2015 Spanish general election

none 2015 Spanish election other nationwide elections held in Spain in 2015 2015 Spanish elections October 2020 2015 Spanish general election Spain parliamentary no 2011 Spanish general election 2011 2016 Spanish general election 2016 Members of the 10th Cortes Generales Members of the 11th Cortes Generales All 350 seats in the Congress of Deputies and 208 (of 266) seats in the Senate176 seats needed for a majority in the Congress of Deputies Opinion polling for the 2015 Spanish general election 36,511,848 10px 2.0% 25,438,532 (69.7%)10px 0.8 pp 20 December 2015 170x170px Mariano Rajoy People's Party (Spain) 2 September 2003 Madrid 187 seats, 45.0%"PP+FAC" Results for PP (44.6%, 186 deputies) and FAC (0.4%, 1 deputy) in the 2011 Congress election. 123 10px 64 7,236,965 28.7% 10px 16.3 pp 170x170px Pedro Sánchez Spanish Socialist Workers' Party 26 July 2014 Madrid 110 seats, 28.8% 90 10px 20 5,545,315 22.0% 10px 6.8 pp 170x170px Pablo Iglesias PodemosTotal figures include results for En Comú Podem, És el moment and En Marea. 15 November 2014 Madrid Did not contest 69 10px 65"Podemos" ICV–EUiA (3 deputies and 1 senator), which contested the 2011 election within the IU–LV and Entesa alliances, joined the En Comú Podem alliance ahead of the 2015 election. Compromís (1 deputy and 0 senators) joined the És el moment alliance. 5,212,711 20.7% New party 170x170px Albert Rivera C's 9 July 2006 Madrid Did not contest 40 10px 40 3,514,528 13.9% New party 170x170px Gabriel Rufián ERC–CatSí 7 November 2015 Barcelona 3 seats, 1.1% 9 10px 6 604,285 2.4% 10px 1.3 pp 170x170px Francesc Homs Democracy and Freedom 14 November 2015 Barcelona 16 seats, 4.2%"CiU" Results for CiU in the 2015 election. 8 10px 8 567,253 2.2% 10px 2.0 pp x315px|Map of Spain showcasing winning party's strength by constituency Vote winner strength by constituency (Congress) x315px|Map of Spain showcasing winning party's strength by autonomous community Vote winner strength by autonomous community (Congress) x315px|Map of Spain showcasing seat distribution by Congress of Deputies constituency Election results by constituency (Congress) Prime Minister Prime Minister after election Mariano Rajoy People's Party (Spain) No government formedand fresh election called. Mariano Rajoy remainsacting Prime Minister A general election was held in Spain on 20 December 2015 to elect the members of the 11th es Cortes Generales no 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. At exactly four years and one month since the previous one, this remains the longest timespan between two general elections since the Spanish transition to democracy, and the only time in the country's history that a general election has been held on the latest possible date allowed by law.Jiménez Gálvez José María 1 October 2015 Rajoy fija el periodo más largo de la democracia sin elecciones generales https://elpais.com/politica/2015/10/01/actualidad/1443726925_551877.html es El País Madrid 27 September 2025 Immediately after assuming office following the 2011 election, the new government under Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy adopted a harsh austerity agenda including social spending cuts, tax hikes and a labour market reform to address the Great Recession in Spain (amid soaring unemployment, public deficit and bond yields), as well as the request of a bank bailout through the European Stability Mechanism, which were met with an anti-austerity movement and two general strikes. A number of corruption scandals affecting the ruling People's Party (PP)—most notably, the Bárcenas and Púnica affairs, and the ongoing judicial probes into the Gürtel affair—further weakened the government's position and increased social distrust in traditional parties. During this period, the Monarchy underwent a reputation crisis over King Juan Carlos's elephant-hunting trips and the Nóos affair involving Infanta Cristina and her spouse, leading to the King's abdication in favour of his son, who acceded to the throne as Felipe VI. Public discontent with the political system showed up in the results of the 2014 European Parliament election in Spain—which saw the emergence of anti-austerity Podemos (under political commentator Pablo Iglesias) and the Albert Rivera-led liberal Citizens (C's), curtailing expectations for left-wing United Left (IU) and centrist Union, Progress and Democracy (UPyD)—while the 2015 local and regional elections resulted in a wipeout of most of the PP's territorial power in favour of left-wing administrations. The resignation of Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba as leader of the opposition Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) triggered a 2014 leadership contest which was won by Pedro Sánchez. In Catalonia, disgruntlement with the ruling PP served as catalyst for a pro-independence push being supported by the regional authorities under Convergence and Union (CiU), which held a non-binding self-determination referendum in 2014 defying orders from the Spanish Constitutional Court. The outcome of the 2015 Catalan election briefly boosted C's polling numbers before dwindling to a Podemos's comeback during the general election campaign. The election saw the PP, PSOE and IU scoring historical lows, with Rajoy's party seeing the largest loss of support for a sitting Spanish government since 1982. Podemos and C's won a combined 109 seats and over eight million votes, mostly at the cost of the main traditional parties, the IU-led Popular Unity platform, UPyD and peripheral nationalists: aside of a major breakthrough by Republican Left of Catalonia and CiU's breakup after 37 years of existence, support for the abertzale left EH Bildu fell sharply, while the Basque Nationalist Party stagnated. With the most-voted party securing just 123 seats and a third party winning an unprecedented 69 seats—the previous record being 23 in 1979—the result marked the transition from an imperfect two-party system to a fully-fledged multi-party system. After months of inconclusive negotiations, neither PP or PSOE were able to garner enough votes to secure a majority, leading to a fresh election in 2016. Background Premiership of Mariano Rajoy Running on a platform promising sweeping reforms to tackle the Great Recession in Spain, the People's Party (PP) under Mariano Rajoy won the 2011 general election in a landslide.Tremlett Giles 20 November 2011 https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/nov/20/spain-election-peoples-party-victory Spain election: People's party sweeps to crushing victory over Socialists The Guardian Madrid 23 March 2026 Support for the ruling Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) collapsed amid public anger over the economy's handling by the outgoing prime minister, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero.Escolar Ignacio 3 February 2012 https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/feb/03/spain-left-collapsed Spain did not swing to the right, the left collapsed The Guardian 23 March 2026 A subsequent PSOE leadership contest saw former deputy prime minister and 2011 candidate Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba narrowly defeat former defence minister Carme Chacón.Goodman Al 6 February 2012 https://edition.cnn.com/2012/02/06/world/europe/spain-socialists Spain's Socialist Party elects new leader CNN 23 March 2026 Throughout 2012 and 2013, Rajoy's first government adopted a strict austerity agenda to reduce public deficit and soaring unemployment, including social spending cuts and tax hikes,Benoit Angeline Ross-Thomas Emma 30 December 2011 https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2011-12-30/spain-cuts-11-5-billion-in-spending-as-taxes-boosted-to-trim-budget-gap Rajoy to Raise Taxes, Cut Spending as Deficit Exceeds Target Bloomberg News 23 March 202610 January 2012 https://english.elpais.com/elpais/2012/01/10/inenglish/1326176451_850210.html Rajoy breaks silence over tax hikes, saying government "had no option" El País Madrid 23 March 2026 a labour market reform lowering severance payments,Gómez Manuel Vicente 10 February 2012 https://elpais.com/economia/2012/02/10/actualidad/1328911729_685382.html La reforma facilita y abarata el despido es El País Madrid 23 March 2026 and austere General State Budgets.12 March 2012 https://english.elpais.com/elpais/2012/03/12/inenglish/1331581978_825407.html Rajoy assures EC Spain will stick with 2013 deficit target objective El País Madrid 25 March 2026Mallet Victor 30 March 2012 https://www.ft.com/content/52206b3c-7a8d-11e1-9c77-00144feab49a Spain unveils toughest budget since 70s Financial Times Madrid 23 March 2026Reuters 28 September 2012 https://www.euractiv.com/news/spain-s-2013-budget-cut-winks-at-bailout/ Spain's 2013 budget cut winks at bailout Euractiv 3 August 2026 The nationalization of Bankia after its May 2012 crash heightened fears that Spain could become a new focus of the European debt crisis,Tremlett Giles 10 May 2012 https://www.theguardian.com/business/2012/may/10/spanish-government-rescues-fourth-largest-bank-bankia Spanish government rescues fourth largest lender, Bankia The Guardian Madrid 23 March 2026Aguado Jesús White Sarah 23 May 2012 https://www.reuters.com/article/business/spain-bails-out-bankia-seeks-plan-for-troubled-regions-idUSBRE84M182/ Spain bails out Bankia, seeks plan for troubled regions Reuters Madrid 23 March 2026Minder Raphael 26 May 2012 https://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/26/business/global/spanish-lender-seeks-state-aid-ratings-cut-on-5-banks.html Giant Lender in Spain Asks for Billions to Fend Off Collapse The New York Times Madrid 23 March 2026 while liquidity shortages forced several regions—Valencia, Murcia and Catalonia—to request state financial assistance.Inman Phillip Tremlett Giles 20 July 2012 https://www.theguardian.com/business/2012/jul/20/spain-crisis-eurozone-valencia Euro crisis deepens as time starts to run out for Spain's banks and regions The Guardian Madrid 24 March 202624 July 2012 https://english.elpais.com/elpais/2012/07/24/inenglish/1343141101_884127.html Catalonia joins Valencia and Murcia in seeking help from central government El País Madrid 24 March 202630 August 2012 https://www.bbc.com/news/business-19422198 Valencia ups bailout request from Spain government BBC News 24 March 2026 Rising bond yields pushed Rajoy to request a bank bailout from the European Stability Mechanism in June 2012,Tremlett Giles 10 June 2012 https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/jun/09/spain-bank-bailout-eurozone-crisis Spain to get bank bailout that may run up to €100bn The Guardian Madrid 23 March 2026 whose terms saw reforms in taxation (including the energy sector, further hikes on VAT and environmental taxes, or the abolition of home purchase deductions), spending cuts (such as in unemployment benefits, civil servants' bonuses, or long-term care), a public administration overhaul (with reductions of local councillors and public companies), and privatizations (affecting rail, air and maritine transport services).Tremlett Giles 11 July 2012 https://www.theguardian.com/business/2012/jul/11/mariano-rajoy-spain-65bn-cuts Mariano Rajoy announces €65bn in austerity measures for Spain The Guardian 23 March 2026González Jesús Sérvulo 12 July 2012 https://english.elpais.com/elpais/2012/07/11/inenglish/1342015441_514899.html Rajoy wields brutal budget ax to placate EU colleagues El País Madrid 23 March 202613 July 2012 https://english.elpais.com/elpais/2012/07/13/inenglish/1342206062_759543.html Cabinet approves biggest austerity drive in democratic history El País Madrid 26 March 2026 Additional measures included health copaymentsBolaños Alejandro Garea Fernando 8 April 2012 https://english.elpais.com/elpais/2012/04/08/inenglish/1333904579_755819.html Rajoy to oversee major shake-up in healthcare funding El País Madrid 23 March 2026García de Blas Elsa 29 August 2012 https://english.elpais.com/elpais/2012/08/29/inenglish/1346242199_495836.html Copayment drives down public spending on prescription drugs El País Madrid 23 March 2026 and court fees,22 November 2012 https://english.elpais.com/elpais/2012/11/22/inenglish/1353587992_341692.html Legal offices swamped as government brings back court fees El País Madrid 23 March 2026Garea Fernando 12 February 2013 https://english.elpais.com/elpais/2013/02/12/inenglish/1360696337_091186.html Justice minister does partial backtrack on court charges El País Madrid 23 March 2026 major cuts into education and healthcare spending,Garea Fernando 10 April 2012 https://english.elpais.com/elpais/2012/04/09/inenglish/1333997365_097744.html Government announces savage cuts in education and healthcare El País Madrid 23 March 2026Garea Fernando 20 April 2012 https://english.elpais.com/elpais/2012/04/20/inenglish/1334949544_177687.html Cabinet approves massive education and healthcare cuts El País Madrid 25 March 2026 reductions in coal industry subsidies,Tremlett Giles 19 June 2012 https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/jun/19/spanish-miners-march-madrid-cuts Spanish miners to march on Madrid over subsidy cuts The Guardian Madrid 24 March 2026 a temporary tax amnesty,Maharg-Bravo Fiona 11 April 2012 https://www.reuters.com/article/breakingviews/spains-fiscal-amnesty-sends-wrong-message-idUS2748597142/ Spain's fiscal amnesty sends wrong message Reuters Madrid 23 March 2026 the creation of a bad bank (Sareb),31 August 2012 https://www.bbc.com/news/business-19437308 Spain creates 'bad bank' for toxic property assets BBC News 26 March 2026González Jesús Sérvulo 18 December 2012 https://english.elpais.com/elpais/2012/12/18/inenglish/1355844501_261777.html Private investors hold 55 percent of bad bank El País Madrid 26 March 2026 and the decoupling of pension increases from the CPI.House Jonathan Brat Ilan 30 November 2012 https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424127887323751104578151001981079388 Spain Puts Pension Payments on Austerity The Wall Street Journal Madrid 23 March 2026 Amid accusations of insensitivity,27 September 2012 https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2012/9/27/spanish-pms-sensitivity-questioned Spanish PM's sensitivity questioned Al Jazeera English 23 March 2026 plummeting ratings,Reuters 8 October 2012 https://www.cnbc.com/2012/10/08/spain-top-parties-popularity-drops-as-economy-sags.html Spain top parties' popularity drops as economy sags CNBC Madrid 24 March 202630 January 2013 https://www.cnbc.com/2013/01/30/spanish-economy-shows-glimmers-of-hope-but-prime-minister-gets-no-love.html Spanish Economy Shows Glimmers of Hope, but Prime Minister Gets No Love CNBC 24 March 2026 and criticism for breaking election pledges,Elordi Cué Carlos Romero José Manuel 18 December 2012 https://english.elpais.com/elpais/2012/12/18/inenglish/1355833853_945806.html Rajoy keeps his course El País 23 March 2026 Rajoy defended his policies as necessary to stabilize the economy,Associated Press Wilson Joseph 13 May 2012 https://globalnews.ca/news/244719/spanish-pm-defends-austerity-measures-day-after-thousands-take-to-streets-in-protest-2/ Spanish PM defends austerity measures day after thousands take to streets in protest Global News Madrid 23 March 2026Garea Fernando 28 December 2012 https://english.elpais.com/elpais/2012/12/28/inenglish/1356711341_361388.html Rajoy justifies austerity pain to avert “intolerable” financial squeeze El País Madrid 23 March 2026Manetto Francesco 6 May 2013 https://english.elpais.com/elpais/2013/05/06/inenglish/1367867488_122189.html Tax hikes were essential to avoid bailout, Rajoy tells own party El País Madrid 23 March 2026 while justifying his U-turns on the situation he inherited.10 January 2012 https://english.elpais.com/elpais/2012/12/28/inenglish/1356711341_361388.html Rajoy breaks silence over tax hikes, saying government "had no option" El País Madrid 23 March 202611 January 2012 https://english.elpais.com/elpais/2012/01/11/inenglish/1326262858_850210.html Popular Party blames tax hikes on flawed inheritance El País Madrid 23 March 2026 His government also secured a three-year extension to meet EU deficit targets.Benoit Angeline Sills Ben 26 April 2013 https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2013-04-26/spain-says-deficit-target-must-wait-2-more-years-amid-recession Spain Says Deficit Target Must Wait 2 More Years Amid Slump Bloomberg News 25 March 202629 April 2013 https://english.elpais.com/elpais/2013/04/29/inenglish/1367235288_143044.html Rajoy defiant on economy despite record jobless rate El País Madrid 25 March 2026 Spain officially exited recession in Q3 2013,23 October 2013 https://www.bbc.com/news/business-24634461 Spain out of recession, central bank says BBC News 26 March 2026 and the bank bailout programme ended in January 2014.Hirst Nicholas 15 January 2014 https://www.politico.eu/article/spain-to-exit-bail-out-programme/ Spain to exit bail-out programme Politico 26 March 2026 thumb|left|alt=Mariano Rajoy speaking in the Congress of Deputies|The austerity measures adopted by the government of Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy (pictured on 11 July 2012) were frequently described as "harsh" and "brutal", and helped fuel an anti-austerity movement in Spain. Domestically, the government enforced a new Education Law (the LOMCE or so-called Wert Law), widely criticized as "ideologically driven", promoting school segregation and giving greater prominence to Spanish over regional languages.Aunión Juan Antonio Silió Elisa 10 October 2013 https://english.elpais.com/elpais/2013/10/10/inenglish/1381409416_185321.html Popular Party passes education law with no support in Congress El País Madrid 25 March 2026Aunión Juan Antonio Marín Yarza Maribel 21 October 2013 https://english.elpais.com/elpais/2013/10/21/inenglish/1382362690_924714.html “The education law is not a Wert law” El País Madrid 25 March 2026 Another bill, the Citizen Security Law—dubbed the "Gag Law" by critics—was seen as restricting civil and political rights, especially freedom of assembly and expression, by imposing stricter rules and heavy fines on street protesters.Kassam Ashifa 21 November 2013 https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/nov/21/spain-government-strict-anti-protest-laws Spanish government drafts strict anti-protest laws The Guardian Madrid 25 March 2026Kassam Ashifa 12 March 2015 https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/12/spain-security-law-protesters-freedom-expression Spain puts 'gag' on freedom of expression as senate approves security law The Guardian Madrid 25 March 2026 An attempt to replace the existing abortion law with a much stricter regulation (limiting it to cases of rape or serious pregnancy complications)Associated Press 20 December 2013 https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/dec/20/spain-government-restrictive-abortion-law-opposition Spain government approves restrictive abortion law despite opposition The Guardian Madrid 25 March 2026 was ultimately abandoned after public outrage,Kassam Ashifa 18 December 2013 https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/dec/18/spain-reform-abortion-fury Spain's plan to reform abortion laws attacked as 'serious step backwards' The Guardian Madrid 25 March 202623 September 2014 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-29322561 Spain abortion: Rajoy scraps tighter law BBC News 25 March 2026 leading to the resignation of the justice minister, Alberto Ruiz-Gallardón.Associated Press 23 September 2014 https://www.france24.com/en/20140923-spain-abortion-plan-justice-minister-quits Justice minister quits after Spain scraps abortion limits France 24 25 March 2026 The government also faced criticism over the 2013 Angrois derailment,25 July 2013 https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-23448002 Spain train crash: Galicia derailment kills 78 BBC News 3 August 202617 July 2014 https://english.elpais.com/elpais/2014/07/17/inenglish/1405591142_229791.html Victims of Santiago train crash refuse to attend government memorial ceremony El País Santiago de Compostela 3 August 2026 the 2014 Ceuta incident (in which 15 migrants drowned as a result of police action),Agencias Abad Rocío Arroyo Rodríguez Jorge 6 February 2014 https://english.elpais.com/elpais/2014/02/06/inenglish/1391682374_240226.html At least nine immigrants die in desperate bid to cross Ceuta border El País Ceuta / Madrid 3 August 2026Jiménez Gálvez José 6 February 2015 https://english.elpais.com/elpais/2015/02/06/inenglish/1423218189_685436.html A year on, still no answers over Ceuta migrant drowning tragedy El País Madrid 3 August 2026 and an Ebola crisis in October 2014 (widely seen as poorly managed).Kassam Ashifa 7 October 2014 https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/oct/06/nurse-spain-tests-positive-ebola Ebola crisis: Nurse in Spain tests positive in first infection outside west Africa The Guardian Madrid 25 March 202610 October 2014 https://english.elpais.com/elpais/2014/10/10/inenglish/1412949468_311967.html Five days after Ebola case confirmed, Deputy PM takes control of crisis El País Madrid 25 March 2026Kassam Ashifa 13 October 2014 https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/oct/13/spain-ebola-repatriations-nurse Spain defends Ebola repatriations The Guardian Madrid 25 March 2026González Olaya Vicente Marcos José 4 December 2014 https://english.elpais.com/elpais/2014/12/04/inenglish/1417703881_357240.html Madrid health chief sacked after criticism of Ebola victim El País Madrid 25 March 2026 During this period, scandals and corruption allegations affected the ruling PP and various other parties and institutions: those involving former CEOE chair Gerardo Díaz Ferrán;Altozano Manuel 5 December 2012 https://english.elpais.com/elpais/2012/12/05/inenglish/1354711947_745402.html Ex-employers' chief Díaz Ferrán got 100,000 a month for giving up firm El País Madrid 24 March 2026Altozano Manuel Hernández José Antonio 9 December 2012 https://english.elpais.com/elpais/2012/12/09/inenglish/1355059453_367621.html Mixing bankruptcy, sex and extortion El País Madrid 24 March 2026 the PP's Bárcenas affair (a slush fund financed through a parallel bookkeeping system for illegal donations);Tremlett Giles 31 January 2013 https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jan/31/spanish-prime-minister-secret-payments Spanish prime minister Rajoy accused of hiding secret income The Guardian Madrid 25 March 2026Jiménez Miguel 1 February 2013 https://english.elpais.com/elpais/2013/02/01/inenglish/1359735052_413271.html Most donations recorded on PP slush fund ledgers are illegal El País Madrid 24 March 2026Elordi Cué Carlos Manetto Francesco Romero José Manuel 18 January 2013 https://english.elpais.com/elpais/2013/01/18/inenglish/1358525576_044952.html Former PP treasurer “handed out envelopes with cash” to party officials El País Madrid 24 March 202631 January 2013 https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-21274722 Spain ruling Popular Party denies slush fund allegations BBC News 24 March 20261 August 2013 https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-21349763 Key players: Spanish ruling party 'slush fund' BBC News 24 March 2026 investigations into illegal party funding affecting both the PPHernández José Antonio 8 May 2013 https://english.elpais.com/elpais/2013/05/08/inenglish/1368039798_189221.html Police report confirms alleged illegal funding practices by Popular Party El País Madrid 24 March 2026Romero José Manuel 13 February 2015 https://english.elpais.com/elpais/2015/02/13/inenglish/1423833714_328955.html Popular Party paid for HQ remodeling using €500,000 of unknown origin El País Madrid 24 March 2026Pérez Fernando Jesús 2 July 2015 https://english.elpais.com/elpais/2015/07/02/inenglish/1435844685_302813.html PP's illegal financing goes back to the days of its founding, says ex-treasurer El País Madrid 24 March 2026 and Democratic Convergence of Catalonia (CDC);Güell Oriol Urra, Susana (translation) 1 October 2015 https://english.elpais.com/elpais/2015/10/01/inenglish/1443693487_989613.html Foundation may have provided Catalan party with irregular financing El País Barcelona 24 March 2026 several regional and local kickback-for-contract schemes (Pokémon,20 September 2013 https://english.elpais.com/elpais/2012/09/20/inenglish/1348167549_269915.html Ourense's mayor among 13 arrested in anti-graft sweep across three regions El País Santiago de Compostela 24 March 2026 "three-percent",García Bueno Jesús Cordero Dani Güell Oriol Urra, Susana (translation) 23 October 2015 https://english.elpais.com/elpais/2015/10/23/inenglish/1445588373_583562.html Second CDC party treasurer arrested over 3% scandal in Catalonia El País Barcelona 24 March 2026 Púnica,Pérez Fernando Jesús González Olaya Vicente 30 October 2014 https://english.elpais.com/elpais/2014/10/30/inenglish/1414664361_403370.html Prison for Madrid mayors involved in Operation Púnica bid-rigging scheme El País Madrid 24 March 2026Romero José Manuel 20 August 2015 https://english.elpais.com/elpais/2015/08/20/inenglish/1440059978_862524.html Púnica corruption investigation extended to 12 city governments El País Madrid 24 March 2026 and Gürtel,Fabra María 3 April 2014 https://english.elpais.com/elpais/2014/04/03/inenglish/1396538436_693943.html Making sense of the Gürtel investigation El País Madrid 24 March 2026Romero José Manuel 30 July 2014 https://english.elpais.com/elpais/2014/07/30/inenglish/1406715385_340094.html After five years, judge wraps up portion of huge Gürtel corruption investigation El País Madrid 24 March 2026 the latter forcing Ana Mato's resignation as health minister);26 November 2014 https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-30220258 Spain Health Minister Ana Mato resigns amid Gurtel scandal BBC News 24 March 2026 misuse of layoff funds by the PSOE-led Andalusian government (the ERE affair, which prompted José Antonio Griñán's replacement by Susana Díaz as regional president);Lucio Lourdes 29 July 2013 https://english.elpais.com/elpais/2013/07/29/inenglish/1375117037_297160.html A climber of political heights El País Seville 3 August 2026Martín-Arroyo Javier 7 August 2013 https://english.elpais.com/elpais/2013/08/07/inenglish/1375873439_838719.html Andalusia layoff fund case now biggest corruption probe following 23 arrests El País Seville 24 March 202627 August 2013 https://english.elpais.com/elpais/2013/08/27/inenglish/1377616275_029950.html Griñán resigns as Andalusia premier to shield Socialists from corruption scandal El País Seville 24 March 2026 illicit dealings by former Catalan premier Jordi Pujol and his family;Ríos Pere 20 January 2013 https://english.elpais.com/elpais/2013/01/20/inenglish/1358714015_363743.html Corruption allegations surround Catalan Pujol clan El País Barcelona 24 March 2026García Bueno Jesús 13 January 2014 https://english.elpais.com/elpais/2014/01/13/inenglish/1389623835_742417.html Prosecutors target son of former Catalan premier in bribery case El País Barcelona 24 March 2026García Bueno Jesús Duva Jesús 28 July 2014 https://english.elpais.com/elpais/2014/07/28/inenglish/1406541514_394359.html Political corruption behind fortune held by ex-Catalan premier's son, police say El País Madrid 24 March 2026Hernández José Antonio García Bueno Jesús 27 October 2015 https://english.elpais.com/elpais/2015/10/27/inenglish/1445934524_213025.html Police search properties of Catalan ex-premier Pujol and three of his sons El País Madrid / Barcelona 24 March 2026 misuse of corporate credit cards affecting former Caja Madrid directors;Pérez Fernando Jesús De Barrón Íñigo Marcos José 2 October 2014 https://english.elpais.com/elpais/2014/10/02/inenglish/1412258921_975122.html Caja Madrid bank chiefs racked up €15.5m on undeclared company cards El País Madrid 26 March 2026Pérez Fernando Jesús 8 October 2014 https://english.elpais.com/elpais/2014/10/08/inenglish/1412782397_179414.html Ex-IMF chief targeted in Caja Madrid credit card investigation El País Madrid 24 March 2026Burgen Stephen 9 October 2014 https://www.theguardian.com/business/2014/oct/09/former-caja-directors-accused-credit-card-misuse-bankia Former Caja Madrid directors accused of misusing company credit card The Guardian Barcelona 24 March 2026 or an investigation into a luxury penthouse owned by the Madrilenian president, Ignacio González.Marcos José Álvarez Pilar 16 January 2013 https://english.elpais.com/elpais/2013/01/16/inenglish/1358353763_845541.html Madrid premier says he bought probed luxury apartment El País Madrid 28 March 2026 Ayuso Javier Ortega Dolz Patricia 10 March 2015 https://english.elpais.com/elpais/2015/03/10/inenglish/1425985874_199868.html Police chief's business activities probed El País Madrid 28 March 2026 Scandals extended to the Royal Household with the Nóos affair (affecting the Dukes of Palma, Iñaki Urdangarín and Cristina de Borbón),3 April 2013 https://www.reuters.com/article/world/spanish-king-s-daughter-charged-in-corruption-probe-court-idUSDEE932082/ Spanish King's daughter charged in corruption probe-court Reuters Madrid 24 March 20268 February 2014 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-26094035 Spain's Princess Cristina in court over corruption case BBC News 24 March 20267 November 2014 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-29953560 Tax trial confirmed for Spain's Princess Cristina BBC News 24 March 2026Badcock James Davies Caroline 22 December 2014 https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/dec/22/spanish-king-sister-borbon-trial-fraud Spanish king's sister to stand trial on tax fraud charges The Guardian Madrid 24 March 2026 and King Juan Carlos's controversial elephant-hunting trip to Botswana in 2012.Tremlett Giles 15 April 2012 https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/apr/15/spain-king-juan-carlos-hunting Spain's King Juan Carlos under fire over elephant hunting trip The Guardian Madrid 24 March 202618 April 2012 https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-17752983 Spain King Juan Carlos sorry for Botswana hunt trip BBC News 24 March 2026 The decline in the King's popularity,7 February 2014 https://english.elpais.com/elpais/2014/02/07/inenglish/1391766548_113372.html Erosion of the monarchy El País Madrid 24 March 2026 together with health issues,14 April 2012 https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-17712841 Spanish King Juan Carlos in hip surgery after fall BBC News 24 March 2026Junquera Natalia 24 September 2013 https://english.elpais.com/elpais/2013/09/24/inenglish/1380015627_263053.html Wheels come off royal comeback as king prepares for new surgery El País Madrid 24 March 2026 led to his abdication in June 2014 in favour of his son, Felipe VI.2 June 2014 https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-27662301 King Juan Carlos of Spain abdicates BBC News 24 March 2026Tremlett Giles 2 June 2014 https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jun/02/king-juan-carlos-falling-popularity-spain-abdication King Juan Carlos's reign in Spain ends amid falling popularity and bungling The Guardian Madrid 24 March 2026 The scale of scandals during this period was compared by media to Italy's Tangentopoli in the 1990s.Juliana Enric 28 October 2014 https://www.lavanguardia.com/politica/20141028/54418335591/quiebra-moral-enric-juliana.html La quiebra moral es La Vanguardia 24 March 2026Torres Diego 17 October 2016 https://www.politico.eu/article/spains-cash-corruption-and-construction-trial-caso-gurtel/ Spain's kickback culture on trial Politico Madrid 24 March 2026 thumb|alt=Artur Mas and Oriol Junqueras signing a document|Following the 2012 Catalan election, regional president Artur Mas and ERC leader Oriol Junqueras reached a confidence and supply accord that envisaged a roadmap to independence. Growing discontent with the Spanish government in Catalonia, along with the Constitutional Court's curtailment of the regional Statute of Autonomy, materialized in a massive pro-independence demonstration on 11 September 2012.Burgen Stephen 11 September 2012 https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/sep/11/catalan-independence-rally-barcelona Catalan independence rally brings Barcelona to a standstill The Guardian Barcelona 25 March 2026 Rajoy's refusal to a proposed fiscal pact from regional president Artur Mas pushed Convergence and Union (CiU) towards supporting independence,20 September 2012 https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-19662574 Spanish PM Rajoy rebuffs Catalonia over budget powers BBC News 25 March 2026Piñol Àngels 20 September 2012 https://english.elpais.com/elpais/2012/09/20/inenglish/1348149944_291062.html Catalan premier shelves fiscal pact after failed meeting in Madrid El País Madrid 25 March 2026Traynor Ian 7 November 2012 https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/nov/07/catalonia-artur-mas-eu-secession Catalan leader Artur Mas presses EU on secession issue The Guardian Brussels 25 March 2026 with Mas calling a snap election for November.Govan Fiona 25 September 2012 https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/spain/9566649/Catalonia-calls-snap-elections-in-independence-drive-from-Madrid.html Catalonia calls snap elections in independence drive from Madrid The Daily Telegraph 25 March 2026 After failing to capitalize on rising independence support, CiU relied on the Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC)25 November 2012 https://english.elpais.com/elpais/2012/11/25/inenglish/1353854732_094454.html Catalan premier Mas falls short of absolute majority for sovereignty plan El País Madrid / Barcelona 25 March 2026Roberts Martin 26 November 2012 https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/nov/26/referendum-spanish-breakaway-catalan-president Voters deal blow to Catalan president's hopes for independence referendum The Guardian Madrid 25 March 2026 in exchange for a roadmap to secession.Noguer Miquel Roger Maiol 14 December 2012 https://english.elpais.com/elpais/2012/12/14/inenglish/1355493361_807491.html Mas seals deal with leftist ERC to remain as Catalan premier El País Barcelona 25 March 2026Noguer Miquel 21 December 2012 https://english.elpais.com/elpais/2012/12/21/inenglish/1356108949_981140.html Artur Mas approved as premier in Catalan parliament El País Barcelona 25 March 2026 The newly-elected parliament approved a sovereignty declarationNoguer Miquel Ríos Pere 23 January 2013 https://english.elpais.com/elpais/2013/01/23/inenglish/1358972575_401789.html Catalan parliament approves sovereignty declaration El País Barcelona 25 March 2026 and authorized a non-binding self-determination referendum in 2014,19 September 2014 https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-29274849 Catalan parliament approves independence vote BBC News 25 March 2026 both of which were struck down by the Constitutional Court.Fabra María Ríos Pere Noguer Miquel 8 May 2013 https://english.elpais.com/elpais/2013/05/08/inenglish/1368025431_083946.html Constitutional Court nullifies Catalan sovereignty declaration El País Madrid / Barcelona 25 March 202629 September 2014 https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-29410493 Spain court suspends Catalonia independence referendum BBC News 25 March 2026 This Catalan sovereignist "process" (ca procés) was accompanied by large-scale mobilization, especially during the National Day of Catalonia gatherings of 2013, 2014 and 2015,Burgen Stephen Hamilos Paul 11 September 2013 https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/11/catalans-join-hands-human-chain-independence-spain Catalans join hands in huge human chain for independence from Spain The Guardian Madrid 25 March 2026Burgen Stephen 11 September 2014 https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/sep/11/catalans-demonstrate-demand-right-hold-referendum Voters deal blow to Catalan president's hopes for independence referendum The Guardian Barcelona 25 March 2026Kassam Ashifa 11 September 2015 https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/sep/11/catalonia-pro-independence-rally-barcelona-spain Catalans fill streets in Barcelona for pro-independence rally The Guardian Barcelona 25 March 2026 while sewing divisions between the Socialists' Party of Catalonia and the PSOE.Ríos Pere 5 March 2013 https://english.elpais.com/elpais/2013/03/05/inenglish/1362497167_191022.html More than a number? Spain's deputies submit to discipline El País 25 March 2026Gutiérrez Calvo Vera Ríos Pere Badcock James 7 July 2013 https://english.elpais.com/elpais/2013/07/07/inenglish/1373215326_505344.html Socialists tout new regional policy but sovereignty debate persists El País Granada / Madrid 25 March 2026 Growing tensions between CiU's constituent parties—CDC and Democratic Union of Catalonia—eventually led to the alliance's breakup in June 2015 after 37 years.Noguer Miquel 18 June 2015 https://english.elpais.com/elpais/2015/06/18/inenglish/1434637443_661020.html The end of an era: Catalan nationalist bloc CiU breaks up after 37 years El País Barcelona 25 March 2026 Austerity policies were widely blamed for increasing inequality and worsening social and economic rights,Saiz Ignacio Holland Luke 14 July 2016 https://www.cesr.org/under-knife-human-rights-and-inequality-age-austerity/ Popular Party blames tax hikes on flawed inheritance Center for Economic and Social Rights 23 March 2026 while a wave of evictions intensified social tensions.Daley Suzanne 11 November 2012 https://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/12/world/europe/spain-evictions-create-an-austerity-homeless-crisis.html Wave of Evictions Leads to Homeless Crisis in Spain The New York Times Seville 23 March 2026Agencies 17 December 2012 https://english.elpais.com/elpais/2012/12/17/inenglish/1355763811_870591.html Foreclosures more than double this year El País Madrid 24 March 2026 Discontent against Rajoy's government first became clear in the 2012 Andalusian election,Tremlett Giles 26 March 2012 https://www.economist.com/newsbook/2012/03/26/deflating-rajoys-balloon Deflating Rajoy's balloon The Economist Madrid 24 March 2026 and was followed by strong social mobilization: the Indignados Movement-organized mass protests and demonstrations;Tremlett Giles 19 February 2012 https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/feb/19/spanish-protest-spending-cuts-labour Spanish protest against spending cuts and changes to labour rights The Guardian Madrid 23 March 2026Goodman Al 12 May 2012 https://edition.cnn.com/2012/05/12/world/europe/spain-protests Thousands in Spain revive May 15 protests to rail against cuts, government CNN Madrid 24 March 202615 November 2012 https://english.elpais.com/elpais/2012/11/15/inenglish/1352979140_439108.html Massive anti-government demonstrations cap national strike day El País Madrid 24 March 2026 two general strikes in March and November 2012;29 March 2012 https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-17545174 Spanish general strike protesters clash with police BBC News 23 March 202613 November 2012 https://english.elpais.com/elpais/2012/11/13/inenglish/1352832813_479508.html Spain faces its second general strike in less than 12 months El País Madrid 23 March 2026 the 2012 Asturian miners' strike;14 June 2012 https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-18444253 Call to end miners' strike in Spain after attacks BBC News 24 March 2026Associated Press 11 July 2012 https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/jun/19/spanish-miners-march-madrid-cuts Spanish miners in mass protest against cuts The Guardian Madrid 24 March 2026 occupations and anti-eviction actions by the Mortgage Victims Platform;Stelfox Dave 11 March 2013 https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/mar/04/corrala-movement-occupying-spain How the corrala movement is occupying Spain The Guardian 24 March 2026Ash Lucy 19 February 2014 https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-26228300 Ada Colau: Spain's anti-eviction crusader BBC News 24 March 2026 the "Surround" and "Besiege Congress" protests;Tremlett Giles 26 September 2012 https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/sep/26/violence-madrid-police-charge-protesters Violence in Madrid as police charge protesters The Guardian Madrid 24 March 2026Pérez Fernando Jesús 26 April 2013 https://english.elpais.com/elpais/2013/04/25/inenglish/1366910844_111695.html Police arrest 15 at protest outside Congress, which left 29 injured El País Madrid 24 March 2026 or the so-called "citizen tides" and "dignity march" demonstrations.Day Paul 23 February 2013 https://www.reuters.com/article/world/tens-of-thousands-in-spain-protest-economic-policy-corruption-idUSBRE91M0DZ/ Tens of thousands in Spain protest economic policy, corruption Reuters Madrid 24 March 2026Andreu Jerónimo Kadner Marién Jiménez Gálvez José 24 March 2014 https://english.elpais.com/elpais/2014/03/24/inenglish/1395675983_136988.html Thousands join protestors from all over Spain on “Dignity March” El País Madrid 23 March 2026Agence France-Presse 22 March 2015 https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/22/protesters-march-against-austerity-measures-in-madrid Protesters march against austerity measures in Madrid The Guardian 24 March 2026 Meanwhile, the opposition PSOE—still weakened by internal strife and collective memory of its economic management—failed to capitalize on the unrest,Tejedor Esther Gutiérrez Calvo Vera 10 March 2013 https://english.elpais.com/elpais/2013/03/10/inenglish/1362946252_335164.html Town hall putsch gives Socialist leader red face over link to sex offender El País Ponferrada / Madrid 24 March 202623 March 2013 https://www.economist.com/europe/2013/03/23/why-spains-left-is-in-a-funk Why Spain's left is in a funk The Economist Madrid 24 March 2026 allowing new parties such as Podemos (founded by political commentator Pablo Iglesias) to channel anti-establishment sentiment and disrupt the traditional two-party system in the 2014 European Parliament election.Kassam Ashifa 26 May 2014 https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/may/26/spain-peoples-party-win-european-elections Spain: People's party triumphs while smaller parties make gains The Guardian Madrid 24 March 2026Reuters 3 November 2014 https://www.euractiv.com/news/spain-s-new-leftist-party-takes-lead-in-poll/ Spain's new leftist party takes lead in poll Euractiv 24 March 2026Díez Anabel Manetto Francesco 3 November 2014 https://english.elpais.com/elpais/2014/11/03/inenglish/1415011542_341454.html Leading parties blame meteoric rise of Podemos on corruption El País Madrid 24 March 2026 PSOE's poor results prompted Rubalcaba's resignation and the election of a dark horse candidate, Pedro Sánchez, as new leader.Hirst Nicholas 26 May 2014 https://www.politico.eu/article/spanish-socialist-leader-resigns/ Spanish socialist leader resigns Politico 24 March 2026Hirst Nicholas 14 July 2014 https://www.politico.eu/article/spains-socialists-elect-new-leader/ Spain's socialists elect leader Politico Madrid 24 March 2026 The snap 2015 Andalusian election in March saw strong results for both Podemos and the liberal and anti-Catalan independence Citizens (C's) led by Albert Rivera,Kassam Ashifa 13 March 2015 https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/13/ciudadanos-podemos-of-right-political-force-spain-albert-rivera Ciudadanos, the 'Podemos of the right', emerges as political force in Spain The Guardian Barcelona 24 March 2026Kassam Ashifa 23 March 2015 https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/23/spanish-anti-austerity-party-podemos-wins-15-seats-andalusia Spanish anti-austerity party Podemos wins 15 seats in Andalusia The Guardian Seville 24 March 2026 their national rise confirmed in the May 2015 local and regional elections,Heller Fernando 6 May 2015 https://www.euractiv.com/news/ciudadanos-and-podemos-a-new-era-in-spanish-politics/ Ciudadanos and Podemos: A new era in Spanish politics? Euractiv 24 March 2026Badcock James Alexander Harriet 25 May 2015 https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/spain/11628713/Spain-follows-Greece-as-anti-austerity-parties-sweep-local-election.html Spain follows Greece as anti-austerity parties sweep local election The Daily Telegraph Madrid 24 March 2026 which saw the PP being swept out from power in most regions and major cities.Toyer Julien White Sarah 25 May 2015 https://www.reuters.com/article/markets/us/spain-s-ruling-pp-gets-worst-local-election-result-in-20-years-idUSL5N0YF0CO/ Spain's ruling PP gets worst local election result in 20 years Reuters Madrid / Valencia 24 March 2026 Going into the general election, Rajoy promised to roll back some austerity measures (including tax cuts, pay raises for public workers, and increased social spending) owing to an improving economic outlook,Hirst Nicholas 26 June 2014 https://www.politico.eu/article/spain-announces-tax-reform/ Spain announces tax reform Politico 25 March 2026Bolaños Alejandro Gómez Manuel Vicente Cordero Dani 4 August 2015 https://english.elpais.com/elpais/2015/08/04/inenglish/1438695724_439183.html Government pledges to cut taxes if it wins upcoming general elections El País Madrid / Barcelona 25 March 2026 with a softer 2016 budget being passed in October 2015.Agencias 20 October 2015 https://www.lavanguardia.com/politica/20151020/54437326452/congreso-aprueba-presupuestos.html El Congreso aprueba hoy definitivamente los Presupuestos Generales del Estado para 2016 es La Vanguardia Barcelona 26 July 2026 Concurrently, Catalonia held a new regional election in September 2015,Noguer Miquel 4 August 2015 https://english.elpais.com/elpais/2015/08/03/inenglish/1438609838_472058.html Catalan premier calls early elections, classing vote a plebiscite for region El País Barcelona 25 March 2026 which resulted in a joint CDC–ERC list (Together for Yes) relying on support from the pro-independence Popular Unity Candidacy; the three parties then approved the start of an 18-month independence process.Kassam Ashifa 28 September 2015 https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/sep/28/catalan-separatists-win-election-and-claim-it-as-yes-vote-for-breakaway Catalan separatists win election and claim it as yes vote for breakaway The Guardian Barcelona 25 March 2026Badcock James 11 November 2015 https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/spain/11984516/Catalonias-parliament-votes-to-begin-setting-up-an-independent-state.html Catalonia's parliament votes to begin setting up an independent state The Daily Telegraph 25 March 2026 A strong result by C's turned opinion polling into a three-way race with the PP and PSOE right before the election call.Mateo Juan José 29 September 2015 https://english.elpais.com/elpais/2015/09/29/inenglish/1443510327_534010.html Emerging party Ciudadanos plans final attack on two-party system El País Barcelona 25 March 2026Díez Anabel 2 November 2015 https://english.elpais.com/elpais/2015/11/02/inenglish/1446455098_250524.html Ciudadanos the party to beat for conservatives and socialists, poll shows El País Madrid 25 March 2026 Overview Under the 1978 Constitution, the Spanish es Cortes Generales no were conceived as an imperfect bicameral system.Constitution 1978 art. 66.https://app.congreso.es/consti/constitucion/indice/sinopsis/sinopsis.jsp?art=66&tipo=2 Constitución española. Título III. De las Cortes Generales. Sinopsis artículo 66 es Congress of Deputies 11 October 2025 , summarizing Constitution 1978 art. 66. 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.Constitution 1978 arts. 90 & 99. 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.Constitution 1978 arts. 74, 94, 122, 145, 155, 158–159 & 166–167. Date The term of each chamber of the es Cortes Generales no—the Congress and the Senate—expired four years from the date of their previous election, unless they were dissolved earlier.Constitution 1978 arts. 68–69. 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.LOREG 1985 arts. 42 & 167. The previous election was held on 20 November 2011, which meant that the chambers' terms would have expired on 20 November 2015. The election decree was required to be published in the BOE no later than 27 October 2015, setting the latest possible date for election day on 20 December 2015.Alcáraz Mayte 13 May 2014 Rajoy estudia agotar el plazo legal para que las elecciones sean en 2016 https://www.abc.es/espana/20140513/abci-rajoy-elecciones-201405121049.html es ABC Madrid 26 March 2026Sánchez Manuel 8 December 2014 A once meses de las elecciones generales... o menos https://www.publico.es/politica/once-meses-elecciones-generales.html es Público 27 September 2025 thumb|alt=Mariano Rajoy in a RTVE interview with Ana Blanco|During an interview on 1 October 2015, Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy announced election day for 20 December. 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.Constitution 1978 arts. 115–116. 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.Constitution 1978 art. 99. Barring this exception, there was no constitutional requirement for simultaneous elections to the Congress and the Senate.https://app.congreso.es/consti/constitucion/indice/sinopsis/sinopsis.jsp?art=115&tipo=2 Constitución española. Título V. De las relaciones entre el Gobierno y las Cortes Generales. Sinopsis artículo 115 es Congress of Deputies 31 October 2025 , summarizing Constitution 1978 art. 115. Still, as of , there has been no precedent of separate elections taking place under the 1978 Constitution. In May 2014, ABC disclosed that Rajoy's government was considering whether a general election could be upheld until early 2016, based on an ambiguous legal interpretation on the parliament's expiration date. In September 2014, Vozpópuli and El Plural further inquired on the possibility that the PP cabinet would be planning to delay a new election until February 2016, hoping for a better economic outlook.Maqueda Antonio 22 September 2014 El PP se plantea retrasar las elecciones hasta febrero de 2016 a la espera de una recuperación más fuerte y estable https://www.vozpopuli.com/espana/Elecciones-Partido_Popular_PP-Recuperacion_0_736726345.html es Vozpópuli 27 September 2025 10 August 2017 https://web.archive.org/web/20170810211219/https://www.vozpopuli.com/espana/Elecciones-Partido_Popular_PP-Recuperacion_0_736726345.html bot: unknown 22 September 2014 La vicepresidenta encarga informes jurídicos para retrasar las elecciones generales a 2016 https://www.elplural.com/politica/la-vicepresidenta-encarga-informes-juridicos-para-retrasar-las-elecciones-generales-a-2016_37045102 es El Plural 27 September 2025 Público later revealed legal reports commissioned by the government establishing that the deadline for dissolution was 26 October 2015, with an election being held no later than 20 December. After the 2015 local and regional elections, 22 or 29 November were suggested as possible dates,Rajoy maneja los días 22 ó 29 de noviembre para las elecciones generales 27 May 2015 https://www.europapress.es/nacional/noticia-rajoy-maneja-dias-22-29-noviembre-elecciones-generales-20150527140250.html Europa Press Madrid 26 March 202627 May 2015 Rajoy planea convocar las elecciones generales el 22 o 29 de noviembre https://www.elperiodico.com/es/politica/20150527/rajoy-abre-la-puerta-a-cambios-en-el-gobierno-y-en-el-pp-tras-el-batacazo-del-24-m-4222738 El Periódico de Catalunya Madrid 27 September 2025 but Rajoy's intention to approve the 2016 budget delayed the latest possible dates to either 13 or 20 December.Agencias 4 August 2015 La aprobación de los Presupuestos lleva las elecciones generales hasta el 13 de diciembre https://www.libertaddigital.com/espana/2015-08-04/la-aprobacion-de-los-presupuestos-lleva-las-elecciones-generales-hasta-el-13-de-diciembre-1276554282/ es Libertad Digital 27 September 2025 During an interview in Antena 3 on 1 October, Rajoy confirmed election for 20 December.Casqueiro Javier 1 October 2015 Rajoy anuncia que las elecciones generales serán el 20 de diciembre https://elpais.com/politica/2015/10/01/actualidad/1443726596_360140.html es El País Madrid 27 September 2025 Being held four years and one month after the previous election, this was the longest time-span between two general elections since the Spanish transition to democracy. The es Cortes Generales no were officially dissolved on 27 October 2015 with the publication of the corresponding decree in the BOE, setting election day for 20 December and scheduling for both chambers to reconvene on 13 January 2016.Royal Decree 977/2015 2015 arts. 1–2 & 5.26 October 2015 El Gobierno convoca las elecciones del 20D y pone como límite el 13 de enero para constituir las Cortes https://www.rtve.es/noticias/20151026/consejo-ministros-aprueba-este-lunes-decreto-convocatoria-elecciones-del-20/1241888.shtml es RTVE 6 August 2026 Electoral system Voting for each chamber of the es Cortes Generales no 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.LOREG 1985 arts. 2–3.Carreras de Odriozola Tafunell Sambola 2005 1077 Additionally, non-resident citizens were required to apply for voting, a system known as "begged" voting (es Voto rogado).LOREG 1985 art. 75.Reig Pellicer Naiara 16 December 2015 http://www.cafebabel.co.uk/politics/article/spanish-elections-begging-for-the-right-to-vote.html Spanish elections: Begging for the right to vote cafebabel.co.uk 17 July 2017 31 August 2021 https://web.archive.org/web/20210831202218/https://cafebabel.com/en/article/spanish-elections-begging-for-the-right-to-vote-5ae00a98f723b35a145e6867/ usurped 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.Constitution 1978 art. 68; LOREG 1985 arts. 162–164. The use of this electoral method resulted in a higher effective threshold depending on district magnitude and vote distribution.Gallagher Michael 30 July 2012 http://www.tcd.ie/Political_Science/staff/michael_gallagher/ElSystems/Docts/effthresh.php Effective threshold in electoral systems Trinity College Dublin Dublin https://web.archive.org/web/20170730092518/http://www.tcd.ie/Political_Science/staff/michael_gallagher/ElSystems/Docts/effthresh.php 22 July 2017 30 July 2017 As a result of the aforementioned allocation, each Congress multi-member constituency was entitled the following seats:Royal Decree 977/2015 2015 art. 3 & annex. Seats Constituencies 36 Madrid 31 Barcelona 15 Valenciared (−1) 12 Alicante, Seville 11 Málagagreen (+1) 10 Murcia 9 Cádizgreen (+1) 8 A Coruña, Asturias, Balearic Islands, Biscay, Las Palmas 7 Granada, Pontevedra, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Zaragoza 6 Almería, Badajoz, Córdoba, Gipuzkoa, Girona, Tarragona, Toledo 5 Cantabria, Castellón, Ciudad Real, Huelva, Jaénred (−1), 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-listParties could group candidates into lists, although each candidate was treated separately for the purpose of the voting procedure. 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.Constitution 1978 art. 69; LOREG 1985 arts. 162 & 165–166.Carreras de Odriozola Tafunell Sambola 2005 1083 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.LOREG 1985 arts. 46, 48, 164, 166 & 170–171. Outgoing parliament The tables below show the composition of the parliamentary groups in both chambers at the time of dissolution.Lozano Carles https://www.historiaelectoral.com/grups.html Grupos Parlamentarios en el Congreso de los Diputados y el Senado es Historia Electoral.com 25 August 2025Lozano Carles https://www.historiaelectoral.com/senado7.html Composición del Senado 1977- es Historia Electoral.com 25 August 2025 auto + Parliamentary composition in October 2015https://www.congreso.es/web/guest/grupos/composicion-en-la-legislatura Grupos parlamentarios es Congress of Deputies 7 December 2020 Congress of Deputies1 UPyD seat was vacant as a result of Irene Lozano's resignation to join the PSOE on 16 October 2015.Agencias 16 October 2015 Irene Lozano abandona UPyD e irá en las listas del PSOE para las generales https://www.rtve.es/noticias/20151016/irene-lozano-abandona-upyd-ira-listas-del-psoe-para-generales/1239288.shtml es RTVE 27 July 2026 Groups Parties Deputies Seats Total People's Parliamentary Group in the Congress PP 185 185 Socialist Parliamentary Group PSOE 96 110 PSC 14 Catalan Parliamentary Group(Convergence and Union) CDC 9 16 UDC 7 IU, ICV–EUiA, CHA: Plural Left'sParliamentary Group IU 8 11 ICV 2 EUiA 1 Basque Parliamentary Group (EAJ/PNV) EAJ/PNV 5 5 Union, Progress and Democracy'sParliamentary Group UPyD 4 4 Mixed Parliamentary Group Sortu 5 18 ERC 3 BNG 2 UPN 1 EA 1 Aralar 1 CCa 1 NCa 1 Compromís 1 FAC 1 GBai 1 1em + Parliamentary composition in October 2015https://www.senado.es/web/composicionorganizacion/gruposparlamentarios/gruposparlamentariosdesde1977/index.html Grupos Parlamentarios desde 1977 es Senate of Spain 8 July 2020 Senate1 PP appointed seat remained vacant until 14 December 2016.14 December 2016 Ignacio Cosido, elegido senador por la Comunidad sólo con los votos del PP https://diariodevalladolid.elmundo.es/articulo/castillayleon/ignacio-cosido-elegido-senador-comunidad-solo-votos-pp/20161214161423209264.html es Diario de Valladolid 27 July 2026 Groups Parties Senators Seats Total People's Parliamentary Group in the Senate PP 149 153 PAR 3 CCN 1 Socialist Parliamentary Group PSOE 66 66 Convergence and Union'sCatalan Parliamentary Group in the Senate CDC 10 13 UDC 3 Agreement for Catalonia ProgressParliamentary Group PSC 7 9 ICV 2 Basque Parliamentary Group in the Senate(EAJ/PNV) EAJ/PNV 5 5 Mixed Parliamentary Group Podemos 5 19 Sortu 3 Cs 2 UPN 2 AMF 1 EA 1 CCa 1 AHI 1 ERC 1 Compromís 1 INDEP 1Juan Morano, former PP legislator.3 July 2012 Juan Morano pedirá la baja en el PP y pasará al Grupo Mixto en el Senado tras desmarcarse en el conflicto del carbón https://www.europapress.es/castilla-y-leon/noticia-juan-morano-pedira-baja-pp-pasara-grupo-mixto-senado-desmarcarse-conflicto-carbon-20120703172101.html es Europa Press Madrid 27 July 2026 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:Constitution 1978 art. 70; LOREG 1985 arts. 6 & 154. 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;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. 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. 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:Constitution 1978 art. 67; LOREG 1985 arts. 6, 46 & 155–159. 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 List of political parties in Spain 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 es Cortes no at the preceding election were required to secure the signature of at least 0.1 percent of electors in the aforementioned constituencies.LOREG 1985 arts. 44 & 169. 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.LOREG 1985 art. 44 bis. Below is a list of the main parties and alliances which contested the election:https://www.congreso.es/backoffice_doc/prensa/notas_prensa/40787_1447354106976.pdf ELECCIONES GENERALES. 20 de diciembre de 2015. Coaliciones válidamente constituidas ante la Junta Electoral Central es Congress of Deputies 27 July 2026 Candidacy Parties andalliances Leading candidate Ideology Previous result Gov. Government Ref. References Congress Senate Vote % Seats Vote % Seats PP List on People's Party (PP) Navarrese People's Union (UPN) Forum of Citizens (FAC) Aragonese Party (PAR) Municipal Assemblies of Fuerteventura (AMF) 50px Mariano Rajoy ConservatismChristian democracy 45.0%"PP+FAC" 187 46.8%Results for PP (46.3%, 136 senators) and FAC (0.5%, 0 senators) in the 2011 Senate election. 136 Menéndez María 18 February 2012 Mariano Rajoy es reelegido presidente del PP con el 97,56% de los votos en el 17 Congreso nacional https://www.rtve.es/noticias/20120218/mariano-rajoy-reelegido-presidente-del-pp-con-9756-votos-17-congreso-nacional/499177.shtml es RTVE 24 October 2026EFE 30 May 2015 Rajoy ratifica que será el candidato del PP en las elecciones generales https://www.ultimahora.es/noticias/nacional/2015/05/30/153115/rajoy-ratifica-sera-candidato-del-elecciones-generales.html es Última Hora Madrid 24 October 2026Europa Press 30 October 2015 UPN y PP concurrirán juntos a las próximas elecciones generales https://www.elconfidencial.com/elecciones-generales/2015-10-30/upn-y-pp-concurriran-juntos-a-las-proximas-elecciones-generales_1076883/ es El Confidencial 24 October 2026EFE 5 November 2015 Rajoy firma en Zaragoza el pacto de coalición con el PAR ante el 20D https://www.elperiodicodearagon.com/noticias/aragon/rajoy-firma-zaragoza-pacto-coalicion-par-20d_1064955.html es El Periódico de Aragón 27 July 2026EFE https://www.elmundo.es/espana/2015/11/05/563bb22cca474176348b464f.html 5 November 2015 Rajoy anuncia que el PP irá en coalición con el partido de Cascos en Asturias para las elecciones generales es El Mundo Madrid / Oviedo 27 July 2026EFE 13 November 2015 PP y AMF reeditan la coalición para acudir juntos al Senado por Fuerteventura https://www.eldiario.es/canariasahora/especial/generales_2015/pp-amf-coalicion-senado-fuerteventura_1_2377444.html es Canarias Ahora Puerto del Rosario 24 October 2026 PSOE List on Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) Socialists' Party of Catalonia (PSC) New Canaries (NCa) 50px Pedro Sánchez Social democracy 28.8% 110 26.0%PSC–PSOE contested the 2011 Senate election within the Entesa alliance. 54 Campos Carmen 21 June 2015 https://www.rtve.es/noticias/20150621/pedro-sanchez-sera-proclamado-candidato-a-moncloa-por-plana-mayor-del-psoe-sin-primarias/1165160.shtml El PSOE ratifica para las generales a Sánchez, que promete "liderar el cambio desde la moderación" es RTVE 24 October 2026Santana Txema 18 October 2015 https://elpais.com/politica/2015/10/18/actualidad/1445177987_248479.html El PSOE acudirá a las generales en coalición con Nueva Canarias es El País Las Palmas 27 July 2026 DiL List on Democratic Convergence of Catalonia (CDC) Democrats of Catalonia (DC) Independence Rally (RI.cat) 50px Francesc Homs Catalan independenceLiberalism 4.2%"CiU" 16 4.1%"CiU" 9 Masreal Fidel 6 November 2015 https://www.elperiodico.com/es/politica/20151106/cdc-concurre-generales-nombre-democracia-i-llibertat-4649829 CDC concurrirá a las generales bajo el nombre de Democràcia i Llibertat es El Periódico de Catalunya Barcelona 27 July 2026EFE 14 November 2015 Puig afirma que «no pot ser que 10 diputats marquin la política econòmica del govern» https://www.diaridegirona.cat/catalunya/2015/11/14/puig-afirma-pot-10-diputats-49162952.html ca Diari de Girona Barcelona 24 October 2026 unio.cat List on Democratic Union of Catalonia (unio.cat) 50px Josep Antoni Duran i Lleida RegionalismChristian democracy Baquero Camilo Sixto 19 October 2015 https://elpais.com/ccaa/2015/10/17/catalunya/1445077960_400183.html Duran Lleida repetirá como candidato en plena crisis de Unió es El País L'Hospitalet de Llobregat 27 July 2026 IU–UPeC List on United Left (IU)– Communist Party of Spain (PCE)– The Dawn Marxist Organization (La Aurora (OM))– Republican Left (IR)– Open Left (IzAb)– Feminist Party of Spain (PFE) Popular Unity in Common (UPeC) Aragonese Union (CHA) Asturian Left (IAS) Assembly (Batzarre) Building the Left–Socialist Alternative (CLI–AS) Segoviemos (Segoviemos) Castilian Left (IzCa) 50px Alberto Garzón SocialismCommunism 5.5%Results for IU–LV in the 2011 election, not including ICV–EUiA. 8 5.1% 0 23 January 2015 Alberto Garzón se convierte en el candidato de IU a las generales https://www.infolibre.es/politica/alberto-garzon-convierte-candidato-iu-generales_1_1109314.html es infoLibre 27 July 2026EFE 28 October 2015 Garzón, elegido candidato al Gobierno por Unidad Popular por más 80% votos https://www.lavanguardia.com/politica/20151028/54437513617/garzon-elegido-candidato-al-gobierno-por-unidad-popular-por-mas-80-votos.html es La Vanguardia Madrid 25 October 2026Ruiz Mar 5 November 2015 La candidatura de Garzón se registrará como Unidad Popular https://cadenaser.com/ser/2015/11/05/politica/1446760850_453365.html es Cadena SER Madrid 27 July 202613 November 2015 'Entre tod@s sí se puede Córdoba' y Unidad Popular rompen https://www.europapress.es/andalucia/noticia-tods-si-puede-cordoba-separa-unidad-popular-falta-democracia-20151113115955.html es Europa Press Córdoba 27 July 2026 EH Bildu List on Create (Sortu) Basque Solidarity (EA) Aralar (Aralar) Alternative (Alternatiba) 50px Marian BeitialarrangoitiaEH Bildu did not field a single visible leader; instead, prominence was given to the lead candidate in each of the constituencies where it ran. Marian Beitialarrangoitia from Gipuzkoa was later selected as EH Bildu's spokesperson in Congress. Basque independenceAbertzale leftSocialism 1.4%Results for Amaiur in the 2011 Congress election. 7 1.3%Results for Amaiur in the 2011 Senate election, not including Navarre. 3 Goikoetxea Agustín 31 October 2015 Urbina, Enbeita, Beitialarrangoitia y Cuadra encabezarán las lista de EH Bildu al Congreso español https://www.naiz.eus/info/noticia/amp/20151031/urbina-enbeita-beitiarrangoitia-y-cuadra-encabezaran-las-lista-de-eh-bildu-al-congreso-espanol es Naiz 24 October 2026Alonso José María 18 November 2015 EH Bildu saca de las Cortes a su portavoz https://www.elmundo.es/pais-vasco/2015/11/18/564c3a3e22601db93f8b4607.html es El Mundo Bilbao 24 October 2026 UPyD List on Union, Progress and Democracy (UPyD) 50px Andrés Herzog Social liberalismRadical centrism 4.7% 5 1.7% 0 Sanz Luis Ángel 12 July 2015 UPyD vota continuidad por la mínima https://www.elmundo.es/espana/2015/07/11/55a13a13268e3e983f8b457b.html es El Mundo Madrid 24 October 2026Sanz Luis Ángel 12 September 2015 Andrés Herzog será el candidato de UPyD al ganar las primarias con el 74% de los votos https://www.elmundo.es/espana/2015/09/12/55f4606d22601d00188b4585.html es El Mundo Madrid 24 October 2026 EAJ/PNV List on Basque Nationalist Party (EAJ/PNV) 50px Aitor Esteban Basque nationalismChristian democracy 1.3% 5 1.5% 4 EFE 18 December 2012 Aitor Esteban sustituye a Josu Erkoreka como portavoz del PNV en el Congreso https://www.elmundo.es/elmundo/2012/12/18/espana/1355828592.html es El Mundo Madrid 24 October 2026Vázquez Míriam 11 September 2015 Aitor Esteban se perfila como cabeza de lista jeltzale por Bizkaia https://www.deia.eus/politica/2015/09/11/aitor-esteban-perfila-cabeza-lista-5101709.html es Deia Bilbao 24 October 2026 ERC–CatSí List on Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC) Catalonia Yes (CatSí) 50px Gabriel Rufián Catalan independenceLeft-wing nationalismSocial democracy 1.1% 3 1.0% 0 Barrena Xabier 7 November 2015 Gabriel Rufián, candidato de ERC al Congreso https://www.elperiodico.com/es/politica/20151107/gabriel-rufian-candidato-erc-elecciones-20d-4652871 es El Periódico de Catalunya Barcelona 24 October 2026 Nós List on Galician Nationalist Bloc (BNG)– Galician People's Union (UPG)– Galician Movement for Socialism (MGS)– Abrente–Galician Democratic Left (Abrente–EDG) Galicianist Party (PG) Galician Coalition (CG) Communist Party of the Galician People (PCPG) Galician Workers' Front (FOGA) 50px Carlos Callón Galician nationalismLeft-wing nationalismSocialism 0.8%"BNG" Results for BNG in the 2011 election. 2 0.9%"BNG" 0 Méndez J. 28 October 2015 https://www.elprogreso.es/articulo/galicia/iniciativa-pola-union-ratifica-nos-candidatura-galega-como-nombre-para-concurrir-las/20151028212527360565.html Iniciativa pola Unión concurrirá a las generales como 'Nós Candidatura Galega' si no hay unidad es El Progreso 24 October 2026Carpio José Ángel 24 November 2015 https://www.rtve.es/noticias/20151124/carlos-callon-filologo-para-llevar-madrid-proyecto-gallego-feito-na-casa/1260361.shtml Carlos Callón, un filólogo para llevar a Madrid un proyecto gallego 'feito na casa' es RTVE 27 July 2026 CCa–PNC List on Canarian Coalition (CCa) Canarian Nationalist Party (PNC) Independent Herrenian Group (AHI) 50px Ana Oramas RegionalismCanarian nationalismCentrism 0.6%"CC-NC" Results for CC–NC–PNC in the 2011 election. 2 0.4%"CC-NC" 1 EFE 1 September 2015 https://www.eldiario.es/canariasahora/politica/cc-candidatura-ana-oramas-elecciones_1_4267955.html CC propone por unanimidad la candidatura de Ana Oramas para las elecciones generales es Canarias Ahora Las Palmas de Gran Canaria 24 October 2026 GBai List on Expanding (Zabaltzen) Villava Group (AT) Basque Nationalist Party (EAJ/PNV) 50px Koldo Martínez Basque nationalismSocial democracy 0.2% 1 colspan="2" Contestedin allianceEH Bildu, GBai, I–E (n) and Podemos contested the 2015 Senate election within the Cambio/Aldaketa alliance. Europa Press 26 September 2015 El Consejo General de Geroa Bai ratifica a Koldo Martínez como candidato al Congreso en las próximas elecciones https://www.20minutos.es/noticia/2565430/0/consejo-general-geroa-bai-ratifica-koldo-martinez-como-candidato-al-congreso-proximas-elecciones/ es 20 minutos 24 October 2026 Cambio/Aldaketa List on Basque Country Gather (EH Bildu)"Nav" In Navarre. Yes to the Future (GBai) We Can (Podemos)"Nav" Left (I–E (n)) 50px Ana Luján Basque nationalism colspan="2" Did not contest 0.4%Results for EH Bildu (0.2%, 0 senators), GBai (0.2%, 0 senators) and I–E (n) (0.1%, 0 senators) in the 2011 Senate election in Navarre. 0 Europa Press 2 November 2015 https://www.eldiario.es/politica/geroa-eh-bildu-podemos-senado_1_2397264.html Podemos y EH Bildu llegan a un acuerdo en Navarra para ir en una candidatura conjunta al Senado es eldiario.es Pamplona 27 July 2026Europa Press 6 November 2015 https://www.diariodenavarra.es/noticias/navarra/mas_navarra/2015/11/06/el_cuatripartito_quiere_que_madrid_oiga_voz_del_cambio_navarra_323049_2061.html Los candidatos del cuatripartito quieren que en Madrid 'se oiga la voz del cambio en Navarra' es Diario de Navarra Pamplona 27 July 2026 Podemos List on We Can (Podemos) Equo (Equo) Rally for Madrid (CxM) Now Upper Aragon in Common (Ahora AltoAragón en Común) In Common We Can (En Comú)– Barcelona in Common (BComú)– We Can (Podem)– Initiative for Catalonia Greens (ICV)– United and Alternative Left (EUiA) It is Time (Compromís–Podemos)– Commitment Coalition (Compromís)– We Can (Podemos/Podem) In Tide (Podemos–Anova–EU)– We Can (Podemos)– Renewal–Nationalist Brotherhood (Anova)– United Left (EU) 50px Pablo Iglesias Left-wing populismDirect democracyDemocratic socialism colspan="4" Did not contest"Podemos" Manetto Francesco 24 July 2015 https://elpais.com/politica/2015/07/24/actualidad/1437729956_967384.html Pablo Iglesias se proclama candidato de Podemos a La Moncloa es El País Madrid 24 October 2026Sánchez Juan Luis Riveiro Aitor 6 October 2015 https://www.eldiario.es/politica/podemos-euskadi-juan-lopez-uralde_1_2479158.html Uralde se perfila como cabeza de lista de Podemos y Equo en Euskadi para las generales es eldiario.es 27 July 202617 October 2015 https://www.eldiario.es/aragon/politica/ahora-comun-podemos-presentaran-huesca_1_2426691.html Ahora en Común y Podemos se presentarán a las elecciones generales con una lista única en Huesca es eldiario.es 27 July 2026Carvajal Álvaro 29 October 2015 https://www.elmundo.es/espana/2015/10/29/56320c6122601d70658b461a.html Ada Colau impone a Pablo Iglesias su candidato y la marca 'En Comú' por delante del nombre de Podemos es El Mundo Madrid 27 July 2026López de Miguel Alejandro 6 November 2015 https://www.publico.es/politica/podemos-compromis-cierran-acuerdo-20-d-valencia.html Podemos y Compromís cierran su acuerdo para el 20-D en Valencia es Público Madrid 27 July 20267 November 2015 https://www.europapress.es/galicia/noticia-podemos-anova-eu-registran-coalicion-marea-pactan-pablo-iglesias-candidato-presidente-20151106225452.html Podemos, Anova y EU registran su coalición En Marea es Europa Press Santiago de Compostela 27 July 2026 C's List on Citizens–Party of the Citizenry (C's) 50px Albert Rivera Liberalism colspan="4" Did not contest Mateo Juan José 20 June 2015 https://elpais.com/politica/2015/06/19/actualidad/1434740491_396526.html Rivera prepara su candidatura a la presidencia del Gobierno es El País Madrid 14 November 2025EFE 3 July 2015 https://www.rtve.es/noticias/20150703/albert-rivera-proclamado-candidato-ciudadanos-a-presidencia-del-gobierno/1173282.shtml Albert Rivera, proclamado candidato de Ciudadanos a la presidencia del Gobierno sin necesidad de primarias es RTVE 14 November 2025 ASG List on Gomera Socialist Group (ASG) 50px Yaiza Castilla InsularismSocial democracy colspan="4" Did not contest 31 October 2015 Yaiza Castilla, candidata al Senado, ASG dice que mas de 500 personas acudieron a Las Nieves https://www.eltambor.es/yaiza-castilla-candidata-al-senado-asg-dice-que-mas-de-500-personas-que-acudieron-a-las-nieves/ es El Tambor 24 October 2026 The People's Party (PP) chose to continue its 2011 electoral alliance with the Aragonese Party in Aragon, as well as to establish an alliance with Forum of Citizens in Asturias (the party of former PP member Francisco Álvarez Cascos). The agreement with Navarrese People's Union (UPN) was also maintained, after a period of negotiations in which UPN had considered to contest the general election on its own in Navarre.Europa Press 30 October 2015 UPN y PP concurrirán juntos a las próximas elecciones generales https://www.diariodenavarra.es/noticias/navarra/mas_navarra/2015/10/30/upn_concurriran_juntos_las_proximas_elecciones_generales_311356_2061.html es Diario de Navarra Pamplona 27 July 2026 For the Senate, the PP also ran in alliance with the Municipal Assemblies of Fuerteventura. The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) and New Canaries both announced they would contest the general election together in the Canary Islands. Extremaduran Coalition and United Extremadura broke up their coalitions with both PSOE and PP, respectively, and chose to contest the general together under a single joint list, Extremeños (Spanish for "Extremadurans").12 November 2015 https://www.eldiario.es/extremadura/politica/extremadura-unida-extremenos-coalicion-generales_1_2379729.html Extremadura Unida y Extremeños pactan una coalición para ir juntos en las generales es eldiario.es 27 July 2026 2 right 215 PP 2015.svg PSOE 2015.svg Podemos 2015.svg UP 2015.svg Main electoral alliances for the Congress of Deputies (top to bottom, left to right): PP, PSOE, Podemos and regional-aligned alliances, and IU–UPeC Podemos set up an extensive alliance system with other parties in various parties. In Catalonia, Podemos, Initiative for Catalonia Greens and United and Alternative Left reached an agreement with Barcelona en Comú—Barcelona mayor Ada Colau's party—to form the En Comú Podem (Catalan for "In Common We Can") platform.Mármol Iolanda 1 December 2015 https://www.elperiodico.com/es/politica/20151201/iglesias-y-colau-buscan-sellar-una-coalicion-permanente-en-catalunya-tras-el-20-d-4714891 Pablo Iglesias y Ada Colau buscan sellar una coalición permanente en Catalunya tras el 20-D es El Periódico de Catalunya Madrid 27 July 2026 In Galicia, Podemos, Anova and United Left merged into the En Marea ticket (Galician for "In Tide"), which also received the support of local alliances that had succeeded in the May 2015 local elections, such as Marea Atlántica, Compostela Aberta or Ferrol en Común. For the Valencian Community, the És el moment alliance (Valencian for "It is Time") was established between Podemos and Compromís, with a strong role from Valencian deputy premier Mònica Oltra.Sanjuan Héctor Moltó Daniel 7 November 2015 https://www.elmundo.es/comunidad-valenciana/2015/11/06/563cabb222601db94c8b45da.html Compromís impone su nombre en el pacto con Podemos es El Mundo Valencia 27 July 2026 United Left of the Valencian Country had also entered talks to enter the alliance, but left after disagreements with both Podemos and Compromís during negotiations.Enguix Salvador 6 November 2015 https://www.lavanguardia.com/local/valencia/20151106/54438626186/compromis-y-podemos-se-presentaran-al-20d-en-coalicion-sin-eupv.html Compromís y Podemos se presentarán al 20D en coalición sin EUPV es La Vanguardia 27 July 2026 Additionally, Podemos was to contest the general election in the province of Huesca within the Now Upper Aragon in Common alliance (es Ahora Alto Aragón en Común). In Navarre, all four Podemos, Geroa Bai, EH Bildu and Izquierda-Ezkerra coalesced under the Cambio-Aldaketa umbrella for the Senate; the agreement was not extended to the Congress election, where all four parties ran separately. In Catalonia and Galicia, United Left (IU)—which ran nationally under the Popular Unity brand—joined En Marea and En Comú Podem, which supported Podemos at the national level; while a nationwide alliance between Podemos and IU had been considered, disagreements over IU's internal issues and the latter's role within Podemos's lists led to the failure of talks.Sánchez Juan Luis 6 October 2015 https://www.eldiario.es/juanlusanchez/confluencia-pablo-iglesias-alberto-garzon_132_2444599.html Alberto Garzón no quiere ser el enterrador y Pablo Iglesias no quiere ser el enfermero es eldiario.es 27 July 2026 Environmentalist party Equo was successful at reaching an agreement with Podemos, accepting to integrate itself within Podemos. After the dissolution of the Convergence and Union (CiU) federation in Catalonia, Democratic Convergence of Catalonia (CDC) joined Democrats of Catalonia and Reagrupament within the Democracy and Freedom alliance after the failure of talks with Republican Left of Catalonia to continue the Junts pel Sí coalition for the general election.Barrena Xabier 30 October 2015 https://www.elperiodico.com/es/politica/20151030/cdc-y-erc-oficializan-iran-por-separado-20d-4631737 CDC y ERC oficializan que irán por separado el 20-D es El Periódico de Catalunya Barcelona 27 July 2026 CDC's former ally, Josep Antoni Duran i Lleida's Democratic Union of Catalonia (UDC), chose to contest the election alone despite losing its parliamentary presence in the Parliament of Catalonia after the 2015 regional election. Campaign Timetable The key dates are listed below (all times are CET. The Canary Islands used WET (UTC+0) instead):https://www.juntaelectoralcentral.es/cs/jec/documentos/GENERALES_2015_Calendario.pdf Elecciones Generales 20 de diciembre de 2015. Calendario Electoral es Central Electoral Commission 24 January 2026 26 October: The election decree is issued with the countersign of the prime minister, after deliberation in the Council of Ministers, ratified by the King. 27 October: Formal dissolution of parliament and start of prohibition period on the inauguration of public works, services or projects. 30 October: Initial constitution of provincial and zone electoral commissions with judicial members. 2 November: Division of constituencies into polling sections and stations. 6 November: Deadline for parties and federations to report on their electoral alliances. 9 November: Deadline for electoral register consultation for the purpose of possible corrections. 16 November: Deadline for parties, federations, alliances, and groupings of electors to present electoral lists. 18 November: Publication of submitted electoral lists in the Official State Gazette (BOE). 21 November: Deadline for non-resident citizens (electors residing abroad (CERA) and citizens temporarily absent from Spain) to apply for voting. 23 November: Official proclamation of validly submitted electoral lists. 24 November: Publication of proclaimed electoral lists in the BOE. 25 November: Deadline for the selection of polling station members by sortition. 3 December: Deadline for the appointment of non-judicial members to provincial and zone electoral commissions. 4 December: Official start of electoral campaigning.Royal Decree 977/2015 2015 art. 4. 10 December: Deadline to apply for postal voting. 15 December: Start of legal ban on electoral opinion polling publication; deadline for CERA citizens to vote by mail. 16 December: Deadline for postal and temporarily absent voting. 18 December: Last day of electoral campaigning; deadline for CERA voting. 19 December: Official election silence ("reflection day"). 20 December: 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 December: Start of general vote counting, including CERA votes. 26 December: Deadline for the general vote counting. 4 January: Deadline for the proclamation of elected members. 14 January: Deadline for the reconvening of parliament (date determined by the election decree, which for the 2015 election was set for 13 January).Constitution 1978 art. 68. 13 February: Deadline for the publication of definitive election results in the BOE. Party slogans Party or alliance Original slogan English translation Ref. References PP « España en serio » "Spain seriously" Carpio José Ángel 3 December 2015 Pistoletazo a la campaña electoral del 20D, la más abierta y dinámica de los últimos años https://www.rtve.es/noticias/20151203/pistoletazo-a-campana-electoral-del-20d-mas-abierta-dinamica-ultimos-anos/1266223.shtml es RTVE 27 July 2026Pi Jaume 3 December 2015 Los lemas de la campaña https://www.lavanguardia.com/politica/20151201/30519549586/lemas-campana.html es La Vanguardia 27 July 2026Ruiz Marull David 11 June 2016 https://www.lavanguardia.com/politica/elecciones/20160610/402415441183/campana-electoral-26j-lemas.html Lemas sin alma para el 26J es La Vanguardia 27 July 2026 PSOE « Un futuro/un presidente para la mayoría » "A future/a president for the many" Sanz Gabriel 9 December 2015 "Un presidente para la mayoría", nuevo lema del PSOE https://www.abc.es/elecciones/elecciones-generales/abci-presidente-para-mayoria-nuevo-lema-psoe-201512091414_noticia.html es ABC Madrid 27 July 2026 DiL « (Im)Possible » "(Im)Possible" 1 December 2015 'Possible', el lema de Democràcia i Llibertat https://www.elperiodico.com/es/politica/20151201/posible-lema-democracia-i-llibertat-20-d-4717831 es El Periódico de Catalunya Barcelona 27 July 2026 unio.cat « Solucions! » "Solutions!" EFE 30 November 2015 Unió presenta el lema "¡Soluciones!" para las elecciones generales https://www.expansion.com/economia/politica/elecciones-generales/2015/11/29/565ade6cca4741c00d8b45a3.html es Expansión 27 July 2026 IU–UPeC « Por un nuevo país » "For a new country" EH Bildu « Bildu erabakira »« Únete a la decisión » "Join the decision" EAJ/PNV « Lehenik Euskadi. Euskadi es lo que importa » "The Basque Country first. The Basque Country is what matters" 2 December 2015 PNV, EH Bildu y Podemos abren campaña en Vitoria, y PSE, PP e IU en Bilbao https://www.europapress.es/euskadi/noticia-20d-pnv-eh-bildu-podemos-abren-campana-vitoria-pse-ee-pp-bilbao-ezker-anitza-tres-capitales-20151202184636.html es Europa Press Bilbao 27 July 2026 UPyD « Más España » "More Spain" ERC–CatSí « Defensa el teu vot » "Defend your vote" Nós « A forza do noso pobo » "The strength of our people" CCa–PNC « Luchar por Canarias » "Fighting for the Canaries" GBai « Defiende Navarra. Nafarron Hitza Madrilen » "Defend Navarre. The voice of the Navarrese people in Madrid" 3 December 2015 Koldo Martínez: "Tenemos el testigo de Uxue y seguiremos corriendo para defender Navarra" https://pamplonaactual.com/pamplona-actual/230795/koldo-martinez-tenemos-el-testigo-de-uxue-y-seguiremos-corriendo-para-defender-navarra/ es Pamplona Actual 27 July 2026Europa Press 18 December 2015 Koldo Martínez dice que "cada voto a Geroa Bai va a defender Navarra" https://www.eldiario.es/navarra/ultimas-noticias/koldo-martinez-geroa-bai-navarra_1_2290960.html es eldiario.es Pamplona 27 July 2026 Podemos En Comú És el moment En Marea Main: « Un país contigo. Podemos »En Comú: « El canvi no s'atura »És el moment: « Justament és el moment »En Marea: « Para mudalo todo, para que nada siga igual » Main: "A country with you. We Can"En Comú: "The change does not stop"És el moment: "It is precisely the time"En Marea: "To change everything, so that nothing remains the same" Servimedia 23 November 2015 Podemos presenta su lema de campaña: 'Un país contigo' https://www.expansion.com/economia/politica/elecciones-generales/2015/11/23/5653087946163f3f788b4622.html es Expansión 27 July 2026Pascual Roger 3 December 2015 Colau y Domènech, estrellas del espot coral de campaña de En Comú Podem https://www.elperiodico.com/es/politica/20151203/ada-colau-domenech-estrellas-espot-en-comu-podem-elecciones-generales-4723154 es El Periódico de Catalunya Barcelona 27 July 2026Alós Carlos 3 December 2015 Compromís-Podemos incluye en la cartelería electoral a Oltra y Ribó https://www.levante-emv.com/elecciones/generales/2015/12/03/compromis-incluye-carteleria-electoral-oltra/1349829.html es Levante-EMV Valencia 27 July 20263 December 2015 ¿Qué eslogan ha elegido cada partido de cara al 20-D? https://hemeroteca.vozlibre.com/noticias/ampliar/1154056/que-eslogan-ha-elegido-cada-partido-de-cara-al-20-d es Voz Libre Madrid 27 July 2026 21 January 2019 https://web.archive.org/web/20190121064723/https://hemeroteca.vozlibre.com/noticias/ampliar/1154056/que-eslogan-ha-elegido-cada-partido-de-cara-al-20-d dead C's « Con ilusión » "With hope" Events and issues Opinion polls heading into the campaign had shown the PP firmly in first position, with both PSOE and C's tied for second place and Podemos trailing in fourth. However, as the campaign started and election day neared, Podemos numbers had begun to rebound while C's slipped. Podemos centered its campaign around the slogan of "remontada" (Spanish for "comeback"), trying to convey voters a message of illusion and optimism.19 December 2015 https://www.europapress.es/nacional/noticia-podemos-llega-elecciones-estado-euforia-exitosa-campana-remontada-20151219100335.html Podemos llega a las elecciones en estado de euforia tras una exitosa campaña de remontada es Europa Press Madrid 3 August 2026 After the Atresmedia televised debate on 7 December—in which Iglesias was said to have outperformed all other three with his final address7 December 2015 http://noticias.lainformacion.com/espana/pablo-iglesias-borda-el-cierre-del-debate-con-un-mensaje-tajante-si-se-puede_a45O7JpX3aiIfY8T8H8r57/ Pablo Iglesias borda el cierre del debate con un mensaje tajante: "Sí se puede" es La Información 3 August 2026 dead https://web.archive.org/web/20160313051552/http://noticias.lainformacion.com/espana/pablo-iglesias-borda-el-cierre-del-debate-con-un-mensaje-tajante-si-se-puede_a45O7JpX3aiIfY8T8H8r57/ 13 March 2016 —and following a series of gaffes by C's leaders that had affected their party's campaign,Mateo Juan José 8 January 2016 https://elpais.com/politica/2016/01/07/actualidad/1452196860_809336.html Ciudadanos reconoce errores estratégicos en la campaña del 20-D es El País Madrid 3 August 2026 Podemos experienced a surge in opinion polls. By Monday 14 December it had reached a statistical tie with C's, and kept growing and approaching the PSOE, vying for second place, in the polls conducted—but unpublished by Spanish media—after the legal ban on opinion polls during the last week of campaigning had entered into force.Redondo Iván 20 December 2015 https://www.elmundo.es/blogs/elmundo/moncloa-confidencial/2015/12/20/gano-la-remontada-de-podemos-y-el-pp.html Ganó la "Remontada" de Podemos (y el PP) es El Mundo 3 August 2026 On 18 December, the final day of campaigning, Podemos staged a massive rally in la Fonteta arena in Valencia, in support of the Compromís–Podemos–És el moment coalition and as the closing point of their campaign. With a capacity of over 9,000 people, 2,000 were left outside as the interior was entirely filled.EFE 18 December 2015 https://www.elmundo.es/comunidad-valenciana/2015/12/18/56745d9a22601d72288b456c.html Podemos y Compromís revientan la Fonteta es El Mundo Valencia 3 August 202618 December 2015 https://www.abc.es/espana/comunidad-valenciana/abci-fonteta-queda-pequena-para-mitin-central-compromis-podemos-201512182212_noticia.html La Fonteta se queda pequeña para el mitin central de Compromís-Podemos es ABC 3 August 2026 It was noted by some media as a remarkable feat, as the PSOE had been unable to entirely fill the same place just a few days earlier on 13 December.C. A. 16 December 2015 https://www.abc.es/espana/comunidad-valenciana/abci-compromis-podemos-aseguran-lleno-pabellon-no-logro-completar-psoe-201512161056_noticia.html Pablo Iglesias agota las entradas en el pabellón que no pudo llenar Pedro Sánchez en Valencia es ABC 3 August 2026 The most notable incident during the electoral campaign was an attack on Mariano Rajoy during a campaign event in Pontevedra on 16 December. At 18:50, while walking with Development Minister Ana Pastor in the vicinity of the Pilgrim Church, a 17-year-old approached him and punched him in the temple. The assailant was restrained by the Prime Minister's security guards and was subsequently transferred to the police station in the city. Rajoy, who was red-faced and stunned for a few seconds, continued to walk without his glasses, broken during the assault.EFE 16 December 2015 https://cadenaser.com/ser/2015/12/16/politica/1450289149_441640.html Un joven propina un puñetazo a Mariano Rajoy en una calle de Pontevedra es Cadena SER Madrid 3 August 202616 December 2015 http://www.lasexta.com/noticias/nacional/elecciones-generales/mariano-rajoy-agredido-ciudadano-paseo-pontevedra_2015121600369.html Rajoy, agredido con un puñetazo en la cara por un menor durante un paseo en Pontevedra es laSexta 3 August 2026 19 December 2015 https://web.archive.org/web/20151219024010/http://www.lasexta.com/noticias/nacional/elecciones-generales/mariano-rajoy-agredido-ciudadano-paseo-pontevedra_2015121600369.html dead The assailant turned out to be related to Rajoy's wife, as he was the son of a cousin of Elvira Fernández, and also a member of a family known for sympathizing with the People's Party.17 December 2015 https://www.20minutos.es/noticia/2631189/0/joven-agresor-rajoy/hijo-prima-viri/mujer-presidente/ El joven que agredió a Rajoy es hijo de una prima de Viri, la mujer del presidente es 20 minutos 3 August 2026 The following day, Rajoy attended a European Council meeting in Brussels, where Angela Merkel and other European leaders approached him showing their support after the assault.17 December 2015 http://www.lasexta.com/noticias/nacional/elecciones-generales/noticias/nacional/rajoy-arropado-merkel-cameron-bruselas-agresion_2015121700387.html Rajoy, arropado por Merkel y Cameron en Bruselas tras la agresión es laSexta Madrid 3 August 2026 24 December 2015 https://web.archive.org/web/20151224134424/http://www.lasexta.com/noticias/nacional/elecciones-generales/noticias/nacional/rajoy-arropado-merkel-cameron-bruselas-agresion_2015121700387.html dead During the meeting a camera recorded Rajoy, Merkel and other leaders discussing the electoral prospects of Spanish parties. Rajoy revealed to them that, according to PP internal opinion polls, Podemos was rising quickly and approaching the PSOE, to the point that there was the possibility of it becoming the second political force of the country. Merkel expressed concern about such an event.18 December 2015 https://www.elperiodico.com/es/politica/20151218/eleccions-generales-mariano-rajoy-explica-merkel-podemos-segunda-posicion-4762794 Rajoy le explica a Merkel que Podemos puede quedar en segunda posición es El Periódico de Catalunya 3 August 2026 Debates A total of four debates involving the leaders of at least two of the four parties topping opinion polls (the People's Party, Spanish Socialist Workers' Party, Podemos and Citizens) were held throughout the pre-campaign and campaign periods. The first debate was organized by the Demos Association and held in the Charles III University of Madrid on 27 November. The leaders of the four main parties were invited, but in the end only Pablo Iglesias and Albert Rivera attended.5 November 2015 https://www.europapress.es/nacional/noticia-iglesias-rivera-iran-debate-universitarios-emplaza-rajoy-sanchez-20151105120754.html glesias y Rivera irán a un debate ante universitarios al que se emplaza a Rajoy y Sánchez es Europa Press Madrid 3 August 2026 The debate was broadcast live on YouTube.http://www.asociaciondemos.org/ España a Debate es Demos Association 3 August 2026 17 October 2015 https://web.archive.org/web/20151017042616/http://www.asociaciondemos.org/ bot: unknown The second debate was held on 30 November. Organized by El País newspaper, it was broadcast live entirely through the websites of El País and Cinco Días, the Cadena SER radio station and on the 13 TV television channel. Pedro Sánchez, as well as Iglesias and Rivera, attended the debate. Mariano Rajoy (PP) was also invited to the debate but declined the offer.García Gómez Rosario 6 November 2015 https://elpais.com/politica/2015/11/06/actualidad/1446837878_714795.html El primer debate digital de la democracia, el lunes día 30 es El País Madrid 3 August 202612 November 2015 https://www.europapress.es/nacional/noticia-sanchez-rivera-iglesias-protagonistas-primer-debate-electoral-internet-proximo-30-noviembre-20151112114551.html Sánchez, Rivera e Iglesias, protagonistas del primer debate electoral en Internet el próximo 30 de noviembre es Europa Press Madrid 3 August 2026 According to the organizer, PP proposed instead the presence of the deputy prime minister, Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría, but it was rejected as she "was not the PP candidate".García Gómez Rosario Casqueiro Javier 25 November 2015 https://elpais.com/politica/2015/11/24/actualidad/1448400833_952485.html EL PAÍS no aceptó a Santamaría en su debate con los líderes de los partidos es El País Madrid 3 August 2026 A poll conducted online immediately after the debate by El País to its readers showed Iglesias winning with 47.0%, followed by Rivera with 28.9% and Sánchez with 24.1%.Alonso Antonio Ayuso Carmen Silva Rodrigo 30 November 2015 https://elpais.com/elpais/2015/11/30/media/1448906918_658286.html El ganador del debate y menciones entre candidatos es El País Madrid 3 August 2026 A third, televised debate was organized by Atresmedia, held on 7 December and broadcast live simultaneously on its Antena 3 and laSexta TV channels and on the Onda Cero radio station. Rajoy had also been invited to the debate, but the PP announced that Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría would attend in his place instead.24 November 2015 http://www.lasexta.com/noticias/nacional/elecciones-generales/noticias/atresmedia-vuelve-hacer-historia-debate-cuatro-principales-partidos_2015112400205.html ATRESMEDIA vuelve a hacer historia con el debate más esperado por los ciudadanos con los cuatro principales partidos el 7D es laSexta 3 August 2026 25 November 2015 https://web.archive.org/web/20151125061951/http://www.lasexta.com/noticias/nacional/elecciones-generales/noticias/atresmedia-vuelve-hacer-historia-debate-cuatro-principales-partidos_2015112400205.html dead The audience for the debate averaged 9.2 million, peaking at more than 10 million.8 December 2015 http://www.vertele.com/noticias/el-debate-decisivo-lo-mas-visto-del-ano-en-tv-con-92-millones-de-espectadores-48-2/ 'El Debate Decisivo', lo más visto del año en TV con 9,2 millones de espectadores (48.2%) es verTele! 3 August 2026 8 December 2015 https://web.archive.org/web/20151208202407/http://www.vertele.com/noticias/el-debate-decisivo-lo-mas-visto-del-ano-en-tv-con-92-millones-de-espectadores-48-2/ bot: unknown Online polls conducted immediately after the debate by major newspapers coincided in showing Iglesias winning,8 December 2015 http://www.bluper.es/noticias/pablo-iglesias-ganador-debate-decisivo-atresmedia Pablo Iglesias, ganador de 'El Debate Decisivo' de Atresmedia es Bluper 3 August 2026 https://web.archive.org/web/20151208201742/http://www.bluper.es/noticias/pablo-iglesias-ganador-debate-decisivo-atresmedia 8 December 2015 dead while political pundits and journalists pointed on his strong performance.Redondo Iván 8 December 2015 https://www.elmundo.es/blogs/elmundo/moncloa-confidencial/2015/12/08/soraya-decisiva-e-iglesias-ganador-moral.html Soraya "decisiva" e Iglesias ganador moral es El Mundo 3 August 2026Lardiés Alberto Pérez Colomé Jordi Gracia Ana I. Basteiro Daniel 8 December 2015 https://www.elespanol.com/elecciones/elecciones-generales/20151208/85241481_0.html Notas de EL ESPAÑOL: Iglesias (7) gana y Sánchez (5,3) queda cuarto es El Español 3 August 20268 December 2015 Güemes María Jesús https://cadenaser.com/ser/2015/12/08/politica/1449561195_538052.html El PP admite en privado que Pablo Iglesias ganó el debate es Cadena SER 3 August 2026 A fourth, final debate, organized by the TV Academy, was held on 14 December. The signal of the debate was offered to all interested media. Among others, nationwide TV channels La 1, Canal 24 Horas, Antena 3, laSexta and 13 TV broadcast the debate live.14 December 2015 http://www.bluper.es/noticias/lasexta-marca-diferencia-debate-bipartidista-13-cadenas laSexta marca la diferencia con un "debate bipartidista" emitido por 13 cadenas es Bluper 3 August 2026 https://web.archive.org/web/20151222102535/http://www.bluper.es/noticias/lasexta-marca-diferencia-debate-bipartidista-13-cadenas 22 December 2015 dead Iglesias and Rivera were not invited to the debate, with only Rajoy and Sánchez participating.EFE 24 November 2015 https://www.levante-emv.com/elecciones/2015/11/24/rajoy-sanchez-debatiran-cara-cara-12487139.html Rajoy y Sánchez debatirán cara a cara el 14 de diciembre es Levante-EMV Madrid 3 August 2026 The audience for the debate averaged 9.7 million.15 December 2015 http://www.vertele.com/noticias/lasexta-rompe-el-bipartidismo-de-antena-3-y-la-1-y-gana-el-debate-que-vieron-mas-de-9-2-millones/ El debate Rajoy – Sánchez, lo más visto del año con 9.7 millones y victoria de laSexta es verTele! 3 August 2026 17 December 2015 https://web.archive.org/web/20151217150918/http://www.vertele.com/noticias/lasexta-rompe-el-bipartidismo-de-antena-3-y-la-1-y-gana-el-debate-que-vieron-mas-de-9-2-millones/ bot: unknown A poll conducted by Atresmedia immediately after the debate showed 34.5% saying that "None of them" won, followed by Sánchez with 33.7%, Rajoy with 28.8% and "Both" with 3.0%.15 December 2015 http://www.antena3.com/especiales/noticias/elecciones-generales/2015/noticias/sondeo-atresmedia-345-vota-que-ninguno-dos-candidatos-ganado_2015121500004.html Sondeo de Atresmedia: el 34,5% vota que "ninguno de los dos" candidatos ha ganado es Antena 3 Madrid 3 August 2026 https://web.archive.org/web/20151217011114/http://www.antena3.com/especiales/noticias/elecciones-generales/2015/noticias/sondeo-atresmedia-345-vota-que-ninguno-dos-candidatos-ganado_2015121500004.html 17 December 2015 dead + 2015 Spanish general election debates Date Organizer(s) Moderator(s)    black #90FF90  P  PresentDenotes a main invitee attending the event.   black #D0F0C0  S  SurrogateDenotes a main invitee not attending the event, sending a surrogate in their place.   black #A2B2C2  NI  Not invited  black #FFFF90  I  Invited   black #FF9090  A  Absent invitee  PP PSOE IU–UPeC UPyD Podemos C's DiL unio.cat PNV Audience Ref. References 18 October laSexta(Salvados) Jordi Évole A A NI NI PIglesias PRivera NI NI NI 25.2%(5,214,000) 19 October 2015 https://elpais.com/cultura/2015/10/19/television/1445241996_701207.html 'Salvados' logra récord de audiencia con el debate entre Rivera e Iglesias es El País Madrid 27 July 2026 21 November Cuatro(Un Tiempo Nuevo) Silvia Intxaurrondo SMaroto SLópez SSixto PHerzog SErrejón SGirauta NI NI NI 3.2%(449,000) 21 November 2015 https://www.laopinioncoruna.es/sociedad/2015/11/21/tiempo-nuevo-emite-debate-seis/1016085.html 'Un tiempo nuevo' emite un debate 'a seis' entre los principales partidos es La Opinión de A Coruña A Coruña 27 July 2026 26 November Twitter Ángel Carmona SMaroto SG. Veracruz SSánchez PHerzog SErrejón SDe Páramo NI NI NI — 26 November 2015 https://www.europapress.es/nacional/noticia-seguir-hora-debate-140-caracteres-twitter-20151126055931.html Cómo seguir y a qué hora es el 'Debate en 140 Caracteres' de Twitter es Europa Press Madrid 27 July 2026 27 November UC3M Carlos Alsina A A NI NI PIglesias PRivera NI NI NI — Lardiés Alberto 27 November 2015 https://www.elespanol.com/espana/20151126/82241819_0.html Iglesias y Rivera, a clase; Rajoy y Sánchez, de novillos es El Español 27 July 2026 24 January 2019 https://web.archive.org/web/20190124041910/https://www.elespanol.com/espana/20151126/82241819_0.html bot: unknown 30 November El País Carlos de Vega A PSánchez NI NI PIglesias PRivera NI NI NI — 1 December 2015 https://ecoteuve.eleconomista.es/audiencias/noticias/7187675/12/15/El-Gran-Debate-de-El-Pais-emitido-por-13TV-arrasa-en-las-redes-sociales.html 'El Gran Debate' de 'El País', emitido por 13TV, arrasa en las redes sociales es El Economista 27 July 2026 24 January 2019 https://web.archive.org/web/20190124041737/https://ecoteuve.eleconomista.es/audiencias/noticias/7187675/12/15/El-Gran-Debate-de-El-Pais-emitido-por-13TV-arrasa-en-las-redes-sociales.html bot: unknown 6 December laSexta(El Objetivo)Economic debate. Ana Pastor PCasado PSaura PGarzón NI PÁlvarez PGaricano NI NI NI 7.2%(1,268,000) Palmero María 7 December 2015 https://www.elconfidencial.com/television/audiencias/2015-12-07/mariano-rajoy-y-david-bisbal-disparan-los-audimetros-este-fin-de-semana_1115469/ Mariano Rajoy y David Bisbal disparan los audímetros este fin de semana es Bluper 27 July 2026 7 December Atresmedia Ana PastorVicente Vallés SSantamaría PSánchez NI NI PIglesias PRivera NI NI NI 48.2%(9,233,000) Redondo David 8 December 2015 https://cadenaser.com/ser/2015/12/08/television/1449570709_997789.html El debate electoral a cuatro se convierte en la emisión más vista de 2015 es Cadena SER Madrid 27 July 2026 9 December La 1(El debate de La 1) Julio Somoano SCasado SHernando PGarzón PHerzog SErrejón SDe la Cruz SPuig SSurroca PEsteban 12.1%(2,342,000) 10 December 2015 https://www.elespanol.com/bluper/noticias/debate-nueve-tve-acierta-audiencias-23-millones El 'debate a nueve' de TVE acierta en audiencias con 2,3 millones de espectadores es Bluper 23 January 2019 24 January 2019 https://web.archive.org/web/20190124041840/https://www.elespanol.com/bluper/noticias/debate-nueve-tve-acierta-audiencias-23-millones dead 14 December TV Academy Manuel Campo Vidal PRajoy PSánchez NI NI NI NI NI NI NI 48.7%(9,728,000) Marcos Natalia 15 December 2015 https://elpais.com/cultura/2015/12/15/television/1450170956_565150.html El cara a cara entre Rajoy y Sánchez, lo más visto del año es El País Madrid 27 July 2026 Opinion polls + Candidate viewed as "performing best" or "most convincing" in each debate Debate Polling firm/Commissioner PP PSOE Pod. C's Tie None 30 November El PaísAlonso Antonio Ayuso Carmen Silva Rodrigo 30 November 2015 El ganador del debate y menciones entre candidatos https://elpais.com/elpais/2015/11/30/media/1448906918_658286.html es El País Madrid 27 July 2026 24.1 47.0 28.9 – – – 7 December Redondo & Asociados11 December 2015 Santamaría ganó el debate a cuatro y Pedro Sánchez quedó en último lugar, según un sondeo https://www.europapress.es/nacional/noticia-santamaria-gano-debate-cuatro-pedro-sanchez-quedo-ultimo-lugar-sondeo-20151211105636.html es Europa Press Madrid 27 July 2026 30.7 16.4 23.9 22.0 – – 7.0 CISPostelectoral Elecciones Generales 2015. Panel (2ª Fase) https://www.cis.es/documents/d/cis/es3126mar_a es CIS 27 July 2026 18.3 8.9 31.3 12.0 2.7 16.2 10.6 14 December AtresmediaEl 34,5% de encuestados cree que ni Mariano Rajoy ni Pedro Sánchez ha ganado el cara a cara https://www.lasexta.com/noticias/nacional/elecciones-generales/345-encuestados-cree-que-mariano-rajoy-pedro-sanchez-ganado-cara-cara_2015121557241fe74beb28d446007379.html es laSexta Madrid 27 July 2026 28.8 33.7 3.0 34.5 – CIS 26.1 26.9 3.5 37.1 6.4 Opinion polls Opinion polling for the 2015 Spanish general election OpinionPollingSpainGeneralElection2015.svg 750px Local regression trend line of poll results from 20 November 2011 to 20 December 2015, with each line corresponding to a political party. 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. Region Time (Election day) Final 14:00 18:00 20:00 2011 2015 +/– 2011 2015 +/– 2011 2015 +/– 2011 2015 +/– Andalusia 37.76% 34.98% −2.78 57.66% 55.83% −1.83 70.69% 71.31% +0.62 68.90% 69.08% +0.18 Aragon 39.54% 39.38% −0.16 57.44% 59.53% +2.09 72.57% 74.71% +2.14 70.99% 72.58% +1.59 Asturias 36.71% 35.35% −1.36 56.23% 56.96% +0.73 70.33% 71.22% +0.89 64.57% 63.77% −0.80 Balearic Islands 35.17% 35.02% −0.15 50.37% 52.18% +1.81 62.20% 65.20% +3.00 60.96% 63.35% +2.39 Basque Country 38.34% 39.39% +1.05 56.08% 58.97% +2.89 69.22% 71.44% +2.22 67.34% 69.00% +1.66 Canary Islands 28.03% 27.38% −0.65 45.95% 47.42% +1.47 63.72% 65.65% +1.93 59.60% 60.33% +0.73 Cantabria 40.44% 40.34% −0.10 61.53% 62.31% +0.78 75.37% 76.00% +0.63 71.56% 70.97% −0.59 Castile and León 38.12% 37.18% −0.94 59.33% 59.48% +0.15 75.08% 75.95% +0.87 71.29% 71.22% −0.07 Castilla–La Mancha 39.53% 37.54% −1.99 61.71% 59.70% −2.01 76.71% 76.49% −0.22 75.76% 75.26% −0.50 Catalonia 35.55% 35.24% −0.31 53.21% 56.62% +3.41 66.83% 70.98% +4.15 65.16% 68.63% +3.47 Extremadura 39.67% 35.91% −3.76 59.60% 56.39% −3.21 75.63% 74.11% −1.52 73.91% 72.17% −1.74 Galicia 32.87% 33.42% +0.55 57.28% 58.51% +1.23 71.82% 73.00% +1.18 62.21% 61.53% −0.68 La Rioja 41.88% 40.70% −1.18 59.73% 60.63% +0.90 75.88% 76.66% +0.78 72.78% 72.43% −0.35 Madrid 39.61% 40.35% +0.74 61.33% 63.37% +2.04 76.03% 77.76% +1.73 73.26% 74.12% +0.86 Murcia 42.50% 38.51% −3.99 63.36% 59.29% −4.07 75.53% 72.96% −2.57 74.11% 71.14% −2.97 Navarre 39.11% 39.53% +0.42 55.82% 59.00% +3.18 71.34% 74.28% +2.94 68.91% 70.93% +2.02 Valencian Community 43.95% 43.25% −0.70 62.73% 63.51% +0.78 75.50% 76.58% +1.08 74.18% 74.79% +0.61 Ceuta 26.63% 25.36% −1.27 42.50% 42.33% −0.17 55.05% 56.44% +1.39 53.16% 54.36% +1.20 Melilla 25.56% 23.04% −2.52 40.08% 38.81% −1.27 52.85% 53.29% +0.44 49.43% 49.35% −0.08 Total 37.88% 37.01% −0.87 57.65% 58.37% +0.72 71.71% 73.20% +1.49 68.94% 69.67% +0.73 Sourceshttps://infoelectoral.interior.gob.es/es/elecciones-celebradas/resultados-electorales/ Elecciones celebradas. Resultados electorales es Ministry of the Interior 15 April 2022 5 August 2024 https://web.archive.org/web/20240805154842/https://infoelectoral.interior.gob.es/es/elecciones-celebradas/resultados-electorales/ dead Results 11th Cortes Generales Congress of Deputies results by autonomous community/constituency Results of the 2015 Spanish Congress election + ← Summary of the 20 December 2015 Congress of Deputies election results → center|400px Parties and alliances Popular vote Seats Votes % ±pp Total +/− People's Party (PP)1 7,236,965 28.71 −16.33 123 −64 Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) 5,545,315 22.00 −6.76 90 −20 We Can–In Common–Commitment–In Tide (Podemos) 5,212,711 20.68 New 69 +65 We Can (Podemos)2 3,198,584 12.69 New 42 +42 In Common We Can (En Comú)3 929,880 3.69 +2.54 12 +9 It is Time (Podemos–Compromís)4 673,549 2.67 +2.16 9 +8 In Tide (Podemos–Anova–EU)5 410,698 1.63 +1.31 6 +6 Citizens–Party of the Citizenry (C's) 3,514,528 13.94 New 40 +40 United Left–Popular Unity in Common (IU–UPeC)6 926,783 3.68 −1.81 2 −6 Republican Left of Catalonia–Catalonia Yes (ERC–CatSí) 604,285 2.40 +1.34 9 +6 Republican Left of Catalonia–Catalonia Yes (ERC–CatSí) 601,782 2.39 +1.36 9 +6 Valencian Country Now (Ara PV)7 2,503 0.01 −0.02 0 ±0 Democracy and Freedom (DiL)8 567,253 2.25 −1.92 8 −8 Basque Nationalist Party (EAJ/PNV) 302,316 1.20 −0.13 6 +1 Animalist Party Against Mistreatment of Animals (PACMA) 220,369 0.87 +0.45 0 ±0 Basque Country Gather (EH Bildu)9 219,125 0.87 −0.50 2 −5 Union, Progress and Democracy (UPyD) 155,153 0.62 −4.08 0 −5 Canarian Coalition–Canarian Nationalist Party (CCa–PNC)10 81,917 0.32 −0.27 1 −1 We–Galician Candidacy (Nós)11 70,863 0.28 −0.48 0 −2 Democratic Union of Catalonia (unio.cat) 65,388 0.26 New 0 ±0 Vox (Vox) 58,114 0.23 New 0 ±0 Zero Cuts–Green Group (Recortes Cero–GV) 48,675 0.19 New 0 ±0 More for the Balearic Islands (Més)12 33,877 0.13 ±0.00 0 ±0 Communist Party of the Peoples of Spain (PCPE) 31,179 0.12 +0.01 0 ±0 Yes to the Future (GBai) 30,642 0.12 −0.05 0 −1 El Pi–Proposal for the Isles (El Pi) 12,910 0.05 New 0 ±0 Citizens of Democratic Centre (CCD) 10,827 0.04 +0.04 0 ±0 Blank Seats (EB) 10,084 0.04 −0.36 0 ±0 Spanish Phalanx of the CNSO (FE de las JONS) 7,495 0.03 +0.02 0 ±0 For the Left–The Greens (X Izda) 7,314 0.03 New 0 ±0 We Are Valencian (SOMVAL) 6,103 0.02 New 0 ±0 For a Fairer World (PUM+J) 4,586 0.02 −0.09 0 ±0 Internationalist Solidarity and Self-Management (SAIn) 4,400 0.02 −0.01 0 ±0 The Eco-pacifist Greens (Centro Moderado) 3,278 0.01 New 0 ±0 Land Party (PT) 3,026 0.01 New 0 ±0 Canaries Decides (LV–UP–ALTER)13 2,883 0.01 +0.01 0 ±0 Libertarian Party (P–LIB) 2,854 0.01 ±0.00 0 ±0 Humanist Party (PH) 2,846 0.01 −0.03 0 ±0 United Extremadura–Extremadurans (EU–eX)14 2,021 0.01 +0.01 0 ±0 Spanish Communist Workers' Party (PCOE) 1,909 0.01 New 0 ±0 National Democracy (DN) 1,704 0.01 ±0.00 0 ±0 Feminist Initiative (IFem) 1,604 0.01 New 0 ±0 Regionalist Party of the Leonese Country (PREPAL) 1,419 0.01 ±0.00 0 ±0 In Positive (En Positiu) 1,276 0.01 New 0 ±0 United Free Citizens (CILUS) 1,189 0.00 New 0 ±0 Grouped Rural Citizens (CRA) 1,032 0.00 New 0 ±0 Navarrese Freedom (Ln) 1,026 0.00 New 0 ±0 Forward Valencians (Avant) 1,003 0.00 New 0 ±0 Málaga for Yes (mlgXSÍ) 934 0.00 New 0 ±0 Family and Life Party (PFyV) 714 0.00 ±0.00 0 ±0 Andalusians of Jaén United (AJU) 711 0.00 New 0 ±0 Independents for Aragon (i) 676 0.00 New 0 ±0 Democratic Forum (FDEE) 456 0.00 New 0 ±0 To Solution (Soluciona) 409 0.00 New 0 ±0 Social Justice, Citizen Participation (JS, PC) 406 0.00 New 0 ±0 Death to the System (+MAS+) 313 0.00 ±0.00 0 ±0 Liberal Party of the Right (PLD) 205 0.00 New 0 ±0 Welcome (Ongi Etorri) 110 0.00 New 0 ±0 Blank ballots 188,132 0.75 −0.62 Total 25,211,313 350 ±0 Valid votes 25,211,313 99.11 +0.40 Invalid votes 227,219 0.89 −0.40 Votes cast / turnout 25,438,532 69.67 +0.73 Abstentions 11,073,316 30.33 −0.73 Registered voters 36,511,848 SourcesLozano Carles https://www.historiaelectoral.com/e2015.html Elecciones Generales 20 de diciembre de 2015 es Historia Electoral.com 25 August 202529 January 2016 Resolución de 26 de enero de 2016, de la Presidencia de la Junta Electoral Central, por la que se publica el resumen de los resultados de las elecciones al Congreso de los Diputados y al Senado convocadas por Real Decreto 977/2015, de 26 de octubre, y celebradas el 20 de diciembre de 2015, conforme a las actas de escrutinio general y de proclamación de electos remitidas por las correspondientes Juntas Electorales Provinciales y por las Juntas Electorales de Ceuta y de Melilla https://www.boe.es/boe/dias/2016/01/29/pdfs/BOE-A-2016-867.pdf es Official State Gazette 25 0212-033X 7917–7990 19 October 2025 left Footnotes: 1 People's Party results are compared to the combined totals of People's Party and Forum of Citizens in the 2011 election. 2 We Can does not include results in Catalonia, Galicia and Valencian Community. 3 In Common We Can results are compared to Initiative for Catalonia Greens–United and Alternative Left totals in the 2011 election. 4 It is Time results are compared to Commitment Coalition–Equo totals in the 2011 election. 5 In Tide results are compared to United Left of Galicia totals in the 2011 election. 6 United Left–Popular Unity in Common results are compared to United Left–The Greens: Plural Left totals in the 2011 election. It does not include results in Catalonia and Galicia. 7 Valencian Country Now results are compared to Republican Left of the Valencian Country totals in the 2011 election. 8 Democracy and Freedom results are compared to Convergence and Union totals in the 2011 election. 9 Basque Country Gather results are compared to Amaiur totals in the 2011 election. 10 Canarian Coalition–Canarian Nationalist Party results are compared to Canarian Coalition–New Canaries totals in the 2011 election. 11 We–Galician Candidacy results are compared to Galician Nationalist Bloc totals in the 2011 election. 12 More for the Balearic Islands results are compared to PSM–Initiative Greens–Agreement–Equo totals in the 2011 election. 13 Canaries Decides results are compared to Unity of the People totals in the 2011 election. 14 United Extremadura–Extremadurans results are compared to Convergence for Extremadura totals in the 2011 election. Popular vote #ddd 550px 500px PP People's Party (Spain) 28.71 PSOE Spanish Socialist Workers' Party 22.00 Podemos Podemos (Spanish political party) 20.68 C's Citizens (Spanish political party) 13.94 IU–UPeC Popular Unity (Spain) 3.67 ERC–CatSí Republican Left of Catalonia 2.40 DiL Democracy and Freedom 2.25 EAJ/PNV Basque Nationalist Party 1.20 EH Bildu EH Bildu 0.87 CCa–PNC Agreement of Nationalist Unity 0.32 Others #777777 3.21 Blank ballots #DDDDDD 0.75 Seats #ddd 550px 500px PP People's Party (Spain) 35.14 PSOE Spanish Socialist Workers' Party 25.71 Podemos Podemos (Spanish political party) 19.71 C's Citizens (Spanish political party) 11.43 ERC–CatSí Republican Left of Catalonia 2.57 DiL Democracy and Freedom 2.29 EAJ/PNV Basque Nationalist Party 1.71 IU–UPeC Popular Unity (Spain) 0.57 EH Bildu EH Bildu 0.57 CCa–PNC Agreement of Nationalist Unity 0.29 Senate + ← Summary of the 20 December 2015 Senate of Spain election results → center|375px Parties and alliances Popular vote Seats Votes % ±pp Total +/− People's Party (PP)1 20,105,650 30.31 −16.45 124 −12 Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE)2 14,887,751 22.44 −3.53 47 −7 We Can–In Common–Commitment–In Tide (Podemos) 12,244,416 18.46 New 16 +15 We Can (Podemos)3 7,494,552 11.30 New 9 +9 In Common We Can (En Comú)4 2,022,836 3.05 New 4 +3 It is Time (Podemos–Compromís)5 1,734,332 2.61 +2.13 1 +1 In Tide (Podemos–Anova–EU)6 992,696 1.50 +1.26 2 +2 Citizens–Party of the Citizenry (C's) 7,417,388 11.18 New 0 ±0 United Left–Popular Unity in Common (IU–UPeC)7 2,372,637 3.58 −1.28 0 ±0 Republican Left–Catalonia Yes (ERC–CatSí) 1,895,501 2.86 +1.81 6 +6 Republican Left–Catalonia Yes (ERC–CatSí) 1,887,613 2.85 +1.82 6 +6 Valencian Country Now (Ara PV)8 7,888 0.01 −0.01 0 ±0 Democracy and Freedom (DiL)9 1,531,259 2.31 −1.78 6 −3 Animalist Party Against Mistreatment of Animals (PACMA) 1,036,736 1.56 +0.97 0 ±0 Basque Nationalist Party (EAJ/PNV) 907,267 1.37 −0.09 6 +2 Union, Progress and Democracy (UPyD) 620,704 0.94 −0.73 0 ±0 Basque Country Gather (EH Bildu)10 564,575 0.85 −0.43 0 −3 Change (Cambio/Aldaketa)11 282,889 0.43 −0.02 1 +1 We–Galician Candidacy (Nós)12 279,325 0.42 −0.52 0 ±0 Vox (Vox) 196,457 0.30 New 0 ±0 Zero Cuts–Green Group (Recortes Cero–GV) 174,481 0.26 New 0 ±0 Canarian Coalition–Canarian Nationalist Party (CCa–PNC)13 156,636 0.24 −0.18 1 ±0 Democratic Union of Catalonia (unio.cat) 154,702 0.23 New 0 ±0 Communist Party of the Peoples of Spain (PCPE) 105,250 0.16 +0.04 0 ±0 Blank Seats (EB) 88,802 0.13 −0.69 0 ±0 More for Mallorca (Més)14 60,527 0.09 +0.01 0 ±0 Spanish Phalanx of the CNSO (FE de las JONS) 37,688 0.06 +0.04 0 ±0 El Pi–Proposal for the Isles (El Pi) 30,557 0.05 New 0 ±0 For a Fairer World (PUM+J) 20,187 0.03 −0.12 0 ±0 Citizens of Democratic Centre (CCD) 20,150 0.03 +0.03 0 ±0 We Are Valencian (SOMVAL) 19,950 0.03 New 0 ±0 Internationalist Solidarity and Self-Management (SAIn) 18,377 0.03 −0.01 0 ±0 Land Party (PT) 10,128 0.02 New 0 ±0 United Extremadura–Extremadurans (EU–eX)15 10,065 0.01 ±0.00 0 ±0 Regionalist Party of the Leonese Country (PREPAL) 9,905 0.01 ±0.00 0 ±0 Humanist Party (PH) 9,789 0.01 −0.05 0 ±0 The Eco-pacifist Greens (Centro Moderado) 9,440 0.01 New 0 ±0 Libertarian Party (P–LIB) 7,777 0.01 ±0.00 0 ±0 Canaries Decides (LV–UP–ALTER)16 6,337 0.01 ±0.00 0 ±0 United for Gran Canaria (UxGC) 5,885 0.01 New 0 ±0 Navarrese Freedom (Ln) 5,710 0.01 New 0 ±0 Feminist Initiative (IFem) 5,623 0.01 +0.01 0 ±0 Forward Valencians (Avant) 4,948 0.01 New 0 ±0 In Positive (En Positiu) 4,548 0.01 New 0 ±0 National Democracy (DN) 4,456 0.01 ±0.00 0 ±0 Gomera Socialist Group (ASG) 4,435 0.01 New 1 +1 We Are Menorca (Som Menorca)17 4,129 0.01 +0.01 0 ±0 Forward Badajoz (BA) 4,025 0.01 New 0 ±0 United Free Citizens (CILUS) 3,140 0.00 New 0 ±0 Independents for Aragon (i) 2,716 0.00 New 0 ±0 Andalusians of Jaén United (AJU) 1,836 0.00 New 0 ±0 Grouped Rural Citizens (CRA) 1,624 0.00 New 0 ±0 To Solution (Soluciona) 1,573 0.00 New 0 ±0 Family and Life Party (PFyV) 1,569 0.00 ±0.00 0 ±0 We (Nosotros) 1,472 0.00 New 0 ±0 Social Justice, Citizen Participation (JS, PC) 1,399 0.00 New 0 ±0 Merindades of Castile Initiative (IMC) 1,225 0.00 New 0 ±0 Democratic Forum (FDEE) 1,222 0.00 New 0 ±0 Aragonese Bloc (BAR) 1,183 0.00 New 0 ±0 For the Left–The Greens (X Izda) 1,009 0.00 New 0 ±0 Blank ballotsThe 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. 979,371 4.06 −1.30 Total 66,336,401 208 ±0 Valid votes 24,119,913 96.78 +0.48 Invalid votes 801,743 3.22 −0.48 Votes cast / turnout 24,921,656 68.26 −0.17 Abstentions 11,590,192 31.74 +0.17 Registered voters 36,511,848 SourcesLozano Carles https://www.historiaelectoral.com/e2015comp.html#s Elecciones al Senado 2015 es Historia Electoral.com 25 August 2025 left Footnotes: 1 People's Party results are compared to the combined totals of People's Party and Forum of Citizens in the 2011 election. 2 Spanish Socialist Workers' Party includes Socialists' Party of Catalonia seat totals within the Agreement for Catalonia Progress alliance in the 2011 election. 3 We Can does not include results in Catalonia, Galicia, Navarre and Valencian Community. 4 In Common We Can includes Initiative for Catalonia Greens–United and Alternative Left seat totals within the Agreement for Catalonia Progress alliance in the 2011 election. 5 It is Time results are compared to Commitment Coalition–Equo totals in the 2011 election. 6 In Tide results are compared to United Left of Galicia totals in the 2011 election. 7 United Left–Popular Unity in Common results are compared to United Left–The Greens: Plural Left totals in the 2011 election. It does not include results in Catalonia, Galicia and Navarre. 8 Valencian Country Now results are compared to Republican Left of the Valencian Country totals in the 2011 election. 9 Democracy and Freedom results are compared to Convergence and Union totals in the 2011 election. 10 Basque Country Gather results are compared to Amaiur totals in the 2011 election, not including results in Navarre. 11 Change results are compared to the combined totals of Basque Country Gather, Yes to Navarre and Left totals in Navarre in the 2011 election. 12 We–Galician Candidacy results are compared to Galician Nationalist Bloc totals in the 2011 election. 13 Canarian Coalition–Canarian Nationalist Party results are compared to Canarian Coalition–New Canaries–Canarian Nationalist Party totals in the 2011 election. 14 More for Mallorca results are compared to PSM–Initiative Greens–Agreement–Equo totals in the 2011 election. 15 United Extremadura–Extremadurans results are compared to Convergence for Extremadura totals in the 2011 election. 16 Canaries Decides results are compared to Unity of the People totals in the 2011 election. 17 We Are Menorca results are compared to Socialist Party of Menorca–Nationalist Agreement totals in the 2011 election. Popular vote #ddd 550px 500px PP People's Party (Spain) 30.31 PSOE Spanish Socialist Workers' Party 22.44 Podemos Podemos (Spanish political party) 18.46 C's Citizens (Spanish political party) 11.18 IU–UPeC Popular Unity (Spain) 3.58 ERC–CatSí Republican Left of Catalonia 2.86 DiL Democracy and Freedom 2.31 PACMA Animalist Party Against Mistreatment of Animals 1.56 EAJ/PNV Basque Nationalist Party 1.37 Cambio/Aldaketa Cambio-Aldaketa 0.43 CCa–PNC Agreement of Nationalist Unity 0.24 ASG Gomera Socialist Group 0.01 Others #777777 3.79 Blank ballots #DDDDDD 4.06 Seats #ddd 550px 500px PP People's Party (Spain) 59.62 PSOE Spanish Socialist Workers' Party 22.60 Podemos Podemos (Spanish political party) 7.69 ERC–CatSí Republican Left of Catalonia 2.88 DiL Democracy and Freedom 2.88 EAJ/PNV Basque Nationalist Party 2.88 Cambio/Aldaketa Cambio-Aldaketa 0.48 CCa–PNC Agreement of Nationalist Unity 0.48 ASG Gomera Socialist Group 0.48 Maps Aftermath Outcome The election results produced the most fragmented parliament in recent Spanish history. As opinion polls had predicted, the People's Party (PP) was able to secure first place with a clear lead over its rivals, but it lost the absolute majority it had held since 2011 in the Congress of Deputies. Its 123 seat-count was the worst result ever obtained by a winning party in a Spanish general election—previously been 156 seats in 1996. Its result was also slightly below the party's expected goal of reaching 30% of the vote.13 December 2015 http://noticias.lainformacion.com/elecciones-generales-2015/el-pp-confia-en-llegar-al-30-de-los-votos-pese-a-la-gestion-del-atentado-y-la-corrupcion_iqfnNKxvLSTUf6AkLtXTa5/ El PP confía en llegar al 30% de los votos pese a la gestión del atentado y la corrupción es La Información 3 August 2026 14 December 2015 https://web.archive.org/web/20151214211309/http://noticias.lainformacion.com/elecciones-generales-2015/el-pp-confia-en-llegar-al-30-de-los-votos-pese-a-la-gestion-del-atentado-y-la-corrupcion_iqfnNKxvLSTUf6AkLtXTa5/ dead The party's net loss of seats (64 fewer than in 2011) and vote share drop (minus 16 percentage points) was the PP's largest fall in popular support in its history, as well as the worst showing for a sitting government in Spain since 1982. Overall, it was also the worst result obtained by the PP in a general election since 1989, back to the party's refoundation from the People's Alliance. The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) obtained its worst election result in recent history, with just 22% of the total party vote and 90 seats, well below Pedro Sánchez's target of at least 100 seats.9 December 2015 Colmenero Juan de Dios http://www.esdiario.com/517685983/El-PSOE-rebaja-su-pobre-liston-para-el-20-D-ante-el-desastre-que-viene.html El PSOE rebaja su pobre listón para el 20-D ante el desastre que viene es ESdiario 3 August 2026 11 December 2015 https://web.archive.org/web/20151211105610/http://www.esdiario.com/517685983/El-PSOE-rebaja-su-pobre-liston-para-el-20-D-ante-el-desastre-que-viene.html bot: unknown Losing 20 seats and nearly seven percentage points to its already negative 2011 result, this was the first time since the Spanish transition to democracy that one of the two largest parties fell below the 100-seat mark. Overall, while able to hold on to its second place nationally in terms of votes and seats, it lost the second and first place to Podemos in 8 out of the 17 autonomous communities, and finished fourth in Madrid, the capital's district. It was able to narrowly win in Andalusia and Extremadura—which it had resoundingly lost to the PP in 2011—thanks to the PP vote collapse in those regions, but it lost in Barcelona for the first time ever in a general election, and its sister party, the Socialists' Party of Catalonia, was reduced to third party status in Catalonia after decades of political dominance. The combined results for the top two parties was also the worst for any general election held since 1977 and up until that point, gathering just 51% of the total party vote and 213 seats, just slightly above the required 3/5 majority for an ordinary constitutional reform. The result was regarded as a loss for bipartisanship in Spain as a whole, as the era of bipartisan politics was declared officially over by newcomers Podemos and C's, as well as by both national and international media.Cruz Marisa 20 December 2015 https://www.elmundo.es/espana/2015/12/20/5676faa222601d94038b458f.html España tumba el bipartidismo y deja en el aire el gobierno es El Mundo Madrid 3 August 2026Powell Charles 21 December 2015 https://www.ft.com/content/c0d6e376-a75c-11e5-9700-2b669a5aeb83 Spain's general election weakens decades of bipartisan hegemony Financial Times 3 August 2026Kassam Ashifa 21 December 2015 https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/dec/20/peoples-party-wins-spanish-election-absolute-majority Spanish election: national newcomers end era of two-party dominance The Guardian Madrid 3 August 2026 Podemos, which contested a general election for the first time after having been founded in January 2014, obtained an unprecedented 21% of the vote and 69 seats together with its regional alliances, the best result ever obtained by a third party in a Spanish election. Coming short by 340,000 votes of securing its campaign goal of becoming the main left-wing party in Spain, it managed to secure second place in 6 out of the 17 autonomous communities and came top in another two—the Basque Country and Catalonia. This result was ahead of what initial pre-campaign and campaign opinion polls had predicted, and was in line with a late-campaign surge in support for the party. C's also had a strong performance for a national party in Spain, but its fourth place, 14% of the share and 40 seats were considered a letdown for party leader Albert Rivera, mainly as a consequence of the high expectations that had been generated around his candidacy. Pre-election opinion polls had placed C's near or above 20% of the vote share, and many also suggested a strong possibility of C's disputing second place to PSOE. Finally, it only came ahead of either PSOE or PP in Madrid and Catalonia.Agencias 20 December 2015 http://www.lasexta.com/noticias/nacional/elecciones-generales/expectativas-ciudadanos-diluyen-urnas_2015122000181.html Las expectativas de Ciudadanos se diluyen en las urnas es laSexta Madrid 3 August 2026 24 December 2015 https://web.archive.org/web/20151224163907/http://www.lasexta.com/noticias/nacional/elecciones-generales/expectativas-ciudadanos-diluyen-urnas_2015122000181.html dead Pérez Colomé Jordi 22 December 2015 https://www.elespanol.com/elecciones/elecciones-generales/20151221/88491212_0.html Por qué Ciudadanos no cumplió las expectativas es El Español 3 August 2026 The party also found itself in a weaker political position than predicted, as the "kingmaker" position that was thought to go to C's under opinion polling projections finally went to PSOE, with the Congress's fragmentation resulting from the election meaning that neither the PP–C's nor the PSOE–Podemos–IU blocs would be able to command a majority on their own. Government formation 2015–2016 Spanish government formation InvestitureCongress of DeputiesNomination of Pedro Sánchez (PSOE) Ballot → 2 March 2016 4 March 2016 Required majority → 176 out of 350 15 Simple 15 Yes • PSOE (89) • C's (40) • NCa (1) • CCa (1) (on 4 Mar) 130 350 green 125px 131 350 green 125px No • PP (119) • Pod–ECP–EM (65) • ERC (9) • DiL (8) • PNV (6) • Compromís (4) • IU–UPeC (2) • EH Bildu (2) • UPN (2) • FAC (1) • Independent (1) 219 350 red 125px 219 350 red 125px Abstentions • CCa (1) (on 2 Mar) 1 350 gray 125px 0 350 gray 125px Absentees 0 350 black 125px 0 350 black 125px SourcesLozano Carles https://www.historiaelectoral.com/congresovota.html Congreso de los Diputados: Votaciones más importantes es Historia Electoral.com 25 August 2025 Notes References Bibliography Legislation y Constitución Española Constitution 27 December 1978 version as of 27 September 2011 Official State Gazette BOE-A-1978-31229 es https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-1978-31229&p=20110927 27 December 2016 Constitution 1978 y Ley Orgánica 5/1985, de 19 de junio, del Régimen Electoral General Organic Law 5/1985 19 June 1985 version as of 31 March 2015 Official State Gazette BOE-A-1985-11672 es https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-1985-11672&tn=1&p=20150331 28 December 2016 LOREG 1985 y Real Decreto 977/2015, de 26 de octubre, de disolución del Congreso de los Diputados y del Senado y de convocatoria de elecciones Royal Decree 977/2015 26 October 2015 Official State Gazette BOE-A-2015-11505 es https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-2015-11505 1 April 2026 Royal Decree 977/2015 2015 Other Carreras de Odriozola Albert Tafunell Sambola Xavier 2005 1989 Estadísticas históricas de España, siglos XIX-XX http://www.fbbva.es/TLFU/dat/autores.pdf es 1 Bilbao Fundación BBVA 1072–1097 II 84-96515-00-1 dead https://web.archive.org/web/20150924010950/http://www.fbbva.es/TLFU/dat/autores.pdf 24 September 2015 dmy-all External links Category:2015 elections in Spain Category:December 2015 in Spain 2015