2009 European Parliament election in Spain

An election was held in Spain on Sunday, 7 June 2009, as part of the EU-wide election to elect the 7th European Parliament. All 50 seats allocated to the Spanish constituency as per the Treaty of Nice—54 after the Treaty of Lisbon came into force on 1 December 2011—were up for election.

2009 European Parliament election in Spain

← 2004 7 June 2009 2014 →
← outgoing members elected members →
All 54 Spanish seats in the European Parliament
Opinion polls
Registered	35,492,567 2.3%
Turnout	15,935,147 (44.9%) 0.2 pp
First party Second party Third party   Leader Jaime Mayor Oreja Juan Fernando López Aguilar Ramon Tremosa Party PP PSOE CEU Alliance EPP PES ALDE EPP Leader since 22 April 2004 22 November 2008 24 January 2009 Leader's seat Spain Spain Spain Last election 24 seats, 41.2% 25 seats, 43.5% 2 seats, 5.2% Seats won 24 23 3 Seat change 0 2 1 Popular vote 6,670,377 6,141,784 808,246 Percentage 42.1% 38.8% 5.1% Swing 0.9 pp 4.7 pp 0.1 pp   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader Willy Meyer Francisco Sosa Wagner Oriol Junqueras Party IU UPyD Europe of the Peoples–Greens Alliance GUE/NGL Greens/EFA NI Greens/EFA Leader since 8 May 2004 3 September 2008 21 February 2009 Leader's seat Spain Spain Spain Last election 2 seats, 4.1% Did not contest 1 seat, 3.4% Seats won 2 1 1 Seat change 0 1 0 Popular vote 588,248 451,866 394,938 Percentage 3.7% 2.9% 2.5% Swing 0.4 pp New party 0.9 pp
Vote winner strength by province Vote winner strength by autonomous community

The election saw the first national victory for the People's Party (PP) since the 2000 Spanish general election, scoring 42.1% of the share in its best showing in a European Parliament election to date, as well as its third best in a national election overall. The ruling Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE), on the other hand, fell to second place with 38.8% of the votes after a cycle of electoral victories starting in 2004. As in the previous election, the result was close, as both parties came within three percentage points of each other. The Coalition for Europe (CEU), the alliance of regionalist and peripheral nationalist parties that came to succeed the late Galeusca–Peoples of Europe coalition, remained in third place with 5.1% of the votes, whereas United Left (IU)—which ran under The Left banner—saw its worst showing in a nationwide election up to that point, barely surpassing 3.7% of the share. On the other hand, the new Union, Progress and Democracy (UPyD) party had a strong performance by comfortably doubling its result from the 2008 Spanish general election, being the only national party that saw a net gain of votes compared to that electoral contest. The abertzale left-supported Internationalist Initiative–Solidarity among Peoples (II–SP) candidacy, which had been initially banned from running by the Supreme Court of Spain but later allowed by the Constitutional Court on the grounds that there was not enough evidence of its ties to the ETA terrorist group, scored 1.1% of the votes nationwide but failed to secure any parliamentary representation.

As the 2009 election was held under the provisions of the Treaty of Nice, Spain was allocated 50 MEP seats which, come Election Day, were distributed as follows: PP 23, PSOE 21, CEU 2, IU–ICV 2, UPyD 1 and EdP–V 1. After the Treaty of Lisbon came into force on 1 December 2011, Spain's delegation was increased to 54, granting additional seats to the PSOE (two) and to PP and CEU (one each) according to their June 2009 election results.

Electoral system

50 members of the European Parliament were allocated to Spain as per the Treaty of Nice. Voting was on the basis of universal suffrage, which comprised all nationals and resident non-national European citizens over 18 years of age and in full enjoyment of their political rights.

All seats were elected in a single multi-member constituency—comprising the entire national territory—using the D'Hondt method and a closed list proportional voting system, with no electoral threshold being applied in order to be entitled to enter seat distribution. The use of the electoral method resulted in an effective threshold based on the district magnitude and the distribution of votes among candidacies.

The law did not provide for by-elections to fill vacated seats; instead, any vacancies that occurred after the proclamation of candidates and into the legislative term were to be covered by the successive candidates in the list and, when required, by the designated substitutes.

Outgoing delegation

Outgoing delegation in May 2009

Groups		Parties		MEPs
				Seats	Total
	Party of European Socialists		PSOE	24	24
	European People's Party		PP	23	24
			UPN	1
	Greens–European Free Alliance		ICV	1	3
			EA	1
			LVdE	1
	Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe		CDC	1	2
			EAJ/PNV	1
	European United Left–Nordic Green Left		IU	1	1

Parties and candidates

The electoral law allowed for parties and federations registered in the interior ministry, coalitions and groupings of electors to present lists of candidates. Parties and federations intending to form a coalition ahead of an election were required to inform the relevant Electoral Commission within ten days of the election call. In order to be entitled to run, parties, federations, coalitions and groupings of electors needed to secure the signature of at least 15,000 registered electors; this requirement could be lifted and replaced through the signature of at least 50 elected officials—deputies, senators, MEPs or members from the legislative assemblies of autonomous communities or from local city councils. Electors and elected officials were disallowed from signing for more than one list of candidates.

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

Candidacy		Parties and alliances	Leading candidate		Ideology	Previous result		Ref.
						Vote %	Seats
	PSOE	List Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) Socialists' Party of Catalonia (PSC)		Juan Fernando López Aguilar	Social democracy	43.5%	25
	PP	List People's Party (PP)		Jaime Mayor Oreja	Conservatism Christian democracy	41.2%	24
	CEU	List Convergence and Union (CiU) Basque Nationalist Party (EAJ/PNV) Canarian Coalition (CC) Valencian Nationalist Bloc (Bloc) Majorcan Union (UM) Andalusian Party (PA) Menorcan Union (UMe) Democratic Convergence of La Franja (CDF)		Ramon Tremosa	Peripheral nationalism	5.2%	2
	IU–ICV	List United Left (IU) Initiative for Catalonia Greens–United and Alternative Left (ICV–EUiA) Galician Left Alternative (AGE) Left (I–E) The Greens (LV) Building the Left–Socialist Alternative (CLI–AS) Left Initiative–Awake (EKI–Iratzarri)		Willy Meyer	Socialism Communism	4.1%	2
	EdP–V	List Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC) Galician Nationalist Bloc (BNG) Aralar (Aralar) The Greens (LV) Basque Solidarity (EA) Aragonese Union (CHA) Agreement for Majorca (ExM) Party of El Bierzo (PB)		Oriol Junqueras	Peripheral nationalism	3.4%	1
	UPyD	List Union, Progress and Democracy (UPyD)		Francisco Sosa Wagner	Social liberalism Radical centrism	—

Campaign

Party slogans

Party or alliance		Original slogan	English translation	Ref.
	PSOE	« Este partido se juega en Europa »	"This match plays out in Europe"
	PP	« Ahora soluciones. Ahora PP »	"Now, solutions. Now, PP"
	CEU CiU EAJ/PNV	CiU: « Ara » EAJ/PNV: « Europara, inoiz baino indar gehiagorekin » / « A Europa, con más fuerza que nunca »	CiU: "Now" EAJ/PNV: "To Europe, with more strength than ever"
	IU–ICV	« Izquierda Unida, tu voz en Europa »	"United Left, your voice in Europe"
	EdP–V ERC BNG Aralar–EA	ERC: « Pròxima estació, Europa » BNG: « Imos a Europa, ves? » Aralar–EA: « Langileen Europa » / « La Europa de los trabajadores »	ERC: "Next stop, Europe" BNG: "We are going to Europe, are you coming?" Aralar–EA: "The Europe of workers"
	UPyD	« Una España fuerte en una Europa unida »	"A strong Spain within a united Europe"

Election debates

2009 European Parliament election debates in Spain

Date	Organisers	Moderator(s)	P  Present    S  Surrogate    NI  Not invited   I  Invited    A  Absent invitee
			PSOE	PP	CEU	IU–ICV	EdP–V	Audience	Refs
25 May	RTVE	Ana Blanco	P L. Aguilar	P M. Oreja	NI	NI	NI	13.9% (2,653,000)
1 June	Antena 3	Gloria Lomana	P L. Aguilar	P M. Oreja	NI	NI	NI	10.9% (1,864,000)
3 June	RTVE	Pepa Bueno	S Jáuregui	S De Grandes	P Tremosa	P Meyer	P Junqueras	8.3% (1,461,000)

Opinion polls

The tables below list opinion polling results in reverse chronological order, showing the most recent first and using the dates when the survey fieldwork was done, as opposed to the date of publication. Where the fieldwork dates are unknown, the date of publication is given instead. The highest percentage figure in each polling survey is displayed with its background shaded in the leading party's colour. If a tie ensues, this is applied to the figures with the highest percentages. The "Lead" column on the right shows the percentage-point difference between the parties with the highest percentages in a poll.

Voting intention estimates

The table below lists weighted voting intention estimates. Refusals are generally excluded from the party vote percentages, while question wording and the treatment of "don't know" responses and those not intending to vote may vary between polling organisations. When available, seat projections determined by the polling organisations are displayed below (or in place of) the percentages in a smaller font.

Polling firm/Commissioner	Fieldwork date	Sample size	Turnout			CEU		EdPV			Lead
2009 EP election	7 Jun 2009	—	44.9	38.8 21	42.1 23	5.1 2	3.7 2	2.5 1	2.9 1	1.1 0	3.3
PSOE	5 Jun 2009	?	45–50	42.4 23	42.7 23	–	3.6 1	–	–	–	0.3
TNS Demoscopia/Antena 3	28 May 2009	?	?	39.7 21/22	42.4 22/23	4.8 2	3.9 2	2.4 1	3.1 1	0.8 0	2.7
Metroscopia/El País	27–28 May 2009	1,000	45	39.3 21	43.0 22	5.0 2	4.1 2	3.9 2	3.0 1	–	3.7
NC Report/La Razón	26–28 May 2009	1,000	?	40.2 21	43.2 23	4.7 2	3.9 2	2.3 1	3.0 1	–	3.0
Sigma Dos/El Mundo	26–28 May 2009	1,000	39–44	40.6 21/22	42.8 23/24	4.0 2	3.4 1	2.7 1	2.6 1	–	2.2
DYM/ABC	25–28 May 2009	1,040	?	38.7 21	40.9 23	5.4 2	3.3 1	1.8 1	2.2 1	–	2.2
Noxa/La Vanguardia	25–28 May 2009	1,000	?	42.5 23	40.9 22	4.9 2	3.2 1	2.2 1	3.3 1	–	1.6
Obradoiro de Socioloxía/Público	11–27 May 2009	2,402	?	40.0 21	42.6 23	3.8 2	4.0 2	2.7 1	2.8 1	0.9 0	2.6
PSOE	25 May 2009	2,500	45–48	42.7 23	42.5 23	–	? 1/2	–	? 0	–	0.2
NC Report/La Razón	18–21 May 2009	1,000	40.1	41.0 21/22	43.7 23	4.5 2	3.7 1/2	2.0 1	2.9 1	–	2.7
CIS	29 Apr–17 May 2009	4,692	?	42.8 23	42.2 23	5.1 2	3.1 1	3.6 1	1.3 0	–	0.6
GESOP/El Periódico	11–15 May 2009	1,500	?	39.0 21	43.0 23	4.2 2	4.7 2	3.6 1	2.6 1	–	4.0
INVESOP/COPE	8 May 2009	1,700	58	40.7 22	44.0 23	? 2	? 1	? 1	? 1	–	3.3
			40	41.1 22	45.1 24	? 2	? 1	? 0	? 1	–	4.0
NC Report/La Razón	4–8 May 2009	1,000	42.9	40.0 21	42.8 22/23	4.6 2	5.1 2	2.2 1	3.4 1/2	–	2.8
Obradoiro de Socioloxía/Público	14 Apr–8 May 2009	?	?	40.0 21/22	44.0 23/24	4.0 2	3.5 1	1.7 0	3.7 1/2	–	4.0
NC Report/La Razón	20 Apr 2009	?	42.5	39.0 21	43.3 23	4.8 2	5.3 2	2.2 1	3.2 1	–	4.3
Sigma Dos/El Mundo	3–8 Apr 2009	900	?	37.9 20/21	42.3 22/23	4.3 2	5.0 2	2.2 1	4.4 2	–	4.4
Obradoiro de Socioloxía/Público	10 Mar–2 Apr 2009	3,204	?	39.0 21	43.5 23	4.8 2	4.9 2	1.9 1	3.2 1	–	4.5
2004 EP election	13 Jun 2004	—	45.1	43.5 25	41.2 24	5.1 2	4.1 2	2.5 1	–	–	2.3

Voting preferences

The table below lists raw, unweighted voting preferences.

Polling firm/Commissioner	Fieldwork date	Sample size			CEU		EdPV		?	N	Lead
2009 EP election	7 Jun 2009	—	17.6	19.3	2.3	1.7	1.1	1.3	—	54.0	1.7
Obradoiro de Socioloxía/Público	25–27 May 2009	?	21.8	18.8	–	–	–	–	–	–	3.0
Obradoiro de Socioloxía/Público	18–20 May 2009	?	21.6	18.9	–	–	–	–	–	–	2.7
CIS	29 Apr–17 May 2009	4,692	30.7	23.7	2.6	2.1	1.6	0.9	22.3	13.8	7.0
Obradoiro de Socioloxía/Público	11–13 May 2009	?	20.3	20.5	–	–	–	–	–	–	0.2
Obradoiro de Socioloxía/Público	14 Apr–8 May 2009	?	21.4	19.3	1.6	1.9	0.5	2.0	36.6	15.7	2.1
Obradoiro de Socioloxía/Público	10 Mar–2 Apr 2009	3,204	21.6	20.6	2.3	2.7	0.8	1.7	33.3	16.3	1.0
2004 EP election	13 Jun 2004	—	19.7	18.8	2.4	1.9	1.1	–	—	54.1	0.9

Victory preferences

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

Polling firm/Commissioner	Fieldwork date	Sample size			CEU		EdPV		Other/ None	?	Lead
Metroscopia/El País	27–28 May 2009	1,000	45.0	32.0	–	–	–	–	23.0		13.0
Noxa/La Vanguardia	25–28 May 2009	1,000	42.0	33.0	–	–	–	–	25.0		9.0
PSOE	25 May 2009	2,500	34.8	34.7	–	–	–	–	30.5		0.1
CIS	29 Apr–17 May 2009	4,692	37.8	27.4	2.7	2.5	1.7	1.0	8.4	18.5	10.4

Victory likelihood

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

Polling firm/Commissioner	Fieldwork date	Sample size			Other/ None	?	Lead
Metroscopia/El País	27–28 May 2009	1,000	35.0	36.0	29.0		1.0
Noxa/La Vanguardia	25–28 May 2009	1,000	39.0	38.0	23.0		1.0
PSOE	25 May 2009	2,500	33.5	33.3	33.2		0.2
CIS	29 Apr–17 May 2009	4,692	30.9	31.5	2.2	35.4	0.6
Obradoiro de Socioloxía/Público	14 Apr–8 May 2009	?	18.3	29.5	0.1	52.4	11.2
Obradoiro de Socioloxía/Público	10 Mar–2 Apr 2009	3,204	21.3	22.0	0.3	56.4	0.7

Results

Overall

← Summary of the 7 June 2009 European Parliament election results in Spain →

Parties and alliances		Popular vote			Seats
		Votes	%	±pp	Total	+/−
	People's Party (PP)^1	6,670,377	42.12	+0.91	24	±0
	Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE)^1	6,141,784	38.78	−4.68	23	−2
	Coalition for Europe (CEU)^1 ^2	808,246	5.10	−0.12	3	+1
	United Left–Initiative for Catalonia Greens: The Left (IU–ICV)	588,248	3.71	−0.44	2	±0
	Union, Progress and Democracy (UPyD)	451,866	2.85	New	1	+1
	Europe of the Peoples–Greens (EdP–V)^3	394,938	2.49	−0.95	1	±0
	Internationalist Initiative–Solidarity among Peoples (II–SP)	178,121	1.12	New	0	±0
	The Greens–European Green Group (LV–GVE)	89,147	0.56	+0.12	0	±0
	Anti-Bullfighting Party Against Mistreatment of Animals (PACMA)	41,913	0.26	New	0	±0
	For a Fairer World (PUM+J)	24,507	0.15	+0.09	0	±0
	Libertas–Citizens of Spain (Libertas)	22,903	0.14	New	0	±0
	Anti-capitalist Left–Global Revolt (IzAn–RG)	19,735	0.12	New	0	±0
	Spanish Alternative (AES)	19,583	0.12	New	0	±0
	Communist Party of the Peoples of Spain (PCPE)	15,221	0.10	+0.07	0	±0
	Socialist Party of Andalusia (PSA)^4	13,993	0.09	+0.05	0	±0
	Internationalist Socialist Workers' Party (POSI)	12,344	0.08	+0.03	0	±0
	Family and Life Party (PFyV)	10,456	0.07	+0.02	0	±0
	Democratic and Social Centre (CDS)	10,144	0.06	−0.02	0	±0
	Spanish Phalanx of the CNSO (FE–JONS)	10,031	0.06	+0.03	0	±0
	National Democracy (DN)	9,950	0.06	+0.02	0	±0
	Feminist Initiative (IFem)	9,721	0.06	New	0	±0
	National Front (FrN)	7,970	0.05	New	0	±0
	Catalan Republican Party (RC)	7,547	0.05	New	0	±0
	Humanist Party (PH)	7,009	0.04	+0.01	0	±0
	Valencian Union (UV)^5	6,072	0.04	−0.01	0	±0
	Republican Social Movement (MSR)	6,009	0.04	New	0	±0
	Internationalist Solidarity and Self-Management (SAIn)	5,877	0.04	New	0	±0
	Liberal Democratic Centre (CDL)	5,733	0.04	New	0	±0
	Authentic Phalanx (FA)	5,165	0.03	+0.02	0	±0
	United Extremadura (EU)^6	5,007	0.03	+0.02	0	±0
	Regionalist Party of the Leonese Country (PREPAL)	4,767	0.03	+0.01	0	±0
	Communist Unification of Spain (UCE)	3,483	0.02	New	0	±0
	Asturian Nationalist Unity (UNA)	3,183	0.02	New	0	±0
	Andecha Astur (AA)	2,255	0.01	New	0	±0
	Liberal Centrist Union (UCL)	1,991	0.01	±0.00	0	±0
Blank ballots		220,471	1.39	+0.78
Total^1		15,835,767			54	±0
Valid votes		15,835,767	99.38	+0.36
Invalid votes		99,380	0.62	−0.36
Votes cast / turnout		15,935,147	44.90	−0.24
Abstentions		19,557,420	55.10	+0.24
Registered voters		35,492,567
Sources
Footnotes: ^1 Initially, Spain was allocated 50 seats, which were distributed as follows: PP (23), PSOE (21), CEU (2), IU–ICV (2), UPyD (1) and EdP–V (1). However, as a result of the Treaty of Lisbon, Spain's MEP delegation grew to 54, with the additional 4 seats being allocated to PP (1), PSOE (2) and CEU (1). ^2 Coalition for Europe results are compared to the combined totals of Galeusca–Peoples of Europe—not including results in the Balearic Islands and Galicia—and European Coalition in Andalusia, Balearic Islands and the Canary Islands in the 2004 election. ^3 Europe of the Peoples–Greens results are compared to the combined totals of Europe of the Peoples—not including results in Andalusia and Asturias—, Galeusca–Peoples of Europe in Galicia and Aralar in the 2004 election. ^4 Socialist Party of Andalusia results are compared to Europe of the Peoples totals in Andalusia in the 2004 election. ^5 Valencian Union results are compared to European Coalition totals in the Valencian Community in the 2004 election. ^6 United Extremadura results are compared to European Coalition totals in Extremadura in the 2004 election.

Popular vote

PP			42.12%
PSOE			38.78%
CEU			5.10%
IU–ICV			3.71%
UPyD			2.85%
EdP–V			2.49%
II–SP			1.12%
Others			2.41%
Blank ballots			1.39%

Seats

PP			44.44%
PSOE			42.59%
CEU			5.56%
IU–ICV			3.70%
UPyD			1.85%
EdP–V			1.85%

Maps

Distribution by European group

Summary of political group distribution in the 7th European Parliament (2009–2014)

Groups		Parties	Seats	Total	%
	European People's Party (EPP)	People's Party (PP) Democratic Union of Catalonia (UDC)	24 1	25	46.30
	Party of European Socialists (PES)	Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE)	23	23	42.59
	Greens–European Free Alliance (Greens/EFA)	Initiative for Catalonia Greens (ICV) Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC)	1 1	2	3.70
	European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party (ELDR)	Democratic Convergence of Catalonia (CDC) Basque Nationalist Party (EAJ/PNV)	1 1	2	3.70
	European United Left–Nordic Green Left (GUE/NGL)	United Left (IU)	1	1	1.85
	Non-Inscrits (NI)	Union, Progress and Democracy (UPyD)	1	1	1.85
Total			54	54	100.00

Bibliography

• Ley Orgánica 5/1985, de 19 de junio, del Régimen Electoral General (Organic Law 5/1985). Boletín Oficial del Estado (in Spanish). Vol. 147. 19 June 1985 [version as of 22 January 2009]. ISSN 0212-033X. BOE-A-1985-11672. Retrieved 6 March 2017.
• Treaty of Nice amending the Treaty on European Union, the Treaties establishing the European Communities and certain related acts (2001/C 80/01). Official Journal of the European Union. Vol. 44. 10 March 2001. ISSN 1725-2423. 12001C/TXT. Retrieved 11 November 2023.
• Treaty of Lisbon amending the Treaty on European Union and the Treaty establishing the European Community (2007/C 306/01). Official Journal of the European Union. Vol. 50. 17 December 2007. ISSN 1725-2423. 12007L/TXT. Retrieved 11 November 2023.
• European Council Decision (EU) establishing the composition of the European Parliament (European Council Decision (EU) 2013/312). Official Journal of the European Union. Vol. 56. 28 June 2013. ISSN 1725-2423. 32013D0312. Retrieved 12 July 2024.