Balearic Regional Election, 2011
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The 2011 Balearic regional election was held on Sunday, 22 May 2011, to elect the 8th
Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
of the
autonomous community eu, autonomia erkidegoa ca, comunitat autònoma gl, comunidade autónoma oc, comunautat autonòma an, comunidat autonoma ast, comunidá autónoma , alt_name = , map = , category = Autonomous administra ...
of the
Balearic Islands The Balearic Islands ( es, Islas Baleares ; or ca, Illes Balears ) are an archipelago in the Balearic Sea, near the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. The archipelago is an autonomous community and a province of Spain; its capital is ...
. All 59 seats in the Parliament were up for election. The election was held simultaneously with regional elections in twelve other autonomous communities and
local 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 ...
all throughout
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 ...
. Political control of the islands had fluctuated in the preceding elections with the People's Party (PP) losing their majority and consequently, control to a coalition headed by the
Socialist Party of the Balearic Islands The Socialist Party of the Balearic Islands–PSOE ('' ca, Partit Socialista de les Illes Balears–PSOE'') is the regional branch in the Balearic Islands of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE), the main centre-left party in Spain since th ...
(PSIB–PSOE) at the 2007 election. The 2011 election saw the PP regain their overall majority. The gains came largely at the expense of United Left,
Convergence for the Isles Convergence for the Isles ( ca, Convergència per les Illes) was a Balearic nationalist political party founded in March 2011 and merged into Proposta per les Illes in November 2012. The party's aim was to constitute a third pole in Balearic polit ...
(a successor to the late
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 ...
), Republican Left and
The Greens The Greens or Greens may refer to: Current political parties * Australian Greens, also known as ''The Greens'' * Greens of Andorra * Greens of Bosnia and Herzegovina * Greens of Burkina * Greens (Greece) * Greens of Montenegro *Greens of Serbia *G ...
, all of whom lost their representation in this legislature. These parties had all won seats as part of various coalitions in the previous elections. One of the first tasks of the Parliament was to elect the
president of the Balearic Islands The president of the Balearic Islands is the head of government of the Balearic Islands, one of the 17 autonomous communities of Spain, while the monarch Felipe VI remains the head of state as King of Spain , coatofarms = File:Coa ...
from among their number, with
José Ramón Bauzá José Ramón Bauzá Díaz (born 16 November 1970) is a Spanish politician and the president of the Autonomous Community of the Balearic Islands from 2011 to 2015. Born to a Majorcan father and a mother native to Madrid, he is licensed as a pharma ...
replacing
Francesc Antich Francesc Antich Oliver (born November 28, 1958) is a Venezuela, Venezuelan-born Politics of Spain, Spanish politician, who was the President of the Balearic Islands between 1999 and 2003, and 2007 and 2011. He also was the Secretary General of t ...
(1999–2003, and again 2007–2011) in the post.


Overview


Electoral system

The
Parliament of the Balearic Islands The Parliament of the Balearic Islands (Catalan: ''Parlament de les Illes Balears'') is the unicameral autonomous parliament of the Balearic Islands, one of the autonomous communities of Spain. The Parliament, composed of 59 elected seats, is l ...
was the
devolved Devolution is the statutory delegation of powers from the central government of a sovereign state to govern at a subnational level, such as a regional or local level. It is a form of administrative decentralization. Devolved territories h ...
,
unicameral legislature Unicameralism (from ''uni''- "one" + Latin ''camera'' "chamber") is a type of legislature, which consists of one house or assembly, that legislates and votes as one. Unicameral legislatures exist when there is no widely perceived need for multic ...
of the
autonomous community eu, autonomia erkidegoa ca, comunitat autònoma gl, comunidade autónoma oc, comunautat autonòma an, comunidat autonoma ast, comunidá autónoma , alt_name = , map = , category = Autonomous administra ...
of the
Balearic Islands The Balearic Islands ( es, Islas Baleares ; or ca, Illes Balears ) are an archipelago in the Balearic Sea, near the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. The archipelago is an autonomous community and a province of Spain; its capital is ...
, having legislative power in regional matters as defined by the
Spanish Constitution The Spanish Constitution (Spanish, Asturleonese language, Asturleonese, and gl, Constitución Española; eu, Espainiako Konstituzioa; ca, Constitució Espanyola; oc, Constitucion espanhòla) is the Democracy, democratic law that is supreme l ...
and the Balearic Statute of Autonomy, as well as the ability to vote confidence in or withdraw it from a regional president. Voting for the Parliament 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, registered in the Balearic Islands and in full enjoyment of their political rights. Amendments to the electoral law in 2011 required for Balearic people abroad to apply for voting before being permitted to vote, a system known as "begged" or expat vote ( es, Voto rogado). The 59 members of the Parliament of the Balearic Islands 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 five percent of valid votes—which included blank ballots—being applied in each constituency. Seats were allocated to constituencies, corresponding to the
islands An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island ...
of
Mallorca 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 ...
,
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 ...
and
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 ...
, with each being allocated a fixed number of seats: 33 for Mallorca, 13 for Menorca, 12 for Ibiza and 1 for Formentera.


Election date

The term of the Parliament of the Balearic Islands expired four years after the date of its previous election, unless it was 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 parliament and published on the following day in the Official Gazette of the Balearic Islands (BOIB), with election day taking place on the fifty-fourth day from publication. The previous election was held on 27 May 2007, which meant that the legislature's term would have expired on 27 May 2011. The election decree was required to be published in the BOIB no later than 3 May 2011, with the election taking place on the fifty-fourth day from publication, setting the latest possible election date for the Parliament on Sunday, 26 June 2011.> The president had the prerogative to dissolve the Parliament of the Balearic Islands 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 and that dissolution did not occur before one year had elapsed since the previous one. In the event of an investiture process failing to elect a regional president within a sixty-day period from the first ballot, the Parliament was to be automatically dissolved and a fresh election called.


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:


Election debates


Opinion polls

The table below lists voting intention estimates 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. When available, seat projections determined by the polling organisations are displayed below (or in place of) the percentages in a smaller font; 30 seats were required for 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 ...
in the
Parliament of the Balearic Islands The Parliament of the Balearic Islands (Catalan: ''Parlament de les Illes Balears'') is the unicameral autonomous parliament of the Balearic Islands, one of the autonomous communities of Spain. The Parliament, composed of 59 elected seats, is l ...
.


Results


Overall


Distribution by constituency


Aftermath


See also

* 2011 Balearic Island Councils elections * Results breakdown of the 2011 Spanish local elections (Balearic Islands)


Notes


References

;Opinion poll sources ;Other {{Regional elections in Spain in the 2010s 2011 in the Balearic Islands
Balearic Islands The Balearic Islands ( es, Islas Baleares ; or ca, Illes Balears ) are an archipelago in the Balearic Sea, near the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. The archipelago is an autonomous community and a province of Spain; its capital is ...
Regional elections in the Balearic Islands May 2011 events in Europe