2012 Catalan regional election

A regional election was held in Catalonia on 25 November 2012 to elect the 10th Parliament of the autonomous community. All 135 seats in the Parliament were up for election. It was a snap election, announced on 25 September by President Artur Mas following the pro-independence demonstration in Barcelona on 11 September—the National Day of Catalonia—and the failed talks between President Mas and Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy to give greater fiscal autonomy to Catalonia.^[1]^[2]

Registered5,413,868

0.9%

Turnout3,668,310 (67.8%)

9.0 pp

Quick facts All 135 seats in the Parliament of Catalonia 68 seats needed for a majority, Registered ...

2012 Catalan regional election

← 2010

25 November 2012

2015 →

All 135 seats in the Parliament of Catalonia
68 seats needed for a majority

Opinion polls

Registered

5,413,868

0.9%

Turnout

3,668,310 (67.8%)

9.0 pp

	First party	Second party	Third party

Leader	Artur Mas	Oriol Junqueras	Pere Navarro
Party	CiU	ERC–CatSí	PSC–PSOE
Leader since	7 January 2002	17 September 2011	17 December 2011
Leader's seat	Barcelona	Barcelona	Barcelona
Last election	62 seats, 38.4%	10 seats, 7.0%	28 seats, 18.4%
Seats won	50	21	20
Seat change	12	11	8
Popular vote	1,116,259	498,124	524,707
Percentage	30.7%	13.7%	14.4%
Swing	7.7 pp	6.7 pp	4.0 pp

	Fourth party	Fifth party	Sixth party

Leader	Alicia Sánchez-Camacho	Joan Herrera	Albert Rivera
Party	PP	ICV–EUiA	C's
Leader since	6 July 2008	23 November 2008	9 July 2006
Leader's seat	Barcelona	Barcelona	Barcelona
Last election	18 seats, 12.4%	10 seats, 7.4%	3 seats, 3.4%
Seats won	19	13	9
Seat change	1	3	6
Popular vote	471,681	359,705	274,925
Percentage	13.0%	9.9%	7.6%
Swing	0.6 pp	2.5 pp	4.2 pp

	Seventh party

Leader	David Fernàndez
Party	CUP
Leader since	13 October 2012
Leader's seat	Barcelona
Last election	Did not contest
Seats won	3
Seat change	3
Popular vote	126,435
Percentage	3.5%
Swing	New party

President before election

Artur Mas
CiU

President after election

Artur Mas
CiU

Close

Despite Artur Mas campaigning to win an absolute majority of seats, Convergence and Union (CiU) suffered an electoral setback which had gone largely unnoticed by opinion polls. The Socialists' Party of Catalonia (PSC) also fared poorly, obtaining fewer seats than pro-independence Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC) and ending up as the third parliamentary force overall. In turn, ERC regained much of the strength it had loss in the 2010 election and became the main parliamentary opposition party for the first time. The People's Party (PP) and Citizens (C's) benefitted from the electoral polarization between the pro-independence and anti-independence blocs, scoring their best results until then, with 19 and 9 seats, respectively. The Popular Unity Candidacy (CUP) also entered the Parliament for the first time.^[3]

Background

In the 2010 election, Convergence and Union (CiU) was returned to power after 7 years in opposition, as a result of the electoral collapse of all three parties comprising the "Catalan tripartite" government (Socialists' Party of Catalonia (PSC), Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC) and Initiative for Catalonia Greens (ICV). Newly-elected Catalan president Artur Mas was able to govern comfortably thanks to his party's large parliamentary representation allowing for punctual support of several parties on different issues, in what was known as a policy of "variable geometry".^[4]^[5] In 2011, CiU signed several agreements with the People's Party (PP) in order to pass the 2011 and 2012 budgets, as well as for the approval of several spending cuts. In spite of this, the relationship between both parties quickly deteriorated after the 2011 general election, as a result of Mas asking new Spanish prime minister Mariano Rajoy for greater fiscal autonomy for Catalonia.^[6]^[7]

On 11 September 2012, a massive pro-independence demonstration marked the Catalan political agenda and re-opened the debate about the right to hold a referendum on the independence of Catalonia,^[8]^[9]^[10] as well as the debate about the feasibility of an independent Catalan state and its integration into the European Union. On 25 September 2012, President Artur Mas announced a snap regional election to be held on 25 November and argued, referring to the demonstration, that "this election will not be held to help a party to perpetuate itself in power. It will be held so that the whole of the Catalan population decides democratically and peacefully what will their future be as a nation."^[11] President Mas signed the decree to officially call the Catalan election on 1 October.^[12] Mas' move was criticized as an attempt to try to funnel the popular support for independence seen in the September demonstration into an absolute majority of seats in the election.^[13]

Overview

Under the 2006 Statute of Autonomy, the Parliament of Catalonia was the unicameral legislature of the homonymous autonomous community, having legislative power in devolved matters, as well as the ability to grant or withdraw confidence from a regional president.^[14] The electoral and procedural rules were supplemented by national law provisions.^[15]

Date

The term of the Parliament of Catalonia expired four years after the date of its previous election, unless it was dissolved earlier. The election was required to be called no later than 15 days before the scheduled expiration date of parliament, with election day taking place between 40 and 60 days from the call.^[16] The previous election was held on 28 November 2010, which meant that the chamber's term would have expired on 28 November 2014. The election was required to be called no later than 13 November 2014, setting the latest possible date for election day on 12 January 2015.

The regional president had the prerogative to dissolve the Parliament of Catalonia at any given time and call a snap election, provided that no motion of no confidence was in process and that dissolution did not occur before one year after a previous one under this procedure.^[17] In the event of an investiture process failing to elect a regional president within a two-month period from the first ballot, the Parliament was to be automatically dissolved and a fresh election called.^[18]

The Parliament of Catalonia was officially dissolved on 2 October 2012 with the publication of the corresponding decree in the Official Journal of the Government of Catalonia (DOGC), setting election day for 25 November.^[19]

Electoral system

Voting for the Parliament was based on universal suffrage, comprising all Spanish nationals over 18 years of age, registered in Catalonia and with full political rights, provided that they had not been deprived of the right to vote by a final sentence, nor were legally incapacitated.^[20] Amendments in 2011 introduced a requirement for non-resident citizens to apply for voting, a system known as "begged" voting (Spanish: Voto rogado).^[21]^[22]

The Parliament of Catalonia had a minimum of 100 and a maximum of 150 seats, with electoral provisions fixing its size at 135. All were elected in four multi-member constituencies—corresponding to the provinces of Barcelona, Girona, Lleida and Tarragona, each of which was assigned a fixed number of seats—using the D'Hondt method and closed-list proportional voting, with a three percent-threshold of valid votes (including blank ballots) in each constituency.^[23] The use of this electoral method resulted in a higher effective threshold depending on district magnitude and vote distribution.^[24]

As a result of the aforementioned allocation, each Parliament constituency was entitled the following seats:^[25]

More information Seats, Constituencies ...

Seats	Constituencies
85	Barcelona
18	Tarragona
17	Girona
15	Lleida

Close

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.^[26]

Outgoing parliament

The table below shows the composition of the parliamentary groups in the chamber at the time of dissolution.^[27]^[28]^[29]^[30]

More information Groups, Parties ...

Parliamentary composition in October 2012
Groups		Parties		Legislators
Groups		Parties		Seats	Total
	Convergence and Union's Parliamentary Group		CDC	45	62
	Convergence and Union's Parliamentary Group		UDC	17	62
	Socialist Parliamentary Group		PSC	28	28
	People's Party of Catalonia's Parliamentary Group		PP	18	18
	Initiative for Catalonia Greens–United and Alternative Left's Parliamentary Group		ICV	8	10
			EUiA	2	10
	Republican Left of Catalonia's Parliamentary Group		ERC	10	10
	Mixed Group		SI	3	6
	Mixed Group		Cs	3	6
	Non-Inscrits		DCat	1^[a]	1

Close

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, 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 parliamentary mandate at the preceding election were required to secure the signature of at least 0.1 percent of electors in the aforementioned constituencies.^[32] Additionally, a balanced composition of men and women was required in the electoral lists, so that candidates of either sex made up at least 40 percent of the total composition.^[33]

Below is a list of the main parties and alliances which contested the election:

More information Candidacy, Parties and alliances ...

Candidacy		Parties and alliances	Leading candidate		Ideology	Previous result		Gov.	Ref.
Candidacy		Parties and alliances	Leading candidate		Ideology	Vote %	Seats	Gov.	Ref.
	CiU	List Convergence and Union (CiU) – Democratic Convergence of Catalonia (CDC) – Democratic Union of Catalonia (UDC)		Artur Mas	Catalan nationalism Centrism	38.4%	62		^[34] ^[35]
	PSC–PSOE	List Socialists' Party of Catalonia (PSC–PSOE)		Pere Navarro	Social democracy	18.4%	28		^[36] ^[37]
	PP	List People's Party (PP)		Alicia Sánchez-Camacho	Conservatism Christian democracy	12.4%	18		^[38] ^[39]
	ICV–EUiA	List Initiative for Catalonia Greens (ICV) United and Alternative Left (EUiA) – Party of the Communists of Catalonia (PCC) – Living Unified Socialist Party of Catalonia (PSUC viu) – Revolutionary Workers' Party (POR)		Joan Herrera	Regionalism Eco-socialism Green politics	7.4%	10		^[40] ^[41]
	ERC–CatSí	List Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC) Catalonia Yes (CatSí)		Oriol Junqueras	Catalan independence Left-wing nationalism Social democracy	7.0%	10		^[42] ^[43] ^[44] ^[45]
	SI	List Catalan Solidarity for Independence (SI)		Alfons López Tena	Catalan independence	3.3%	4		^[46] ^[47]
	C's	List Citizens–Party of the Citizenry (C's)		Albert Rivera	Social liberalism	3.4%	3		^[48] ^[49]
	CUP	List Popular Unity Candidacy (CUP)		David Fernàndez	Catalan independence Anti-capitalism Socialism	Did not contest			^[50]

Close

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.

Graphical summary

Local regression trend line of poll results from 28 November 2010 to 25 November 2012, with each line corresponding to a political party.

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; 68 seats were required for an absolute majority in the Parliament of Catalonia.

Color key:

Poll conducted after legal ban on opinion polls Exit poll

More information Polling firm/Commissioner, Fieldwork date ...

Polling firm/Commissioner	Fieldwork date	Sample size	Turnout							SI	PxC		Lead
Polling firm/Commissioner	Fieldwork date	Sample size	Turnout										Lead

2012 regional election	25 Nov 2012	N/a	67.8	30.7 50	14.4 20	13.0 19	9.9 13	13.7 21	7.6 9	1.3 0	1.7 0	3.5 3	16.3

Ipsos–Eco/CCMA^{[p 1]}^{[p 2]}	25 Nov 2012	31,242	?	34.0 54/57	12.6 16/18	12.0 16/18	9.0 10/12	14.2 20/23	5.9 6/7	–	–	4.7 5/6	19.8
Sigma Dos/The Guardian^{[p 3]}	22 Nov 2012	?	?	? 57/59	? 21/22	? 21/22	–	? 16	–	–	–	–	?
Infortécnica^{[p 4]}	18 Nov 2012	1,450	?	? 60/64	? 16/19	? 18/21	? 11/13	? 12/16	? 8/11	? 0/3	–	–	?
NC Report/La Razón^{[p 5]}^{[p 6]}	18 Nov 2012	?	59.0	38.1 60/62	14.0 20/21	14.3 19/20	8.8 12	10.5 15	5.8 6/7	–	–	2.9 0/2	24.0
crónica.cat^{[p 7]}	14–16 Nov 2012	1,000	?	? 63/64	? 18/19	? 16/17	? 12	? 14/15	? 5	? 5	–	–	?
GESOP/El Periódico^{[p 8]}	13–16 Nov 2012	800	?	38.0 62/64	12.0 15/17	11.6 15/17	9.8 13/14	12.8 19/20	6.0 6/7	2.5 0/1	–	2.8 0/1	25.2
Sigma Dos/El Mundo^{[p 9]}	13–16 Nov 2012	1,150	?	36.6 60/63	15.3 21/23	13.8 20/21	8.1 10/12	9.5 14	4.5 5	2.8 0/2	–	–	21.3
DYM/ABC^{[p 10]}	12–16 Nov 2012	847	?	39.6 60/62	13.2 17	14.0 18	8.3 9/10	12.5 18	4.4 6	–	–	4.8 4/7	25.6
Feedback/La Vanguardia^{[p 11]}	12–16 Nov 2012	1,000	58.8	38.2 62/64	13.3 17/19	12.1 16/18	11.0 13/16	10.4 14/15	7.2 7/8	1.4 0	–	2.4 0/2	24.9
Metroscopia/El País^{[p 12]}^{[p 13]}	8–15 Nov 2012	2,500	?	37.3 62	12.3 18	13.2 19	7.9 10	12.2 18	5.7 6	–	–	3.0 2	24.1
MyWord/Cadena SER^{[p 14]}^{[p 15]}	9–14 Nov 2012	1,153	?	36.8 62/65	10.6 16/17	10.9 16/17	9.2 12/13	11.4 16/17	6.5 8	2.9 0	–	2.6 2	25.4
Feedback/La Vanguardia^{[p 16]}	6–9 Nov 2012	1,000	61.3	40.0 64/66	12.0 16/18	12.3 17/18	10.2 12/13	10.9 15/17	7.0 7/8	1.7 0	–	–	27.7
Feedback/RAC 1^{[p 17]}	30 Oct–2 Nov 2012	900	61.0	39.7 64/65	13.1 18	12.7 17/19	10.7 14	10.1 14/15	5.4 6/7	2.1 0	1.7 0	1.9 0	26.6
crónica.cat^{[p 18]}	29 Oct–2 Nov 2012	1,000	?	? 66	? 17	? 18	? 12/13	? 14/15	? 3	? 4/5	–	–	?
GESOP/Tele 5^{[p 19]}	29 Oct–1 Nov 2012	2,000	?	39.0– 40.0 63/65	12.5– 13.5 18/20	11.5– 12.5 17/18	8.5– 9.5 11/12	10.5– 11.5 17/18	5.0– 6.0 5/7	–	–	2.0– 3.0 0/1	26.5
DYM/CEO^{[p 20]}	22–30 Oct 2012	2,500	65.0	43.4 69/71	12.0 15	12.5 18/19	8.0 10	9.5 14	5.1 6	2.0 0	–	2.8 0/3	30.9
CIS^{[p 21]}^{[p 22]}	9–29 Oct 2012	2,983	?	36.8 63/64	12.9 19	11.0 16/17	8.1 11	11.1 17	6.0 7	2.1 1	0.5 0	1.6 0	23.9
GAPS/Ara^{[p 23]}	25–26 Oct 2012	809	?	39.0 64/66	13.3 19/21	12.9 19/20	8.0 9/12	11.2 16/18	5.0 5/6	1.8 0	–	1.5 0	25.7
Feedback/La Vanguardia^{[p 24]}	22–26 Oct 2012	1,000	?	40.9 65/66	13.4 18	11.4 17	10.1 12/13	10.6 16	5.6 6	1.8 0	–	–	27.5
GESOP/El Periódico^{[p 25]}^{[p 26]}	18–22 Oct 2012	800	?	39.1 64/65	14.0 20/21	11.5 15/16	9.4 13/14	10.2 15/16	5.0 5/6	2.5 0	–	2.4 0	25.1
Feedback/RAC 1^{[p 27]}	15–19 Oct 2012	900	60.0	40.7 67	15.0 21	12.2 17	9.6 12	9.7 14	4.2 4	2.2 0	1.9 0	1.1 0	25.7
Feedback/La Vanguardia^{[p 28]}	8–11 Oct 2012	1,000	?	43.2 68/69	15.2 20/21	12.0 17/18	8.6 10/11	9.3 13	3.1 3	2.6 0/2	? 0/2	–	28.0
NC Report/La Razón^{[p 29]}	29 Sep 2012	850	59.8	36.7 58/59	17.1 24/25	13.7 20	9.1 12	9.3 14	3.6 3	–	3.3 3	–	19.6
Sigma Dos/El Mundo^{[p 30]}	26–28 Sep 2012	1,225	?	39.2 64/65	16.9 24/25	12.8 18/20	8.5 11	8.2 12	3.3 3	3.0 0/2	–	–	22.3
GESOP/El Periódico^{[p 31]}	26–27 Sep 2012	800	?	41.0 64/65	14.5 20/21	9.9 12/13	7.7 10	11.3 17/18	5.0 5	4.5 5/6	–	–	28.0
Feedback/La Vanguardia^{[p 32]}	21–27 Sep 2012	1,200	?	43.0 66/67	15.7 21	11.8 15/16	9.6 12	10.1 13	3.6 4	3.3 3	–	–	27.3
GESOP/Tele 5^{[p 33]}^{[p 34]}	15 Sep 2012	2,000	?	? 58/60	? 23/25	? 15/16	? 12/13	? 17/19	? 3/4	? 4/5	–	–	?
NC Report/La Razón^{[p 35]}	12–15 Sep 2012	750	60.1	38.0 58/62	15.8 22/25	13.5 20	8.9 11	9.8 15	3.8 4	–	3.4 3	–	22.2
Tàstic/Ara^{[p 36]}^{[p 37]}	23 Jul 2012	?	?	34.5 55/57	16.6 26/28	11.2 16/17	9.7 11/13	9.9 15/16	3.4 0/3	3.7 0/4	–	–	17.9
DYM/CEO^{[p 38]}	4–18 Jun 2012	2,500	57.4	36.2 60	16.4 24/25	10.5 15/16	9.5 12/13	9.7 15/16	3.7 3/4	3.5 0/4	–	–	19.8
CDC^{[p 39]}	14 Jun 2012	?	55	? 52/54	? 28/30	? 15	? 13/14	? 17	? 0/3	? 0/3	–	–	?
Feedback/La Vanguardia^{[p 40]}	30 May–7 Jun 2012	1,200	?	37.9 58/60	17.7 26/28	11.8 16	9.9 13	9.3 15	3.2 3	3.3 1/3	–	–	20.2
GESOP/El Periódico^{[p 41]}^{[p 42]}	7–9 May 2012	800	?	33.9 56/57	18.4 28/29	10.2 13/14	9.7 13	10.6 17/18	4.5 5	2.4 0	–	–	15.5
DYM/CEO^{[p 43]}	6–21 Feb 2012	2,500	?	37.0 62/63	16.5 25/26	11.7 18/19	8.1 10/11	9.6 14/15	4.0 3/4	2.4 0	–	–	20.5
GESOP/El Periódico^{[p 44]}^{[p 45]}	16–19 Jan 2012	800	?	35.2 62/63	16.9 27/28	10.5 14/15	8.6 12/13	9.0 13/14	3.8 4	2.3 0	–	–	18.3
Feedback/La Vanguardia^{[p 46]}	22–28 Dec 2011	1,200	?	38.5 61/62	16.9 25	12.2 19	10.0 13/14	9.8 15	2.1 0/2	1.5 0	–	–	21.6
2011 general election	20 Nov 2011	N/a	65.2	29.3 (46)	26.7 (38)	20.7 (31)	8.1 (10)	7.1 (10)	–	–	1.7 (0)	–	2.6
GESOP/El Periódico^{[p 47]}	19–21 Jun 2011	800	?	36.7 62/63	17.5 27/28	13.0 19/20	8.3 11/12	6.5 8/9	3.0 3	2.9 0/2	2.4 0	2.5 0/2	19.2
GESOP/CEO^{[p 48]}^{[p 49]}	2–17 Jun 2011	2,500	60.6	41.4 68/69	19.0 29	10.2 14/15	8.9 13	5.8 8	2.3 2	2.3 0	1.5 0	1.2 0	22.4
GESOP/CEO^{[p 50]}^{[p 51]}	17–27 Jan 2011	2,500	60.4	44.4 71	16.8 24/25	9.6 14/15	8.0 11	6.9 11	2.6 2	2.3 1	–	–	27.6

2010 regional election	28 Nov 2010	N/a	58.8	38.4 62	18.4 28	12.4 18	7.4 10	7.0 10	3.4 3	3.3 4	2.4 0	–	20.0

Close

Voting preferences

The table below lists raw, unweighted voting preferences.

More information Polling firm/Commissioner, Fieldwork date ...

Polling firm/Commissioner	Fieldwork date	Sample size							SI	PxC		?	N	Lead
Polling firm/Commissioner	Fieldwork date	Sample size										?	N	Lead

2012 regional election^[b]	25 Nov 2012	N/a	21.2	10.0	9.0	6.8	9.4	5.2	0.9	1.1	2.4	N/a	30.4	11.2

Infortécnica^{[p 4]}	18 Nov 2012	1,450	24.2	9.0	5.4	5.8	8.2	3.4	1.0	–	–	28.5	13.4	15.2
GESOP/El Periódico^{[p 52]}	13–16 Nov 2012	800	29.5	8.0	6.3	6.4	12.6	4.4	1.4	0.1	1.5	20.4	4.4	16.9
MyWord/Cadena SER^{[p 15]}	9–14 Nov 2012	1,153	21.3	4.7	4.1	8.8	11.6	5.2	2.3	–	2.2	27.6	5.1	9.7
Feedback/RAC 1^{[p 17]}	30 Oct–2 Nov 2012	900	29.5	8.4	5.2	9.5	11.2	4.7	1.9	0.5	2.2	10.6	8.3	18.3
DYM/CEO^{[p 20]}	22–30 Oct 2012	2,500	28.3	5.0	1.8	5.0	8.9	1.2	1.0	–	–	40.3	4.2	19.4
CIS^{[p 21]}	9–29 Oct 2012	2,983	27.0	10.0	5.7	6.4	9.0	3.5	1.2	0.3	0.9	18.5	10.9	17.0
GESOP/El Periódico^{[p 26]}	18–22 Oct 2012	800	32.0	7.9	7.1	7.4	9.6	3.9	1.5	–	1.4	16.9	6.1	22.4
Feedback/RAC 1^{[p 27]}	15–19 Oct 2012	900	32.7	8.9	4.6	8.4	10.3	3.2	1.9	0.3	1.1	13.8	7.6	22.4
GESOP/El Periódico^{[p 53]}	26–27 Sep 2012	800	28.9	6.5	3.8	3.9	8.8	2.3	1.8	0.1	–	32.0	6.1	20.1
DYM/CEO^{[p 38]}	4–18 Jun 2012	2,500	25.7	10.1	2.2	9.0	7.7	0.7	1.4	–	–	22.9	11.6	15.6
GESOP/El Periódico^{[p 54]}	7–9 May 2012	800	24.3	13.8	3.8	6.8	10.4	1.9	0.5	0.1	–	19.1	9.4	10.5
DYM/CEO^{[p 43]}	6–21 Feb 2012	2,500	30.4	11.0	3.3	8.1	8.0	1.1	1.1	–	–	20.6	8.8	19.4
GESOP/El Periódico^{[p 45]}	16–19 Jan 2012	800	27.0	11.6	4.9	6.4	8.8	1.6	0.9	–	–	16.3	10.6	15.4
2011 general election^[b]	20 Nov 2011	N/a	19.3	17.5	13.6	5.3	4.7	–	–	1.1	–	N/a	33.2	1.8
GESOP/ICPS^{[p 55]}	19 Sep–27 Oct 2011	2,000	29.8	13.4	5.9	5.0	8.6	1.3	1.4	0.4	0.4	14.3	13.6	16.4
GESOP/El Periódico^{[p 47]}	19–21 Jun 2011	800	28.0	11.3	5.8	6.5	5.1	1.4	2.0	0.5	1.4	15.8	8.8	16.7
GESOP/CEO^{[p 48]}	2–17 Jun 2011	2,500	32.1	12.9	4.6	7.5	4.4	1.4	1.7	–	–	15.4	8.4	19.2
GESOP/CEO^{[p 50]}	17–27 Jan 2011	2,500	34.5	11.5	4.1	7.2	5.7	1.4	1.8	–	–	16.3	7.7	23.0

2010 regional election^[b]	28 Nov 2010	N/a	22.9	10.9	7.3	4.4	4.2	2.0	2.0	1.4	–	N/a	40.1	12.0

Close

Victory preferences

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

More information Polling firm/Commissioner, Fieldwork date ...

Polling firm/Commissioner	Fieldwork date	Sample size							SI	PxC	Other/ None	?	Lead
Polling firm/Commissioner	Fieldwork date	Sample size									Other/ None	?	Lead
CIS^{[p 21]}	9–29 Oct 2012	2,983	30.8	13.4	7.0	7.9	10.4	3.6	1.2	0.4	3.2	22.1	17.4

Close

Victory likelihood

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

More information Polling firm/Commissioner, Fieldwork date ...

Polling firm/Commissioner	Fieldwork date	Sample size							SI	Other/ None	?	Lead
Polling firm/Commissioner	Fieldwork date	Sample size								Other/ None	?	Lead
Metroscopia/El País^{[p 13]}	8–15 Nov 2012	2,500	75.0	2.0	2.0	–	0.0	0.0	–	0.0	21.0	73.0
DYM/CEO^{[p 20]}	22–30 Oct 2012	2,500	78.3	1.3	1.1	0.0	0.6	0.0	0.0	0.2	18.5	77.0
CIS^{[p 21]}	9–29 Oct 2012	2,983	77.3	3.6	2.7	0.1	1.4	0.1	0.1	0.1	14.6	73.7

Close

Preferred President

The table below lists opinion polling on leader preferences to become president of the Government of Catalonia.

More information Polling firm/Commissioner, Fieldwork date ...

Polling firm/Commissioner	Fieldwork date	Sample size								Other/ None/ Not care	?	Lead

			Mas CiU	Navarro PSC	Camacho PP	Herrera ICV–EUiA	Junqueras ERC	Rivera C's	De Tena SI
GESOP/El Periódico^{[p 52]}	13–16 Nov 2012	800	38.9	5.5	6.6	7.4	11.1	5.8	2.1	12.4	10.2	27.8
CIS^{[p 21]}	9–29 Oct 2012	2,983	37.2	6.6	6.1	7.1	6.4	2.9	0.8	9.3	23.6	30.1
GESOP/El Periódico^{[p 26]}	18–22 Oct 2012	800	41.4	6.4	6.1	7.9	7.3	4.8	1.6	16.6	8.1	33.5

Close

Voter turnout

The table below shows registered voter turnout during the election. Figures for election day do not include non-resident citizens, while final figures do.

More information Province, Time (Election day) ...

Province	Time (Election day)									Final
	13:00			18:00			20:00			Final
	2010	2012	+/–	2010	2012	+/–	2010	2012	+/–	2010	2012	+/–
Barcelona	24.74%	29.41%	+4.67	48.47%	56.58%	+8.11	60.05%	69.89%	+9.84	58.88%	68.00%	+9.12
Girona	26.62%	32.71%	+6.09	50.38%	59.44%	+9.06	60.49%	70.77%	+10.28	59.49%	69.29%	+9.80
Lleida	23.40%	26.45%	+3.05	48.30%	53.45%	+5.15	61.78%	69.29%	+7.51	59.87%	66.78%	+6.91
Tarragona	24.24%	28.24%	+4.00	46.07%	52.96%	+6.89	57.68%	66.39%	+8.71	56.79%	65.17%	+8.38
Total	24.79%	29.43%	+4.64	48.39%	56.30%	+7.91	59.95%	69.57%	+9.62	58.78%	67.76%	+8.98

Sources^[51]

Close

Results

Overall

More information Parties and alliances, Popular vote ...

← Summary of the 25 November 2012 Parliament of Catalonia election results →
Parties and alliances		Popular vote			Seats

Parties and alliances		Votes	%	±pp	Total	+/−
	Convergence and Union (CiU)	1,116,259	30.71	−7.72	50	−12
	Socialists' Party of Catalonia (PSC–PSOE)	524,707	14.43	−3.95	20	−8
	Republican Left of Catalonia–Catalonia Yes (ERC–CatSí)	498,124	13.70	+6.70	21	+11
	People's Party (PP)	471,681	12.98	+0.61	19	+1
	Initiative for Catalonia Greens–United and Alternative Left (ICV–EUiA)	359,705	9.90	+2.53	13	+3
	Citizens–Party of the Citizenry (C's)	275,007	7.57	+4.18	9	+6
	Popular Unity Candidacy–Left Alternative (CUP)	126,435	3.48	New	3	+3
	Platform for Catalonia (PxC)	60,107	1.65	−0.75	0	±0
	Catalan Solidarity for Independence (SI)	46,838	1.29	−2.00	0	−4
	Blank Seats (EB)	28,288	0.78	+0.18	0	±0
	Animalist Party Against Mistreatment of Animals (PACMA)	20,861	0.57	+0.12	0	±0
	Pirates of Catalonia (Pirata.cat)	18,219	0.50	+0.29	0	±0
	Union, Progress and Democracy (UPyD)	14,614	0.40	+0.23	0	±0
	Hartos.org (Hartos.org)	11,702	0.32	New	0	±0
	Democratic Way (VD)	5,984	0.16	New	0	±0
	Communist Unification of Spain (UCE)	2,582	0.07	+0.04	0	±0
	Republican Left (IR)	826	0.02	−0.03	0	±0
	Socialists and Republicans (SyR)	333	0.01	New	0	±0
Blank ballots		52,898	1.46	−1.47

Total		3,635,170			135	±0

Valid votes		3,635,170	99.10	−0.19
Invalid votes		33,140	0.90	+0.19
Votes cast / turnout		3,668,310	67.76	+8.98
Abstentions		1,745,558	32.24	−8.98
Registered voters		5,413,868

Sources^[27]^[51]^[52] ^[53]

Close

Popular vote

CiU			30.71%
PSC–PSOE			14.43%
ERC–CatSí			13.70%
PP			12.98%
ICV–EUiA			9.90%
C's			7.57%
CUP			3.48%
PxC			1.65%
SI			1.29%
Others			2.84%
Blank ballots			1.46%

Seats

CiU			37.04%
ERC–CatSí			15.56%
PSC–PSOE			14.81%
PP			14.07%
ICV–EUiA			9.63%
C's			6.67%
CUP			2.22%

Distribution by constituency

More information Constituency, CiU ...

Constituency	CiU		PSC		ERC		PP		ICV–EUiA		C's		CUP

	%	S	%	S	%	S	%	S	%	S	%	S	%	S
Barcelona	28.1	26	15.4	14	12.7	12	13.3	12	11.1	10	8.4	8	3.4	3
Girona	43.0	9	10.1	2	17.8	3	9.6	2	5.9	1	3.6	−	4.2	−
Lleida	43.1	8	10.4	1	17.4	3	11.3	2	5.4	1	3.3	−	3.0	−
Tarragona	31.7	7	13.6	3	15.1	3	15.0	3	6.9	1	7.3	1	3.6	−
Total	30.7	50	14.4	20	13.7	21	13.0	19	9.9	13	7.6	9	3.5	3

Sources^[27]^[51]^[52]

Close

Aftermath

Government formation

More information Ballot →, 21 December 2012 ...

Ballot →		21 December 2012
Investiture Nomination of Artur Mas (CiU)
Required majority →		68 out of 135 Y
	Yes • CiU (50) • ERC (21)	71 / 135
	No • PSC (20) • PP (18) • ICV–EUiA (13) • C's (9) • CUP (3)	63 / 135
	Abstentions	0 / 135
	Absentees • PP (1)	1 / 135
Sources^[27]^[54]

2012 Catalan regional election

Background

Overview

Date

Electoral system

Outgoing parliament

Parties and candidates

Opinion polls

Graphical summary

Voting intention estimates

Voting preferences

Victory preferences

Victory likelihood

Preferred President

Voter turnout

Results

Overall

Distribution by constituency

Aftermath

Government formation

Notes

References

Bibliography

Related Articles

Timelines

Top Qs

Fact Checks