Spanish general election, 1977

Spanish general election, 1977

15 June 1977

All 350 seats in the Congress of Deputies and 207 (of the 248) seats in the Senate 176 seats needed for a majority in the Congress of Deputies Registered 23,583,762 Turnout 18,590,130 (78.8%)   First party Second party Third party   Leader Adolfo Suárez Felipe González Santiago Carrillo Party UCD PSOE PCE Leader since 3 May 1977 13 October 1974 3 July 1960 Seats won 166 118 19 Popular vote 6,310,391 5,371,866 1,709,890 Percentage 34.4% 29.3% 9.3%   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader Manuel Fraga Enrique Tierno Galván Jordi Pujol i Soley Party AP PSP CDC Leader since 9 October 1976 1974 17 November 1974 Seats won 16 6 11 Popular vote 1,504,771 816,582 514,647 Percentage 8.2% 4.5% 2.8%

Galicia Navarre Madrid La Rioja Aragon Catalonia Valencian Community Castile– La Mancha Extremadura Castile and León Asturias Cantabria Basque Country Murcia Andalusia Ceuta Melilla Balearic Islands Canary Islands A Coruña Lugo Pontevedra Ourense Navarre Madrid La Rioja Huesca Teruel Zaragoza Lleida Girona Barcelona Tarragona Castellón Valencia Alicante Albacete Cuenca Guadalajara Toledo Ciudad Real Cáceres Badajoz León Zamora Salamanca Palencia Vallad. Burgos Soria Segovia Ávila Álava Bisc. Gipuz. Huelva Seville Córdoba Cádiz Málaga Jaén Granada Almería Asturias Cantabria Murcia Ceuta Melilla Balearic Islands Santa Cruz de Tenerife Las Palmas

Most voted party in each province. Every province is a multi-member district for the Congress.

Prime Minister before election Adolfo Suárez UCD Elected Prime Minister Adolfo Suárez UCD

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The Spanish general election of 1977 took place on 15 June 1977. It was the first election since the death of Francisco Franco. The previous general election was held in 1936, prior to the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War.

Voting was on the basis of universal suffrage in a secret ballot. The elections were held using closed list proportional representation in 52 electoral districts corresponding to the 50 provinces of Spain and the African enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla. The largest districts Barcelona, Madrid and Valencia elected 32, 31 and 15 members respectively. Other districts elected from 3 to 12 members. The exceptions were Ceuta and Melilla, which were single member districts. Seats were allocated using the D'Hondt method and only lists that polled 3% of the total vote (which included votes "en blanco" i.e., for none of the above) were eligible for seats. With the exception of the Communist Party of Spain, none of the parties that had supported the Second Republic or those descended from them were legalised until after the elections, and were therefore rendered ineligible to take part.^[1]

The elections took place against the backdrop of a poor economic situation in Spain.^[2] They were marred by demonstrations against alleged irregularities and bombings in many areas. In Barcelona, 2,000 demonstrators gathered outside the building housing the local election board. They claimed they had not been included in the census, which would have given them the right to vote. Two policemen were also hurt when a Molotov cocktail was thrown at their vehicle. In Seville, three people, including two policemen, suffered minor injuries when a bomb exploded at the magistrates' court. Additionally four explosions occurred in Pamplona and two in Cordoba.^[3]

The election results were a disappointment for the Communist Party, which fell short of its goal of 30 to 40 deputies.^[4]

Post election the Union of the Democratic Centre governed in a minority, working with other opposition parties from both sides of the political spectrum including the rightist People’s Alliance and the parties of the left, the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) and Communists (PCE).

Results

References

Elections and referendums in Spain General elections 1810 1813 1820 1822 1834 1836 (Feb) 1836 (Jul) 1836 (Oct) 1837 1839 1840 1841 1843 (Feb) 1843 (Sep) 1844 1846 1850 1853 1854 1857 1858 1863 1864 1865 1867 1869 1871 1872 (Apr) 1872 (Aug) 1873 1876 1879 1881 1884 1886 1891 1893 1896 1898 1899 1901 1903 1905 1907 1910 1914 1916 1918 1919 1920 1923 1931 1933 1936 1967 1971 1977 1979 1982 1986 1989 1993 1996 2000 2004 2008 2011 2015 European elections 1987 1989 1994 1999 2004 2009 2014 Municipal elections 1979 1983 1987 1991 1995 1999 2003 2007 2011 2015 Regional elections 1983 1987 1991 1995 1999 2003 2007 2011 2015 Referendums 1947 1966 1976 1978 1986 2005 See also elections and referendums in Andalusia Aragon Asturias Basque Country Catalonia Galicia Madrid Valencia