 0.42 | −0.10 | 1 | ±0 | |
| Andalusian Party (PA)6 | 261,330 | 0.41 | +0.08 | 0 | ±0 | |
| Platform for Catalonia (PxC) | 139,925 | 0.22 | New | 0 | ±0 | |
| Regionalist Party of Cantabria (PRC) | 102,109 | 0.16 | New | 0 | ±0 | |
| Yes to the Future (GBai)7 | 96,978 | 0.15 | −0.11 | 0 | ±0 | |
| For a Fairer World (PUM+J) | 96,771 | 0.15 | −0.04 | 0 | ±0 | |
| Pirates of Catalonia (Pirata.cat) | 90,652 | 0.14 | New | 0 | ±0 | |
| Communist Party of the Peoples of Spain (PCPE) | 78,440 | 0.12 | +0.02 | 0 | ±0 | |
| Communist Unification of Spain (UCE) | 42,353 | 0.07 | New | 0 | ±0 | |
| Humanist Party (PH) | 35,693 | 0.06 | ±0.00 | 0 | ±0 | |
| Spain 2000 (E–2000) | 29,927 | 0.05 | +0.02 | 0 | ±0 | |
| Assembly for the Senate (ASRM) | 29,762 | 0.05 | New | 0 | ±0 | |
| Internationalist Solidarity and Self-Management (SAIn) | 24,505 | 0.04 | +0.01 | 0 | ±0 | |
| Liberal Democratic Centre (CDL) | 13,935 | 0.02 | +0.01 | 0 | ±0 | |
| Hartos.org (Hartos.org) | 13,395 | 0.02 | New | 0 | ±0 | |
| Castilian Party (PCAS)8 | 12,552 | 0.02 | −0.01 | 0 | ±0 | |
| Leonese People's Union (UPL) | 10,407 | 0.02 | −0.01 | 0 | ±0 | |
| Spanish Phalanx of the CNSO (FE de las JONS) | 10,028 | 0.02 | −0.04 | 0 | ±0 | |
| Regionalist Party of the Leonese Country (PREPAL) | 7,955 | 0.01 | ±0.00 | 0 | ±0 | |
| Individual Freedom Party (P–LIB) | 7,455 | 0.01 | New | 0 | ±0 | |
| Citizens' Action for Málaga (ACIMA) | 6,298 | 0.01 | New | 0 | ±0 | |
| United for Valencia (UxV)9 | 5,033 | 0.01 | ±0.00 | 0 | ±0 | |
| Internationalist Socialist Workers' Party (POSI) | 4,979 | 0.01 | −0.03 | 0 | ±0 | |
| Andecha Astur (Andecha) | 4,740 | 0.01 | ±0.00 | 0 | ±0 | |
| Convergence for Extremadura (CEx) | 4,564 | 0.01 | New | 0 | ±0 | |
| National Democracy (DN) | 4,563 | 0.01 | −0.03 | 0 | ±0 | |
| Regionalist Party for Eastern Andalusia (PRAO) | 3,921 | 0.01 | New | 0 | ±0 | |
| Regionalist Unity of Castile and León (URCL) | 3,612 | 0.01 | +0.01 | 0 | ±0 | |
| Let us Give the Change (DeC) | 3,250 | 0.01 | New | 0 | ±0 | |
| Caballas Coalition (Caballas) | 3,226 | 0.01 | New | 0 | ±0 | |
| Union of Independent Citizens of Toledo (UCIT) | 3,164 | 0.00 | New | 0 | ±0 | |
| Party for the Regeneration of Democracy in Spain (PRDE) | 3,153 | 0.00 | New | 0 | ±0 | |
| Citizens of Democratic Centre (CCD) | 2,730 | 0.00 | New | 0 | ±0 | |
| XXI Convergence (C.XXI) | 2,705 | 0.00 | New | 0 | ±0 | |
| Centre and Democracy Forum (CyD) | 2,462 | 0.00 | New | 0 | ±0 | |
| Unity of the People (UP) | 2,454 | 0.01 | +0.01 | 0 | ±0 | |
| Family and Life Party (PFyV) | 1,974 | 0.00 | −0.06 | 0 | ±0 | |
| Enough is Enough, Open Grouping of Political Parties (Basta Ya) | 1,892 | 0.00 | New | 0 | ±0 | |
| Socialist Party of Menorca–Nationalist Agreement (PSM–EN) | 1,733 | 0.00 | New | 0 | ±0 | |
| Republicans (RPS) | 1,116 | 0.00 | New | 0 | ±0 | |
| Feminist Initiative (IFem) | 1,115 | 0.00 | New | 0 | ±0 | |
| Left Republican Party–Republicans (PRE–R) | 940 | 0.00 | New | 0 | ±0 | |
| Navarrese and Spanish Right (DNE) | 903 | 0.00 | New | 0 | ±0 | |
| The Greens–Green Group (LV–GV) | 732 | 0.00 | −0.16 | 0 | ±0 | |
| Socialists for Teruel (SxT) | 446 | 0.00 | New | 0 | ±0 | |
| Blank ballots[r] | 1,264,947 | 5.36 | +3.30 | |||
| Total | 63,408,466 | 208 | ±0 | |||
| Valid votes | 23,578,950 | 96.30 | −1.41 | |||
| Invalid votes | 904,722 | 3.70 | +1.41 | |||
| Votes cast / turnout | 24,483,672 | 68.43 | −6.06 | |||
| Abstentions | 11,295,819 | 31.57 | +6.06 | |||
| Registered voters | 35,779,491 | |||||
| Sources[135][187][188][189][191][192] | ||||||
Footnotes:
| ||||||
Maps
Election results by constituency (Congress).
Vote winner strength by constituency (Congress).
Vote winner strength by autonomous community (Congress).
Aftermath
Outcome
With an overall voter turnout of 68.9%—the lowest in a decade—the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) suffered its worst ever defeat in a general election, while also scoring one of the worst electoral performances for a ruling party in Spain since the UCD collapse in the 1982 election. The People's Party (PP) was able to win an historic absolute majority with 186 out of 350 seats—the largest obtained by a party since 1982—after almost eight years in opposition. The PSOE went on to finish below first place in all but two provinces—Barcelona and Seville—while also losing both Andalusia and Catalonia, which up to that point had been carried by the PSOE in every general election. The 2011 Spanish election marked the continuation of a string of severe government election losses across European countries since the start of the 2008 financial crisis, including Iceland, Greece, Hungary, the United Kingdom, Ireland or Portugal.
Minoritary national parties, such as United Left (IU) and Union, Progress and Democracy (UPyD), benefitted greatly from the PSOE collapse, winning 11 and 5 seats respectively—2 and 1 in the previous parliament. This was the first time since the 1989 election than more than one of the smaller nationwide-contesting parties obtained more than 1 million votes in a general election, as well as enough seats to form parliamentary groups on their own right. The PSOE collapse also resulted in nearly all parties winning parliamentary presence in the Congress of Deputies increasing their vote shares—only Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC) and Geroa Bai (GBai) lost votes compared to 2008. The Basque Nationalist Party (PNV) lost 1 seat despite scoring higher than in 2008, but this came as a result of Amaiur's irruption, with 6 out of its 7 seats being elected in the Basque Country.
Convergence and Union (CiU), the party federation formed by Democratic Convergence of Catalonia (CDC) and Democratic Union of Catalonia (UDC), was elected to an historic general election victory in the region of Catalonia. The Socialists' Party of Catalonia (PSC), PSOE's sister party in the region—which had, up until that point, been the first Catalan political force in every general election held since 1977—scored a poor showing by finishing in second place with 27% of the vote. The 2011 election would be the last time both parties would dominate the Catalan political landscape in a general election; the next election, held on 20 December 2015, would see the alliance between CDC and UDC broken and the PSC being crushed to third place regionally by both the En Comú Podem alliance and ERC.
In terms of vote share, PSOE's electoral result, with 28.76%, would remain the worst electoral performance for a sitting Spanish government in a nationwide-held election since 1982 until the 2014 European Parliament election held two and a half years later, when the PP obtained 26.09% of the share, and in a general election until 2015—the PP obtaining 28.71%.
Government formation
| Investiture Congress of Deputies Nomination of Mariano Rajoy (PP) | ||
| Ballot → | 20 December 2011 | |
|---|---|---|
| Required majority → | 176 out of 350  | |
187 / 350 | ||
149 / 350 | ||
14 / 350 | ||
| Absentees | 0 / 350 | |
| Sources[193] | ||
Notes
- These comprised the Constitutional Court, the General Council of the Judiciary, the Supreme Court, the Council of State, the Court of Auditors and the Economic and Social Council.
- Denotes a main invitee attending the event.
- Denotes a main invitee not attending the event, sending a surrogate in their place.
- The percentage of blank ballots is calculated over the official number of valid votes cast, irrespective of the total number of votes shown as a result of adding up the individual results for each party.
