Elections to the
ParliamentThe Parliament of Catalonia is the unicameral legislature of Catalonia. It is formed by 135 members , who are elected every four years in ordinary period, or extraordinarily upon dissolution and call of elections by the President of Catalonia, by universal suffrage in proportional lists with four...
of the Autonomous Community of
CataloniaCatalonia is an Autonomous Community in northeast Spain. The capital city is Barcelona.Catalonia covers an area of 32,114 km² and has an official population of 7,364,078. It borders France and Andorra to the north, Aragon to the west, the Valencian Community to the south, and the...
,
SpainSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain , is a country located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.
[The Spanish constitution does not establish any official denomination of the country, even though España , Estado español and Nación española are used interchangeably...]
, were held on November 1 2006.
The November 2006 Catalan parliament election was an early one (the original election date was due for the Fall of 2007, roughly one year after the actual early election took place). This was mostly a result of the uneasy and controversial redaction of the
Statute of Autonomy of CataloniaThe Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia provides Catalonia's basic institutional regulations. It defines the rights and obligations of the citizens of Catalonia , the political institutions of the Catalan nationality, their competences and relations with the rest of Spain and the financing of the...
amended text, which has further expanded the authority of the Catalan
GovernmentThe Generalitat de Catalunya is the institution under which the Spanish Autonomous Community of Catalonia is politically organised...
ever since it was passed in June 2006.
The Statute amendment was approved in a referendum on June 18 2006 in which 73.24% of voters were in favour of the new Statute, 20.57% of the votes were against.
Elections to the
ParliamentThe Parliament of Catalonia is the unicameral legislature of Catalonia. It is formed by 135 members , who are elected every four years in ordinary period, or extraordinarily upon dissolution and call of elections by the President of Catalonia, by universal suffrage in proportional lists with four...
of the Autonomous Community of
CataloniaCatalonia is an Autonomous Community in northeast Spain. The capital city is Barcelona.Catalonia covers an area of 32,114 km² and has an official population of 7,364,078. It borders France and Andorra to the north, Aragon to the west, the Valencian Community to the south, and the...
,
SpainSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain , is a country located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.
[The Spanish constitution does not establish any official denomination of the country, even though España , Estado español and Nación española are used interchangeably...]
, were held on November 1 2006.
Background
The November 2006 Catalan parliament election was an early one (the original election date was due for the Fall of 2007, roughly one year after the actual early election took place). This was mostly a result of the uneasy and controversial redaction of the
Statute of Autonomy of CataloniaThe Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia provides Catalonia's basic institutional regulations. It defines the rights and obligations of the citizens of Catalonia , the political institutions of the Catalan nationality, their competences and relations with the rest of Spain and the financing of the...
amended text, which has further expanded the authority of the Catalan
GovernmentThe Generalitat de Catalunya is the institution under which the Spanish Autonomous Community of Catalonia is politically organised...
ever since it was passed in June 2006.
The Statute amendment was approved in a referendum on June 18 2006 in which 73.24% of voters were in favour of the new Statute, 20.57% of the votes were against. This referendum was noted for its huge
abstentionAbstention is a term in election procedure for when a participant in a vote either does not go to vote or, in parliamentary procedure, is present during the vote, but does not cast a ballot...
: only 48.85% of the
electorateA constituency is any cohesive body of people bound by shared identity, goals, or loyalty. Constituency can be used to describe a business's customer base and shareholders, or a charity's donors or those it serves...
participated in it.
Since the 2003 elections a coalition of three left-wing parties,
PSCSocialists' Party of Catalonia is a political party in Catalonia, Spain. It is federated with Partido Socialista Obrero Español. Its web site is http://www.socialistes.org-First Secretaries of PSC:#Joan Reventós i Carner...
,
ERCThe Republican Left of Catalonia is a left-wing Catalan independentist political party in Spain campaigning for the independence of Catalonia from this country...
and
ICVInitiative for Catalonia Greens is a political party in Catalonia, Spain. It was formed as a merger of Iniciativa per Catalunya and Els Verds. IC had been an alliance led by Partit Socialista Unificat de Catalunya and was the equivalent of Izquierda Unida in Catalonia...
-
EUiAUnited and Alternative Left is a political party from Catalonia, Spain. EUiA has 4000 members and it is the Catalan correspondent of the Spain-wide United Left ....
had been in power, with
Pasqual Maragall i MiraPasqual Maragall i Mira was the 127th President of Generalitat de Catalunya . He had previously been Mayor of Barcelona, from 1982 to 1997, and helped run the city's successful Olympic bid....
as President. However, in May 2006
ERCThe Republican Left of Catalonia is a left-wing Catalan independentist political party in Spain campaigning for the independence of Catalonia from this country...
, following internal tensions, left the coalition due to its disagreement on the final draft of the Statute of Autonomy which themselves had partially redacted, thus leaving Maragall without a majority and forcing him to call for this early election. On June 21 2006 Maragall announced his intention to personally step down at the upcoming election, arguably due to the political erosion his government had suffered after an uneasy relationship with ERC.
Besides the issue of Catalan nationalism, the main issues of the campaign were taxes, social security, housing and immigration.
Unlike the previous 2003 elections, when CiU achieved a plurality of seats in the autonomous Parliament but did not get the highest number of votes (PSC achieved a narrow lead in votes, the discrepancy between votes number and seats being explained by the electoral law) in this occasion CiU won the elections both in seats and votes numbers. Still those weren't enough to have an
absolute majorityAn absolute majority or majority of the entire membership is a voting basis which usually requires that more than half of all the members of a group must vote in favour of a proposition in order for it to be passed...
. Then, after coalition negotiations, the
PSCSocialists' Party of Catalonia is a political party in Catalonia, Spain. It is federated with Partido Socialista Obrero Español. Its web site is http://www.socialistes.org-First Secretaries of PSC:#Joan Reventós i Carner...
,
ERCThe Republican Left of Catalonia is a left-wing Catalan independentist political party in Spain campaigning for the independence of Catalonia from this country...
and
ICVInitiative for Catalonia Greens is a political party in Catalonia, Spain. It was formed as a merger of Iniciativa per Catalunya and Els Verds. IC had been an alliance led by Partit Socialista Unificat de Catalunya and was the equivalent of Izquierda Unida in Catalonia...
-
EUiAUnited and Alternative Left is a political party from Catalonia, Spain. EUiA has 4000 members and it is the Catalan correspondent of the Spain-wide United Left ....
agreed to renew the three-party coalition that had been in power, which made PSC's leader
José MontillaJosé Montilla Aguilera is the current president of the Generalitat de Catalunya. He has been the First Secretary of the Partit dels Socialistes de Catalunya since 18 June 2000, and a member of the Federal Executive Committee and the Federal Committee of the PSOE since 23 July 2000...
President.
This elections saw a new party (Ciutadans - Partido de la Ciudadanía) entering the autonomous parliament, which has increased the already high diversity of this parliament from five political parties with representation to now six, which contrasts with the increasingly bipartisan Spanish -and European in general- politic scenario.
Parties
- CiU
Convergence and Union is a political party in Catalonia, Spain.CiU is a federated political party consisting of two constituent parties, the bigger Convergència Democràtica de Catalunya and its smaller counterpart, Unió Democràtica de Catalunya .CiU is a Catalan nationalist party...
(Convergence and Unity). Presidential candidate: Artur MasArtur Mas i Gavarró is a Spanish Catalan politician. He is currently the leader of the Catalan nationalist party Democratic Convergence of Catalonia , the main opposition party in the Catalan regional parliament...
. Union of the Catalan nationalist, fiscally liberal Democratic Convergence of CataloniaThe Democratic Convergence of Catalonia is a political party in Catalonia, Spain. It is part of the Convergència i Unió coalition and member of the European Liberal, Democrat and Reform Party in the European Parliament.It describes itself as Catalan nationalist and takes more or less the position...
and the conservative Democratic Union of CataloniaThe Democratic Union of Catalonia is a political party in Catalonia, Spain. It is part of the Convergence and Union coalition...
.
- PSC
Socialists' Party of Catalonia is a political party in Catalonia, Spain. It is federated with Partido Socialista Obrero Español. Its web site is http://www.socialistes.org-First Secretaries of PSC:#Joan Reventós i Carner...
-PSOE (Socialist Party of Catalonia). Presidential candidate: José MontillaJosé Montilla Aguilera is the current president of the Generalitat de Catalunya. He has been the First Secretary of the Partit dels Socialistes de Catalunya since 18 June 2000, and a member of the Federal Executive Committee and the Federal Committee of the PSOE since 23 July 2000...
. Social democratic. Affiliated to the Spanish Socialist Party, (PSOE).
- ERC
The Republican Left of Catalonia is a left-wing Catalan independentist political party in Spain campaigning for the independence of Catalonia from this country...
(Republican Left of Catalonia). Presidential candidate: Josep-Lluís Carod-RoviraJosep-Lluís Carod-Rovira is the Vice-president of the Catalan Government. From 1996 to 2008 he was the leader of ERC Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya ....
. Catalan republican and independentist, left-wing.
- PP
The People's Party is the main Right-wing political party in Spain.The People's Party was a re-foundation of the Popular Alliance , a party led and founded by Manuel Fraga Iribarne, a former Minister of Tourism during Francisco Franco's dictatorship and a politician known to have relatively...
(People's Party). Presidential candidate: Josep PiquéJosep Piqué is a Spanish Catalan politician of the right-wing Spanish People's Party who represented Barcelona. Pique was initially a member of the socialist PSUC but left the grouping and subsequently joined the UCD...
. The main party of the centre-right in SpainSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain , is a country located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.
[The Spanish constitution does not establish any official denomination of the country, even though España , Estado español and Nación española are used interchangeably...]
.
- ICV
Initiative for Catalonia Greens is a political party in Catalonia, Spain. It was formed as a merger of Iniciativa per Catalunya and Els Verds. IC had been an alliance led by Partit Socialista Unificat de Catalunya and was the equivalent of Izquierda Unida in Catalonia...
-EUiAUnited and Alternative Left is a political party from Catalonia, Spain. EUiA has 4000 members and it is the Catalan correspondent of the Spain-wide United Left ....
(Green Initiative for Catalonia-Left United Alternative). Presidential candidate: Joan SauraJoan Saura i Laporta was born in Barcelona, Catalonia, in 1950. He studied at the Escola d'Enginyeria Tècnica , where he specialized in Industrial Chemistry...
. Green (eco-socialist) and radical left.
- Ciutadans - Partido de la Ciudadanía (Citizens' Party). Presidential candidate: Albert Rivera
Albert Rivera Díaz is a Spanish lawyer and politician of Catalan and Andalusian ancestry. He is currently the leader of the Citizens' Party....
. Social democratic, social liberalist and non nationalist party.
General
|
Party |
Party List votes |
Vote percentage (change) |
Total Seats (change) |
|
Convergence and Union (Convergència i Unió) (CiU)
- Democratic Convergence of Catalonia
The Democratic Convergence of Catalonia is a political party in Catalonia, Spain. It is part of the Convergència i Unió coalition and member of the European Liberal, Democrat and Reform Party in the European Parliament.It describes itself as Catalan nationalist and takes more or less the position...
(Convergència Democràtica de Catalunya) (CDC)
- Democratic Union of Catalonia
The Democratic Union of Catalonia is a political party in Catalonia, Spain. It is part of the Convergence and Union coalition...
(Unió Democràtica de Catalunya) (UDC) |
935,756 |
31.5% |
+0.6% |
48 |
+2 |
|
Socialists' Party of CataloniaSocialists' Party of Catalonia is a political party in Catalonia, Spain. It is federated with Partido Socialista Obrero Español. Its web site is http://www.socialistes.org-First Secretaries of PSC:#Joan Reventós i Carner...
(Partit Socialista de Catalunya) (PSC) |
796,173 |
26.8% |
-4.4% |
37 |
-5 |
|
Republican Left of Catalonia (Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya) (ERC) |
416,355 |
14.0% |
-2.4% |
21 |
-2 |
|
People's Party of CataloniaThe People's Party is the main Right-wing political party in Spain.The People's Party was a re-foundation of the Popular Alliance , a party led and founded by Manuel Fraga Iribarne, a former Minister of Tourism during Francisco Franco's dictatorship and a politician known to have relatively...
(Partit Popular de Catalunya) (PPC) |
316,222 |
10.7% |
-1.2% |
14 |
-1 |
|
Initiative for Catalonia GreensInitiative for Catalonia Greens is a political party in Catalonia, Spain. It was formed as a merger of Iniciativa per Catalunya and Els Verds. IC had been an alliance led by Partit Socialista Unificat de Catalunya and was the equivalent of Izquierda Unida in Catalonia...
-United and Alternative LeftUnited and Alternative Left is a political party from Catalonia, Spain. EUiA has 4000 members and it is the Catalan correspondent of the Spain-wide United Left ....
(Iniciativa per Catalunya i Verds - Esquerra Unida i Alternativa) (ICV-EUiA) |
282,693 |
9.5% |
+2.2% |
12 |
+3 |
|
Citizens – Party of the Citizenry The Citizens – Party of the Citizenry is a Spanish political party which describes itself as Centre-Left and Non-Nationalist.-History:Ciutadans was formed in Catalonia in July...
(Ciutadans) (C's) |
89,840 |
3.0% |
+3.0% |
3 |
+3 |
|
All Others |
71,251 |
2.3% |
|
0 |
|
|
Totals |
2,908,290 |
100.0% |
|
135 |
|
Barcelona
|
Party |
Party List votes |
Vote percentage (change) |
Total Seats (change) |
|
Convergence and Union (CiU)
- Democratic Convergence of Catalonia
The Democratic Convergence of Catalonia is a political party in Catalonia, Spain. It is part of the Convergència i Unió coalition and member of the European Liberal, Democrat and Reform Party in the European Parliament.It describes itself as Catalan nationalist and takes more or less the position...
(CDC)
- Democratic Union of Catalonia
The Democratic Union of Catalonia is a political party in Catalonia, Spain. It is part of the Convergence and Union coalition...
(UDC) |
664,723 |
29.9% |
+1.2% |
27 |
+2 |
|
Socialists' Party of CataloniaSocialists' Party of Catalonia is a political party in Catalonia, Spain. It is federated with Partido Socialista Obrero Español. Its web site is http://www.socialistes.org-First Secretaries of PSC:#Joan Reventós i Carner...
(PSC) |
620,601 |
27.9% |
-5.2% |
25 |
-4 |
|
Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC) |
280,566 |
12.6% |
-2.5% |
11 |
-2 |
|
People's Party of CataloniaThe People's Party is the main Right-wing political party in Spain.The People's Party was a re-foundation of the Popular Alliance , a party led and founded by Manuel Fraga Iribarne, a former Minister of Tourism during Francisco Franco's dictatorship and a politician known to have relatively...
(PPC) |
248,165 |
11.1% |
-1.4% |
10 |
-1 |
|
Initiative for Catalonia GreensInitiative for Catalonia Greens is a political party in Catalonia, Spain. It was formed as a merger of Iniciativa per Catalunya and Els Verds. IC had been an alliance led by Partit Socialista Unificat de Catalunya and was the equivalent of Izquierda Unida in Catalonia...
-United and Alternative LeftUnited and Alternative Left is a political party from Catalonia, Spain. EUiA has 4000 members and it is the Catalan correspondent of the Spain-wide United Left ....
(ICV-EUiA) |
230,968 |
10.3% |
+2.3% |
9 |
+2 |
|
Citizens – Party of the Citizenry The Citizens – Party of the Citizenry is a Spanish political party which describes itself as Centre-Left and Non-Nationalist.-History:Ciutadans was formed in Catalonia in July...
(C's) |
78,525 |
3.5% |
+3.5% |
3 |
+3 |
|
All Others |
55,013 |
2,0% |
|
0 |
|
|
Totals |
2,178,561 |
100.0% |
|
85 |
|
Girona
|
Party |
Party List votes |
Vote percentage (change) |
Total Seats (change) |
|
Convergence and Union (CiU)
- Democratic Convergence of Catalonia
The Democratic Convergence of Catalonia is a political party in Catalonia, Spain. It is part of the Convergència i Unió coalition and member of the European Liberal, Democrat and Reform Party in the European Parliament.It describes itself as Catalan nationalist and takes more or less the position...
(CDC)
- Democratic Union of Catalonia
The Democratic Union of Catalonia is a political party in Catalonia, Spain. It is part of the Convergence and Union coalition...
(UDC) |
104,840 |
38.1% |
-0.5% |
7 |
= |
|
Socialists' Party of CataloniaSocialists' Party of Catalonia is a political party in Catalonia, Spain. It is federated with Partido Socialista Obrero Español. Its web site is http://www.socialistes.org-First Secretaries of PSC:#Joan Reventós i Carner...
(PSC) |
60,755 |
22.1% |
-1.5% |
4 |
= |
|
Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC) |
52,799 |
19.2% |
-2.7% |
4 |
= |
|
Initiative for Catalonia GreensInitiative for Catalonia Greens is a political party in Catalonia, Spain. It was formed as a merger of Iniciativa per Catalunya and Els Verds. IC had been an alliance led by Partit Socialista Unificat de Catalunya and was the equivalent of Izquierda Unida in Catalonia...
-United and Alternative LeftUnited and Alternative Left is a political party from Catalonia, Spain. EUiA has 4000 members and it is the Catalan correspondent of the Spain-wide United Left ....
(ICV-EUiA) |
20,798 |
7.6% |
+2.3% |
1 |
= |
|
People's Party of CataloniaThe People's Party is the main Right-wing political party in Spain.The People's Party was a re-foundation of the Popular Alliance , a party led and founded by Manuel Fraga Iribarne, a former Minister of Tourism during Francisco Franco's dictatorship and a politician known to have relatively...
(PPC) |
19,808 |
7.2% |
-0.8% |
1 |
= |
|
Citizens – Party of the Citizenry The Citizens – Party of the Citizenry is a Spanish political party which describes itself as Centre-Left and Non-Nationalist.-History:Ciutadans was formed in Catalonia in July...
(C's) |
2,584 |
0.9% |
+0.9% |
0 |
new |
|
All Others |
7,229 |
1.9% |
|
0 |
|
|
Totals |
268,993 |
100.0% |
|
17 |
|
Lleida
|
Party |
Party List votes |
Vote percentage (change) |
Total Seats (change) |
|
Convergence and Union (CiU)
- Democratic Convergence of Catalonia
The Democratic Convergence of Catalonia is a political party in Catalonia, Spain. It is part of the Convergència i Unió coalition and member of the European Liberal, Democrat and Reform Party in the European Parliament.It describes itself as Catalan nationalist and takes more or less the position...
(CDC)
- Democratic Union of Catalonia
The Democratic Union of Catalonia is a political party in Catalonia, Spain. It is part of the Convergence and Union coalition...
(UDC) |
72,916 |
39.9% |
-1.5% |
7 |
= |
|
Socialists' Party of CataloniaSocialists' Party of Catalonia is a political party in Catalonia, Spain. It is federated with Partido Socialista Obrero Español. Its web site is http://www.socialistes.org-First Secretaries of PSC:#Joan Reventós i Carner...
(PSC) |
40,097 |
21.9% |
-0.5% |
3 |
-1 |
|
Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC) |
32,304 |
17.7% |
-2.2% |
3 |
= |
|
People's Party of CataloniaThe People's Party is the main Right-wing political party in Spain.The People's Party was a re-foundation of the Popular Alliance , a party led and founded by Manuel Fraga Iribarne, a former Minister of Tourism during Francisco Franco's dictatorship and a politician known to have relatively...
(PPC) |
16,605 |
9.1% |
-0.5% |
1 |
= |
|
Initiative for Catalonia GreensInitiative for Catalonia Greens is a political party in Catalonia, Spain. It was formed as a merger of Iniciativa per Catalunya and Els Verds. IC had been an alliance led by Partit Socialista Unificat de Catalunya and was the equivalent of Izquierda Unida in Catalonia...
-United and Alternative LeftUnited and Alternative Left is a political party from Catalonia, Spain. EUiA has 4000 members and it is the Catalan correspondent of the Spain-wide United Left ....
(ICV-EUiA) |
12,018 |
6.5% |
+2.2% |
1 |
+1 |
|
Citizens – Party of the Citizenry The Citizens – Party of the Citizenry is a Spanish political party which describes itself as Centre-Left and Non-Nationalist.-History:Ciutadans was formed in Catalonia in July...
(C's) |
1,761 |
0.9% |
+0.9% |
0 |
new |
|
All Others |
2,456 |
0.9% |
|
0 |
|
|
Totals |
178,157 |
100.0% |
|
15 |
|
Tarragona
|
Party |
Party List votes |
Vote percentage (change) |
Total Seats (change) |
|
Convergence and Union (CiU)
- Democratic Convergence of Catalonia
The Democratic Convergence of Catalonia is a political party in Catalonia, Spain. It is part of the Convergència i Unió coalition and member of the European Liberal, Democrat and Reform Party in the European Parliament.It describes itself as Catalan nationalist and takes more or less the position...
(CDC)
- Democratic Union of Catalonia
The Democratic Union of Catalonia is a political party in Catalonia, Spain. It is part of the Convergence and Union coalition...
(UDC) |
93,277 |
32.4% |
-1.3% |
7 |
= |
|
Socialists' Party of CataloniaSocialists' Party of Catalonia is a political party in Catalonia, Spain. It is federated with Partido Socialista Obrero Español. Its web site is http://www.socialistes.org-First Secretaries of PSC:#Joan Reventós i Carner...
(PSC) |
74,720 |
25.9% |
-2.3% |
5 |
= |
|
Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC) |
50,686 |
17.6% |
-1.4% |
3 |
= |
|
People's Party of CataloniaThe People's Party is the main Right-wing political party in Spain.The People's Party was a re-foundation of the Popular Alliance , a party led and founded by Manuel Fraga Iribarne, a former Minister of Tourism during Francisco Franco's dictatorship and a politician known to have relatively...
(PPC) |
31,644 |
11.0% |
-0.7% |
2 |
= |
|
Initiative for Catalonia GreensInitiative for Catalonia Greens is a political party in Catalonia, Spain. It was formed as a merger of Iniciativa per Catalunya and Els Verds. IC had been an alliance led by Partit Socialista Unificat de Catalunya and was the equivalent of Izquierda Unida in Catalonia...
-United and Alternative LeftUnited and Alternative Left is a political party from Catalonia, Spain. EUiA has 4000 members and it is the Catalan correspondent of the Spain-wide United Left ....
(ICV-EUiA) |
18,729 |
6.5% |
+1.3% |
1 |
= |
|
Citizens – Party of the Citizenry The Citizens – Party of the Citizenry is a Spanish political party which describes itself as Centre-Left and Non-Nationalist.-History:Ciutadans was formed in Catalonia in July...
(C's) |
6,970 |
2.4% |
+2.4% |
0 |
new |
|
All Others |
6,553 |
1.7% |
|
0 |
|
|
Totals |
282,579 |
100.0% |
|
18 |
|