The 2008 Spanish general election was held on Sunday, 9 March 2008, to elect the 9th
Cortes Generales
The Cortes Generales (; en, Spanish Parliament, lit=General Courts) are the bicameral legislative chambers of Spain, consisting of the Congress of Deputies (the lower house), and the Senate (the upper house).
The Congress of Deputies meets ...
of the
Kingdom of Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
. All 350 seats in the
Congress of Deputies
The Congress of Deputies ( es, link=no, Congreso de los Diputados, italic=unset) is the lower house of the Cortes Generales, Spain's legislative branch. The Congress meets in the Palacio de las Cortes, Madrid, Palace of the Parliament () in Ma ...
were up for election, as well as 208 of 264 seats in the
Senate
A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
.
After four years of growing
bipolarisation of Spanish politics, the election saw a record result for both ruling
Spanish Socialist Workers' Party
The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party ( es, Partido Socialista Obrero Español ; PSOE ) is a social-democraticThe PSOE is described as a social-democratic party by numerous sources:
*
*
*
* political party in Spain. The PSOE has been in gov ...
(PSOE) and opposition
People's Party (PP), together obtaining more than 83% of the vote share—over 21 million votes—and 92% of the Congress seats. The PSOE under
José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero
José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero (; born 4 August 1960) is a Spanish politician and member of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE). He was the Prime Minister of Spain being elected for two terms, in the 2004 and 2008 general elections ...
benefitted from
tactical voting
Strategic voting, also called tactical voting, sophisticated voting or insincere voting, occurs in voting systems when a voter votes for another candidate or party than their ''sincere preference'' to prevent an undesirable outcome. For example, ...
against the PP and emerged as the most-voted party just 7 seats short of an overall majority. On the other hand,
Mariano Rajoy
Mariano Rajoy Brey (; born 27 March 1955) is a Spanish politician who served as Prime Minister of Spain from 2011 to 2018, when a vote of no confidence ousted his government. On 5 June 2018, he announced his resignation as People's Party lead ...
's PP saw an increase in its vote share and seat count but remained unable to overtake the Socialists.
United Left (IU) had its worst general election performance ever with less than 4% and 2 seats. Regional nationalist parties
Convergence and Union
Convergence and Union ( ca, Convergència i Unió, CiU; ) was a Catalan nationalist electoral alliance in Catalonia, Spain. It was a federation of two constituent parties, the larger Democratic Convergence of Catalonia (CDC) and its smaller coun ...
(CiU),
Republican Left of Catalonia
The Republican Left of Catalonia ( ca, Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya, ERC; ; generically branded as ) is a Catalan independence movement, pro-Catalan independence, social democracy, social-democratic List of political parties in Catalonia, p ...
(ERC),
Basque Nationalist Party
The Basque Nationalist Party (, EAJ ; es, Partido Nacionalista Vasco, PNV; french: Parti Nationaliste Basque, PNB; EAJ-PNV), officially Basque National Party in English,) was rejected by party members in November 2011. Nonetheless, the party did ...
(PNV) or
Aragonese Union (CHA) were also hurt by the massive tactical voting towards the PSOE, falling to historical lows of popular support.
Union, Progress and Democracy
Union, Progress and Democracy ( es, link=no, Unión, Progreso y Democracia , UPyD ) was a Spanish political party founded in September 2007 and dissolved in December 2020. It was a social-liberal party that rejected any form of nationalism, espec ...
(UPyD), with 1 seat and slightly more than 300,000 votes, became the first nationwide party aside from PSOE, PP and IU entering in parliament in over two decades.
Zapatero was sworn in as
Prime Minister of Spain
The prime minister of Spain, officially president of the Government ( es, link=no, Presidente del Gobierno), is the head of government of Spain. The office was established in its current form by the Constitution of 1978 and it was first regula ...
for a second term in office in April 2008, just as the Spanish economy began showing signs of
fatigue and economic slowdown after a decade of growth.
Overview
Electoral system
The Spanish
Cortes Generales
The Cortes Generales (; en, Spanish Parliament, lit=General Courts) are the bicameral legislative chambers of Spain, consisting of the Congress of Deputies (the lower house), and the Senate (the upper house).
The Congress of Deputies meets ...
were envisaged as an
imperfect bicameral system. The
Congress of Deputies
The Congress of Deputies ( es, link=no, Congreso de los Diputados, italic=unset) is the lower house of the Cortes Generales, Spain's legislative branch. The Congress meets in the Palacio de las Cortes, Madrid, Palace of the Parliament () in Ma ...
had greater legislative power than the
Senate
A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
, having the ability to vote confidence in or withdraw it from a
prime minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...
and to override Senate
veto
A veto is a legal power to unilaterally stop an official action. In the most typical case, a president or monarch vetoes a bill to stop it from becoming law. In many countries, veto powers are established in the country's constitution. Veto ...
es by an
absolute majority
A supermajority, supra-majority, qualified majority, or special majority is a requirement for a proposal to gain a specified level of support which is greater than the threshold of more than one-half used for a simple majority. Supermajority ru ...
of votes. Nonetheless, the Senate possessed a few exclusive (yet limited in number) functions—such as its role in
constitutional amendment
A constitutional amendment is a modification of the constitution of a polity, organization or other type of entity. Amendments are often interwoven into the relevant sections of an existing constitution, directly altering the text. Conversely, t ...
—which were not subject to the Congress' override.
Voting for the Cortes Generales was on the basis of
universal suffrage
Universal suffrage (also called universal franchise, general suffrage, and common suffrage of the common man) gives the right to vote to all adult citizens, regardless of wealth, income, gender, social status, race, ethnicity, or political stanc ...
, which comprised all nationals over 18 years of age and in full enjoyment of their political rights.
For the Congress of Deputies, 348 seats were elected using the
D'Hondt method
The D'Hondt method, also called the Jefferson method or the greatest divisors method, is a method for allocating seats in parliaments among federal states, or in party-list proportional representation systems. It belongs to the class of highest- ...
and a
closed list
Closed list describes the variant of party-list systems where voters can effectively only vote for political parties as a whole; thus they have no influence on the party-supplied order in which party candidates are elected. If voters had some inf ...
proportional representation
Proportional representation (PR) refers to a type of electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to geographical (e.g. states, regions) and political divis ...
, with an
electoral threshold
The electoral threshold, or election threshold, is the minimum share of the primary vote that a candidate or political party requires to achieve before they become entitled to representation or additional seats in a legislature. This limit can ...
of three percent of valid votes—which included blank ballots—being applied in each constituency. Seats were allocated to constituencies, corresponding to the
provinces of Spain
A province in Spain
* es, provincias, ; sing. ''provincia'')
* Basque (, sing. ''probintzia''.
* Catalan (), sing. ''província''.
* Galician (), sing. ''provincia''. is a territorial division defined as a collection of municipalities, ...
, with each being allocated an initial minimum of two seats and the remaining 248 being distributed in proportion to their populations.
Ceuta
Ceuta (, , ; ar, سَبْتَة, Sabtah) is a Spanish autonomous city on the north coast of Africa.
Bordered by Morocco, it lies along the boundary between the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. It is one of several Spanish territorie ...
and
Melilla
Melilla ( , ; ; rif, Mřič ; ar, مليلية ) is an autonomous city of Spain located in north Africa. It lies on the eastern side of the Cape Three Forks, bordering Morocco and facing the Mediterranean Sea. It has an area of . It was par ...
were allocated the two remaining seats, which were elected using
plurality voting
Plurality voting refers to electoral systems in which a candidate, or candidates, who poll more than any other counterpart (that is, receive a plurality), are elected. In systems based on single-member districts, it elects just one member per ...
.
The use of the D'Hondt method might result in a higher effective threshold, depending on the
district magnitude
An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger state (a country, administrative region, or other polity ...
.
As a result of the aforementioned allocation, each Congress multi-member constituency was entitled the following seats:
For the Senate, 208 seats were elected using an
open list
Open list describes any variant of party-list proportional representation where voters have at least some influence on the order in which a party's candidates are elected. This is as opposed to closed list, which allows only active members, par ...
partial block voting system, with electors voting for individual candidates instead of parties. In constituencies electing four seats, electors could vote for up to three candidates; in those with two or three seats, for up to two candidates; and for one candidate in single-member districts. Each of the 47 peninsular provinces was allocated four seats, whereas for insular provinces, such as the
Balearic and
Canary Islands
The Canary Islands (; es, Canarias, ), also known informally as the Canaries, are a Spanish autonomous community and archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, in Macaronesia. At their closest point to the African mainland, they are west of Morocc ...
, districts were the islands themselves, with the larger—
Majorca
Mallorca, or Majorca, is the largest island in the Balearic Islands, which are part of Spain and located in the Mediterranean.
The capital of the island, Palma, is also the capital of the autonomous community of the Balearic Islands. The Bal ...
,
Gran Canaria
Gran Canaria (, ; ), also Grand Canary Island, is the third-largest and second-most-populous island of the Canary Islands, an archipelago off the Atlantic coast of Northwest Africa which is part of Spain. the island had a population of that co ...
and
Tenerife
Tenerife (; ; formerly spelled ''Teneriffe'') is the largest and most populous island of the Canary Islands. It is home to 43% of the total population of the archipelago. With a land area of and a population of 978,100 inhabitants as of Janu ...
—being allocated three seats each, and the smaller—
Menorca
Menorca or Minorca (from la, Insula Minor, , smaller island, later ''Minorica'') is one of the Balearic Islands located in the Mediterranean Sea belonging to Spain. Its name derives from its size, contrasting it with nearby Majorca. Its capi ...
,
Ibiza
Ibiza (natively and officially in ca, Eivissa, ) is a Spanish island in the Mediterranean Sea off the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. It is from the city of Valencia. It is the third largest of the Balearic Islands, in Spain. Its l ...
–
Formentera
Formentera (, ) is the smallest and most southerly island of the Pityusic Islands group (comprising Ibiza and Formentera, as well as various small islets), which belongs to the Balearic Islands autonomous community (Spain). It covers an area of ...
,
Fuerteventura
Fuerteventura () is one of the Canary Islands, in the Atlantic Ocean, part of the North Africa region, and politically part of Spain. It is located away from the northwestern coast of Africa. The island was declared a biosphere reserve by UNES ...
,
La Gomera
La Gomera () is one of Spain's Canary Islands, located in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Africa. With an area of , it is the third smallest of the eight main islands of this archipelago. It belongs to the province of Santa Cruz de Tene ...
,
El Hierro
El Hierro, nicknamed ''Isla del Meridiano'' (the "Meridian Island"), is the second-smallest and farthest-south and -west of the Canary Islands (an autonomous community of Spain), in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Africa, with a populatio ...
,
Lanzarote
Lanzarote (, , ) is a Spanish island, the easternmost of the Canary Islands in the Atlantic Ocean. It is located approximately off the north coast of Africa and from the Iberian Peninsula. Covering , Lanzarote is the fourth-largest of the i ...
and
La Palma
La Palma (, ), also known as ''La isla bonita'' () and officially San Miguel de La Palma, is the most north-westerly island of the Canary Islands, Spain. La Palma has an area of making it the fifth largest of the eight main Canary Islands. The ...
—one each. Ceuta and Melilla elected two seats each. Additionally,
autonomous communities
eu, autonomia erkidegoa
ca, comunitat autònoma
gl, comunidade autónoma
oc, comunautat autonòma
an, comunidat autonoma
ast, comunidá autónoma
, alt_name =
, map =
, category = Autonomous administra ...
could appoint at least one senator each and were entitled to one additional senator per each million inhabitants.
Election date
The term of each chamber of the Cortes Generales—the Congress and the Senate—expired four years from the date of their previous election, unless they were dissolved earlier. The election
decree
A decree is a legal proclamation, usually issued by a head of state (such as the president of a republic or a monarch), according to certain procedures (usually established in a constitution). It has the force of law. The particular term used for ...
was required to be issued no later than the twenty-fifth day prior to the date of expiry of the Cortes in the event that the prime minister did not make use of his prerogative of early dissolution. The decree was to be published on the following day in the
Official State Gazette
An official is someone who holds an office (function or mandate, regardless whether it carries an actual working space with it) in an organization or government and participates in the exercise of authority, (either their own or that of their s ...
(BOE), with election day taking place on the fifty-fourth day from publication. The
previous election was held on 14 March 2004, which meant that the legislature's term would expire on 14 March 2008. The election decree was required to be published in the BOE no later than 19 February 2008, with the election taking place on the fifty-fourth day from publication, setting the latest possible election date for the Cortes Generales on Sunday, 13 April 2008.
The prime minister had the prerogative to dissolve both chambers at any given time—either jointly or separately—and call a
snap election
A snap election is an election that is called earlier than the one that has been scheduled.
Generally, a snap election in a parliamentary system (the dissolution of parliament) is called to capitalize on an unusual electoral opportunity or to ...
, provided that no
motion of no confidence
A motion of no confidence, also variously called a vote of no confidence, no-confidence motion, motion of confidence, or vote of confidence, is a statement or vote about whether a person in a position of responsibility like in government or mana ...
was in process, no
state of emergency
A state of emergency is a situation in which a government is empowered to be able to put through policies that it would normally not be permitted to do, for the safety and protection of its citizens. A government can declare such a state du ...
was in force and that dissolution did not occur before one year had elapsed since the previous one. 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.
Barred this exception, there was no constitutional requirement for simultaneous elections for the Congress and the Senate. Still, as of there has been no precedent of separate elections taking place under the 1978 Constitution.
The Cortes Generales were dissolved on 15 January 2008, after it was announced by
Andalusian president
The president of the Regional Government of Andalusia ( es, Presidente de la Junta de Andalucía) or, simply the president of Andalusia ( es, Presidente de Andalucía), is the premier of the devolved government of the Spanish autonomous community o ...
Manuel Chaves in November 2007 that he had agreed with Zapatero to hold the 2008 Spanish general election and the
regional election in Andalusia simultaneously on 9 March.
Parliamentary composition
The Cortes Generales were officially dissolved on 15 January 2008, after the publication of the dissolution decree in the Official State Gazette.
The tables below show the composition of the parliamentary groups in both chambers at the time of dissolution.
Parties and candidates
The electoral law allowed for
parties
A party is a gathering of people who have been invited by a host for the purposes of socializing, conversation, recreation, or as part of a festival or other commemoration or celebration of a special occasion. A party will often feature fo ...
and
federations
A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government ( federalism). In a federation, the self-governi ...
registered in the
interior ministry
An interior ministry (sometimes called a ministry of internal affairs or ministry of home affairs) is a government department that is responsible for internal affairs.
Lists of current ministries of internal affairs
Named "ministry"
* Ministry ...
,
coalitions
A coalition is a group formed when two or more people or groups temporarily work together to achieve a common goal. The term is most frequently used to denote a formation of power in political or economical spaces.
Formation
According to ''A Gui ...
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, 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 of candidates.
Below is a list of the main parties and electoral alliances which contested the election:
In the Canary Islands, an alliance was formed between
New Canaries
New Canaries ( es, Nueva Canarias) is a social democratic, Canarian nationalist political party representing the Canary Islands territory of Spain. The party holds Observer status in the European Free Alliance
The European Free Alliance (E ...
(NC) and
Nationalist Canarian Centre (CCN), two splinter groups from
Canarian Coalition
The Canarian Coalition ( es, Coalición Canaria, CC) is a regionalist, Canarian nationalist political party in Spain operating in the Canary Islands
The Canary Islands (; es, Canarias, ), also known informally as the Canaries, are a Span ...
. In the Valencian Community,
Valencian People's Initiative
Valencian People's Initiative (Valencian: Iniciativa del Poble Valencià, IdPV) is a Valencianist and ecosocialist political party, in the Valencian Country, Spain. IdPV is a part of the Compromís coalition.
Ideology
According to one of its ...
(IdPV)—splinter from
United Left of the Valencian Country
United Left of the Valencian Country () is the Valencian federation of the Spanish left wing political and social movement United Left. Marga Sanz is the current General Coordinator and Ignacio Blanco Giner its spokesperson.
The Communist Party o ...
(EUPV)—joined a coalition with the
Valencian Nationalist Bloc
The Valencian Nationalist Bloc ( ca-valencia, Bloc Nacionalista Valencià, Bloc or ''BNV''; ) was a Valencian nationalist party in the Valencian Country, Spain. It was the largest party in the Coalició Compromís until 2021, when it was replaced ...
(Bloc) and
The Greens–Ecologist Left of the Valencian Country
The Greens–Ecologist Left of the Valencian Country ( es, Els Verds–Esquerra Ecologista del País Valencià; EV–EE) was a green political party in the Valencian Community founded in 2004 as a split from The Greens (EV/LV), in response to EV/L ...
(EVEE).
Unity for the Isles
Unity for the Isles ( ca, Unitat per les Illes, es, Unidad por las Islas, UIB) was a Spanish party alliance formed by PSM–Nationalist Agreement (PSM–EN), Majorcan Union (UM), Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC), Agreement for Majorca (ExM) ...
, an electoral alliance based in the Balearic Islands, was formed by
PSM–Nationalist Agreement
The PSM–Nationalist Agreement ( ca, PSM–Entesa Nacionalista, PSM–EN) is a Democratic socialism, democratic socialist, Green politics, environmentalist and Catalan nationalism, Catalan nationalist political party of the Balearic Isles, Spain. ...
(PSM–EN),
Majorcan Union
Majorcan Union ( ca, Unió Mallorquina, UM; ) was a regional liberal party on the island of Majorca, Spain.
It was founded in October 1982, as a nationalist continuation of the then disintegrating Union of the Democratic Centre (UCD). The main ...
(UM),
Republican Left of Catalonia
The Republican Left of Catalonia ( ca, Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya, ERC; ; generically branded as ) is a Catalan independence movement, pro-Catalan independence, social democracy, social-democratic List of political parties in Catalonia, p ...
(ERC),
Agreement for Majorca (ExM) and
The Greens of Menorca (EV–Me).
Timetable
The key dates are listed below (all times are
CET
CET or cet may refer to:
Places
* Cet, Albania
* Cet, standard astronomical abbreviation for the constellation Cetus
* Colchester Town railway station (National Rail code CET), in Colchester, England
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Comcast Ente ...
. Note that the
Canary Islands
The Canary Islands (; es, Canarias, ), also known informally as the Canaries, are a Spanish autonomous community and archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, in Macaronesia. At their closest point to the African mainland, they are west of Morocc ...
use
WET (
UTC+0
UTC+00:00 is an identifier for a time offset from UTC of +00:00. In ISO 8601, an example of the associated time would be written as 2019-02-07T23:28:34+00:00. It is also known by the following geographical or historical names:
*Greenwich Mean ...
) instead):
*14 January: The election decree is issued with the countersign of the
Prime Minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...
after deliberation in the
Council of Ministers
A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or natio ...
, ratified by the King.
*15 January: Formal dissolution of the Cortes Generales and official start of ban period for the organization of events for the inauguration of public works, services or projects.
*18 January: Initial constitution of provincial and zone
electoral commission
An election commission is a body charged with overseeing the implementation of electioneering process of any country. The formal names of election commissions vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, and may be styled an electoral commission, a c ...
s.
*25 January: Deadline for parties and federations intending to enter in coalition to inform the relevant electoral commission.
*4 February: Deadline for parties, federations, coalitions and groupings of electors to present lists of candidates to the relevant electoral commission.
*6 February: Submitted lists of candidates are provisionally published in the
Official State Gazette
An official is someone who holds an office (function or mandate, regardless whether it carries an actual working space with it) in an organization or government and participates in the exercise of authority, (either their own or that of their s ...
(BOE).
*9 February: Deadline for citizens entered in the Register of Absent Electors Residing Abroad (CERA) and for citizens temporarily absent from Spain to apply for voting.
*10 February: Deadline for parties, federations, coalitions and groupings of electors to rectify irregularities in their lists.
*11 February: Official proclamation of valid submitted lists of candidates.
*12 February: Proclaimed lists are published in the BOE.
*22 February: Official start of
electoral campaigning.
*28 February: Deadline to apply for
postal voting
Postal voting is voting in an election where ballot papers are distributed to electors (and typically returned) by Mail, post, in contrast to electors voting in person at a polling place, polling station or electronically via an electronic voti ...
.
*4 March: Official start of legal ban on electoral opinion polling publication, dissemination or reproduction and deadline for CERA citizens to vote by mail.
*5 March: Deadline for postal and temporarily absent voters to issue their votes.
*7 March: Last day of official electoral campaigning and deadline for CERA citizens to vote in a ballot box in the relevant consular office or division.
*8 March: Official 24-hour ban on political campaigning prior to the general election (
reflection day).
*9 March: Polling day (
polling station
A polling place is where voters cast their ballots in elections. The phrase polling station is also used in American English and British English, although polling place is the building s 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).
Counting of votes starts immediately.
*12 March: General counting of votes, including the counting of CERA votes.
*15 March: Deadline for the general counting of votes to be carried out by the relevant electoral commission.
*24 March: Deadline for elected members to be proclaimed by the relevant electoral commission.
*3 April: Deadline for both chambers of the Cortes Generales to be re-assembled (the election decree determines this date, which for the 2008 election was set for 1 April).
*3 May: Maximum deadline for definitive results to be published in the BOE.
Campaign
Party slogans
})
* es, link=no, Comprometidos con la Igualdad ( en, "Committed to Equality")
* es, link=no, Vivimos juntos, decidimos juntos ( en, "We live together, we decide together")
* es, link=no, No es lo mismo ( en, "Is not the same")
* es, link=no, Porque lo estamos consiguiendo ( en, "Because we are getting it done")
* es, link=no, Somos más ( en, "We are more")
* es, link=no, Soñar con los pies en la tierra ( en, "Head in the clouds, feet on the ground")
* es, link=no, Por todo lo logrado ( en, "For everything achieved")
* es, link=no, Por el pleno empleo ( en, "For full employment")
* es, link=no, Porque no está todo hecho ( en, "Because everything is not done")
* es, link=no, La octava potencia económica, la primera en derechos sociales ( en, "Eight economic power, first in social rights")
* es, link=no, Ahora que avanzamos, por qué retroceder ( en, "Now that we move forward, why going back?")
* es, link=no, Podemos llegar tan lejos como queramos ( en, "We can reach as far as we want")
, "Reasons to believe"
,
, -
, bgcolor="",
,
PP
, « Con cabeza y corazón »
, "With brain and heart"
,
, -
, bgcolor="",
,
CiU
Convergence and Union ( ca, Convergència i Unió, CiU; ) was a Catalan nationalist electoral alliance in Catalonia, Spain. It was a federation of two constituent parties, the larger Democratic Convergence of Catalonia (CDC) and its smaller coun ...
, « El teu vot farà respectar Catalunya »
, "Your vote will make Catalonia to be respected"
,
, -
, bgcolor="",
,
esquerra
, « Objectiu: un país de primera »
, "Goal: A first class country"
,
, -
, bgcolor="",
,
EAJ/PNV
, « Euskadin bizi naiz ni, zu, non bizi zara? »
« Yo vivo en Euskadi, tú ¿dónde vives? »
, "I live in the Basque Country, where do you live?"
,
, -
, bgcolor="",
,
IU
, « LlamazarES + izquierda »
, "LlamazarES (is) more left"
,
, -
, bgcolor="",
,
CC–PNC
, « Habla canario, ponte en tu sitio »
, "Speak, Canarian, claim your place"
,
, -
, bgcolor="",
,
BNG
, « Contigo, Galiza decide »
, "With you, Galicia decides"
,
, -
, bgcolor="",
,
CHA
, « Aragón con más fuerza »
, "Aragon, with more strength"
,
, -
, bgcolor="",
,
EA
, « Herriaren ahotsa »
« La voz del pueblo »
, "The voice of the people"
,
, -
, bgcolor="",
,
NaBai
, « Moogi, moogi. Mugi gaitezen, mugi dezagun »
« Movámonos, movámoslo »
, "Let's move us, let's move it"
,
, -
, bgcolor="",
,
UPyD
Union, Progress and Democracy ( es, link=no, Unión, Progreso y Democracia , UPyD ) was a Spanish political party founded in September 2007 and dissolved in December 2020. It was a social-liberal party that rejected any form of nationalism, espe ...
, « Lo que nos une »
, "What unites us"
,
Although the official electoral campaign period in Spain only lasts for the 15 days before the election, (with the exception of the day just before the election), many parties, especially the PP and PSOE, start their "pre-campaigns" months in advance, often before having finalised their electoral lists.
;PSOE
The first phase campaign was done under the slogan ''"Con Z de Zapatero"'' (With Z of Zapatero), a joke based on the Prime Minister and socialist candidate's habit of tending to pronounce words ending with D as if they ended with Z. The campaign was linked to terms like equality (''Igualdad-Igualdaz'') or solidarity (''Solidaridad-Solidaridaz''), emphasizing the policies carried out by the current government. The second phase was done under the slogan ''"La Mirada Positiva"'' (The Positive outlook), emphasising the future government platform, and "Vota con todas tus fuerzas" (Vote with all of your strength), aiming to mobilize the indecisive or potentially abstaining voters. Another common slogan through all the campaign was "Motivos para creer" (Reasons to believe in).
;PP
For the pre-campaign the PP used the slogan ''"Con Rajoy es Posible"'' (With Rajoy it's Possible). Usually emphasizing PP's campaign proposals, such as ''"Llegar a fin de mes, Con Rajoy es Posible"'' (Making ends meet, With Rajoy it's Possible). IU accused PP of copying its slogan from the last
municipal elections
In many parts of the world, local elections take place to select office-holders in local government, such as mayors and councillors. Elections to positions within a city or town are often known as "municipal elections". Their form and conduct vary ...
;IU
IU chose the pre-campaign slogan ''"LlamazarES + Más Izquierda"'' (LlamazarES (is) More Left), calling attention to their position as the third national party.
Campaign issues
The economy became a major campaign issue due to a number of factors:
* A slowing down in the housing market, with prices even beginning to fall in some areas.
* Sharp increases in prices of some basic commodities.
* Global instability as a result of market uncertainty.
* A rise in unemployment.
The sudden emergence of the economy as a political issue came after several years of steady economic growth, and led some observers to suggest that maybe the government would have benefitted from calling an earlier election.
In addition to those factors both the PP and the PSOE made competing proposals on taxation.
Election debates
;Opinion polls
Opinion polls
Results
Congress of Deputies
Senate
Aftermath
Notes
References
External links
Election Guide- Spain ProfileNSD: European Election Database - Spainpublishes regional level election data; allows for comparisons of election results, 1993–2008
{{Spanish elections
General
A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry.
In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...
2008 in Spain
2008
File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...
March 2008 events in Europe