1999 Catalan regional election

Catalan parliamentary election, 1999

17 October 1999
All 135 seats in the Parliament of Catalonia 68 seats needed for a majority
Opinion polls
Registered	5,293,657 4.2%
Turnout	3,133,926 (59.2%) 4.4 pp
First party Second party Third party   Leader Pasqual Maragall Jordi Pujol Alberto Fernández Díaz Party PSC CiU PP Leader since 6 March 1999 19 September 1978 28 September 1996 Last election 34 seats, 24.9% 60 seats, 40.9% 17 seats, 13.1% Seats won 52 56 12 Seat change 18 4 5 Popular vote 1,183,299 1,178,420 297,265 Percentage 37.9% 37.7% 9.5% Swing 13.0 pp 3.2 pp 3.6 pp   Fourth party Fifth party   Leader Josep-Lluís Carod-Rovira Rafael Ribó Party ERC Initiative for Catalonia Greens Leader since 25 November 1996 23 February 1987 Last election 13 seats, 9.5% 11 seats, 9.7% Seats won 12 3 Seat change 1 8 Popular vote 271,173 78,441 Percentage 8.7% 2.5% Swing 0.8 pp 7.2 pp
Graphic of the results in the Catalan Parliament election, 1999, based in seats and constituencies.
President before election Jordi Pujol CiU Elected President Jordi Pujol CiU

The 1999 Catalan parliamentary election was held on Sunday, 17 October 1999, to elect the 6th Parliament of Catalonia, the regional legislature of the Spanish autonomous community of Catalonia. At stake were all 135 seats in the Parliament, determining the President of Catalonia.

Electoral system

The 135 members of the Parliament of Catalonia were elected in 4 multi-member districts, corresponding to Catalonia's four provinces, using the D'Hondt method and a closed-list proportional representation. As the community did not have an electoral law of its own passed into law at the time of the 1999 election, the electoral system came regulated under the community's Statute of Autonomy rules, and subsidiarily, under the Spanish general electoral law (Organic Law 5/1985, of the General Electoral Regime). As a result of the lack of an autonomous electoral law, seats were allocated to districts through specific Laws or Decrees for each election. For the 1999 election, seats were distributed as follows: Barcelona (85), Girona (17), Lleida (15) and Tarragona (18).

Voting was on the basis of universal suffrage in a secret ballot. Only lists polling above 3% of valid votes in each district (which includes blank ballots—for none of the above) were entitled to enter the seat distribution.

Background

Afterwards of 19 years of a Convergence and Union government, this elections expected a big change in a Catalonia Government.

In the past 1995 elections, Convergence and Union lost the absolute majority, but in the parliament voting it was won, because the People's Party of Catalonia and the Socialists' Party of Catalonia abstained in the voting.

In the 1995 elections Initiative for Catalonia Greens and Socialists' Party of Catalonia were to run separately, but in this election formed a party coalition, except in Barcelona.

Parties

• Convergència i Unió (Convergence and Union, CiU). Presidential candidate: Jordi Pujol. Union of the Catalan nationalist, fiscally liberal Democratic Convergence of Catalonia and the conservative Democratic Union of Catalonia.
• Socialists' Party of Catalonia-Citizens for Change-Initiative for Catalonia Greens (PSC-CpC-ICV)*. Presidential candidate: Pasqual Maragall. Social democratic and ecologist. The PSC is affiliated to the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE).
• Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya (Republican Left of Catalonia, ERC). Presidential candidate: Josep-Lluís Carod-Rovira. Catalan republican and independentist, left-wing.
• People's Party of Catalonia (PPC). Presidential candidate: Alberto Fernández Díaz. The main party of the centre-right in Spain.
• Initiative for Catalonia Greens (ICV). Presidential candidate: Rafael Ribó'. Green (eco-socialist) and leftist.
• United and Alternative Left (EUiA). Presidential candidate: Antoni Lucchetti. The Catalan referent of the Spanish United Left.

Opinion polls

Vote

Poll results are listed in the table below in reverse chronological order, showing the most recent first, and using the date the survey's fieldwork was done, as opposed to the date of publication. If such date is unknown, the date of publication is given instead. The highest percentage figure in each polling survey is displayed in bold, and the background shaded in the leading party's colour. In the instance that there is a tie, then no figure is shaded. The lead column on the right shows the percentage-point difference between the two parties with the highest figures. When a specific poll does not show a data figure for a party, the party's cell corresponding to that poll is shown empty.

Date	Polling Firm/Source	CiU	PSC	PPC	ICV	ERC	Oth.	Lead
17 Oct 1999	Regional Election	37.7	37.9	9.5	2.5	8.7	3.7	0.2
17 Oct	Ipsos-Eco	37.4	36.7	9.6	3.2	8.5	4.6	0.7
17 Oct	Opitel	40.0	37.5	9.0	4.5	7.0	2.0	2.5
17 Oct	Sigma-2	37.7	36.5	10.0	3.2	9.1	3.5	1.2
Exit polls
10 Oct	Metra-6	36.2	34.1	11.4	6.0	8.3	4.0	2.1
10 Oct	DYM	40.5	30.3	11.3	5.6	9.7	2.6	10.2
10 Oct	Demoscopia	40.1	36.6	10.7	3.2	7.7	1.7	3.5
10 Oct	Sigma-2	40.4	35.7	10.2	2.6	7.7	3.4	4.7
2–7 Oct	Ipsos-Eco	37.2	32.9	12.1	8.9	6.7	2.2	4.3
5–6 Oct	Ipsos-Eco	36.5	32.7	12.4	8.9	7.2	2.3	3.8
4–6 Oct	Opina	39.0	36.0	10.5	4.0	7.5	3.0	3.0
3–4 Oct	Ipsos-Eco	36.2	33.1	11.8	9.6	7.4	1.8	3.1
16 Sep–3 Oct	CIS	38.6	31.7	11.7	9.7	4.5	3.8	6.9
28 Sep–2 Oct	Ipsos-Eco	36.8	34.6	11.9	8.3	6.1	2.3	2.2
28–29 Sep	Ipsos-Eco	36.4	35.1	12.1	7.9	6.2	2.3	1.3
15–21 Sep	DYM	42.8	34.3	10.7	w. PSC	8.7	3.5	8.5
19 Sep	Line-Staff	42.6	34.1	9.0	2.0	10.2	2.1	8.5
19 Sep	Demoscopia	38.8	37.6	10.6	3.7	7.0	2.3	1.2
13 Sep	La Vanguardia	37.0	36.7	11.0	4.3	7.8	3.2	0.3
7–9 Sep	Sigma-2	40.4	33.9	10.0	3.6	7.5	4.6	6.5
30–31 Aug	Opina	38.0	36.0	10.5	5.0	7.5	3.0	2.0
13 Jun 1999	EP Election	29.3	34.6	16.9	5.4	6.1	7.7	5.3
29 Apr–1 May	Opina	39.0	31.0	15.0	6.0	7.0	2.0	8.0
21 Feb	La Vanguardia	33.6	34.1	16.1	5.7	5.7	4.8	0.5
1999
11–12 Dec	Opina	38.0	31.0	16.0	6.0	6.0	3.0	7.0
19–20 Jun	Opina	39.5	28.0	14.0	6.5	7.0	5.0	11.5
6 Mar	Opina	39.5	27.0	13.5	7.0	6.5	6.5	12.5
1998
3–4 Nov	Opina	42.5	23.0	14.0	7.5	7.5	5.5	19.5
18–19 Jun	Opina	41.0	23.0	15.0	9.0	7.5	4.5	18.0
7–8 Mar	Opina	39.5	25.5	15.0	9.0	7.0	4.0	14.0
1997
3 Mar 1996	General Election	29.6	39.4	18.0	7.6	4.2	1.2	9.8
1996
19 Nov 1995	Regional Election	40.9	24.9	13.1	9.7	9.5	1.9	16.0

Seat projectionss

Opinion polls showing seat projections are displayed in the table below. The highest seat figures in each polling survey have their background shaded in the leading party's colour. In the instance that there is a tie, then no figure is shaded. 68 seats were required for an absolute majority in the Parliament of Catalonia.

68 seats needed for majority

Date	Polling Firm/Source	CiU	PSC	PPC	ICV	ERC	Others
17 Oct 1999	Regional Election	56	52	12	3	12	0
17 Oct	Ipsos-Eco	55−57	50−52	12−14	3−4	11−13	0
17 Oct	Opitel	57−58	50−52	11−12	4	10−12	0
17 Oct	Sigma-2	55−59	49−51	13	3	11−13	0
Exit polls
10 Oct	Metra-6	53−56	48−50	14−16	6−7	10−12	0
10 Oct	DYM	57−63	40−46	14−15	5−6	12−15	0
10 Oct	Demoscopia	58−60	48−50	13−14	3	10	0
10 Oct	Sigma-2	58−62	48−50	12−14	3	10	0
2–7 Oct	Ipsos-Eco	53−55	45−47	15−16	7−8	12−13	0
5–6 Oct	Ipsos-Eco	52−55	45−47	15−16	8	12−13	0
4–6 Oct	Opina	56−58	51−52	13	4	9−10	0
3–4 Oct	Ipsos-Eco	52−54	45−47	14−15	8	13−14	0
16 Sep–3 Oct	CIS	57−59	45−47	14−15	4−5	11−13	0
28 Sep–2 Oct	Ipsos-Eco	53−55	47−48	14−15	7	12	0
28–29 Sep	Ipsos-Eco	52−54	46−48	14−15	7	12	0
15–21 Sep	DYM	60−65	42−46	11−15	1−4	11−14	0
19 Sep	Line-Staff	61−62	49	12	0	12−13	0
19 Sep	Demoscopia	55−58	50−52	13−14	4	10−11	0
13 Sep	La Vanguardia	52−58	47−57	13−14	3−4	9−12	0
7–9 Sep	Sigma-2	58−63	46−48	13	4	9−12	0
5 Sep	Line-Staff	57−58	47	13−14	5	12	0
30–31 Aug	Opina	55−56	49−51	13−14	4−6	10−11	0
29 Apr–1 May	Opina	58	44	19	6	8	0
21 Feb	La Vanguardia	47−57	44−55	21	5−6	7	0
1999
11–12 Dec	Opina	57	44	21	6	7	0
19–20 Jun	Opina	61	41	19	6	8	0
6 Mar	Opina	61	40	18	8	8	0
1998
3–4 Nov	Opina	65	33	19	8	10	0
1997
1996
19 Nov 1995	Regional Election	60	34	17	11	13	0

Results

Overall

← Summary of the 17 October 1999 Catalan Parliament election results →

Party		Vote			Seats
		Votes	%	±pp	Won	+/−
width="1" bgcolor="Template:Socialists' Party of Catalonia/meta/color" |	Socialists' Party of Catalonia-Citizens for Change (PSC-CpC)	1,183,299	37.85	12.96	52	18
bgcolor="Template:Convergence and Union/meta/color" |	Convergence and Union (CiU)	1,178,420	37.70	3.25	56	4
bgcolor="Template:People's Party of Catalonia/meta/color" |	People's Party of Catalonia (PPC)	297,265	9.51	3.57	12	5
bgcolor="Template:Republican Left of Catalonia/meta/color" |	Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC)	271,173	8.67	0.82	12	1
bgcolor="Template:Initiative for Catalonia Greens/meta/color" |	Initiative for Catalonia-Greens (IC-V)	78,441	2.51	7.20	3	8
bgcolor="Template:United Left (Spain)/meta/color" |	United and Alternative Left (EUiA)	44,454	1.42	New	0	±0
	The Greens-Ecologist Confederation of Catalonia (EV-CEC)	22,797	0.73	0.28	0	±0
	The Greens-Green Alternative (EV-AV)	8,254	0.26	New	0	±0

Parties with less than 0.1% of the vote		13,019	0.42	–	0	±0
	Internationalist Socialist Workers' Party (POSI)	2,784	0.09	New	0	±0
	Catalan State (EC)	1,774	0.06	New	0	±0
bgcolor="Template:Humanist Party (Spain)/meta/color"|	Humanist Party (PH)	1,327	0.04	New	0	±0
bgcolor="Template:Spanish Falange of the JONS/meta/color" |	Spanish Falange of the JONS (FE-JONS)	1,281	0.04	0.03	0	±0
bgcolor="Template:Democratic and Social Centre (Spain)/meta/color" |	Democratic and Social Centre (CDS)	1,161	0.04	New	0	±0
	Natural Law Party (PLN)	1,029	0.03	New	0	±0
	UNIC-FIC (UNIC-FIC)	881	0.03	New	0	±0
	Bounced Public Workers (TPR)	833	0.03	New	0	±0
	Espinalist Party (PE)	799	0.03	New	0	±0
	Internationalist Fight (LI (LIT-CI))	485	0.02	New	0	±0
	Federal Democratic Union (UFD)	447	0.01	New	0	±0
	Catalans in the World (CAM)	110	0.00	New	0	±0
	Democratic Party of the People (PDEP)	108	0.00	±0.00	0	±0

	Blank ballots	28,968	0.93	0.04
Total		3,126,090	100.00		135	±0
Valid votes		3,126,090	99.75	0.03
Invalid votes		7,836	0.25	0.03
Votes cast / turnout		3,133,926	59.20	4.44
Abstentions		2,159,731	40.80	4.44
Registered voters		5,293,657
Source(s): Department of Interior and Institutional Relations Argos Information Portal

Vote share PSC-CpC   37.85% CiU   37.70% PPC   9.51% ERC   8.67% IC-V   2.51% EUiA   1.42% Others   1.41% Blank ballots   0.93%

Parliamentary seats CiU   41.48% PSC-CpC   38.52% PPC   8.89% ERC   8.89% IC-V   2.22%

Results by province

Party			BC	GI	LL	TA	Total
rowspan="2" bgcolor="Template:Socialists' Party of Catalonia/meta/color" |	PSC	S	36	5	5	6	52
V		40.0	29.2	29.5	34.1	37.9
rowspan="2" bgcolor="Template:Convergence and Union/meta/color" |	CiU	S	31	9	8	8	56
V		35.1	48.6	48.1	41.3	37.7
rowspan="2" bgcolor="Template:People's Party of Catalonia/meta/color" |	PPC	S	8	1	1	2	12
V		9.9	6.1	8.0	10.6	9.5
rowspan="2" bgcolor="Template:Republican Left of Catalonia/meta/color" |	ERC	S	7	2	1	2	12
V		7.7	12.8	11.6	10.5	8.7
rowspan="2" bgcolor="Template:Initiative for Catalonia Greens/meta/color" |	ICV	S	3				3
V		3.3				2.5
	Others	V	3.1	2.4	1.8	2.6	2.8
	Blank		0.9	0.9	1.0	0.9	0.9
	Total seats		85	17	15	18	135
Turnout			58.9	62.2	60.8	58.3	59.2

Results by comarques

Comarque	PSC	CiU	PPC	ERC	ICV	Lead	Turnout

Alt Camp	29.8	44.4	6.3	16.1		−14.6	63.6
Alt Empordà	30.8	47.4	7.9	10.9		−16.6	60.2
Alt Penedès	31.9	47.4	5.7	10.8	2.1	−15.5	65.0
Alt Urgell	24.6	49.9	6.4	17.3		−25.3	60.3
Alta Ribagorça	41.1	42.2	5.9	9.0		−1.1	59.3
Anoia	33.8	45.5	6.7	8.8	2.3	−11.7	61.5
Bages	30.1	47.9	4.9	12.2	2.4	−17.8	63.5
Baix Camp	33.4	40.9	10.0	12.1		−7.5	55.2
Baix Ebre	31.3	44.3	12.2	9.5		−13.0	57.1
Baix Empordà	32.5	48.3	5.1	11.1		−15.8	61.2
Baix Llobregat	48.1	27.6	9.5	5.7	4.3	+20.5	56.3
Baix Penedès	40.5	39.7	9.1	7.9		+0.8	59.5
Barcelonès	41.3	32.0	12.2	7.2	3.4	+9.3	59.9
Berguedà	26.0	51.2	4.4	14.8	1.6	−25.2	66.2
Cerdanya	26.0	51.2	6.0	14.0		−25.2	60.2
Conca de Barberà	21.0	49.9	5.9	17.9		−28.9	65.0
Garraf	39.0	37.8	8.7	7.9	3.7	+1.2	56.1
Garrigues	24.2	50.0	6.4	17.5		−25.8	68.2
Garrotxa	23.4	56.1	4.4	13.4		−32.7	67.1
Gironès	31.7	42.9	6.7	14.7		−11.2	63.7
Maresme	33.0	43.3	8.8	9.2		−10.3	61.7
Montsià	31.5	49.5	8.2	8.1		−18.0	59.7
Noguera	24.4	53.7	7.0	12.2		−29.3	66.8
Osona	18.6	56.8	3.9	16.1	2.4	−38.2	68.1
Pallars Jussà	30.5	50.0	5.0	12.5		−19.5	60.9
Pallars Sobirà	30.9	51.1	4.9	10.9		−20.2	67.8
Pla de l'Estany	15.7	57.1	4.6	20.0		−37.1	68.1
Pla d'Urgell	25.8	52.5	6.7	12.7		−26.7	68.7
Priorat	27.8	46.0	6.3	16.9		−18.2	72.1
Ribera d'Ebre	31.3	48.9	6.9	10.4		−17.6	68.0
Ripollès	25.9	55.5	3.3	12.7		−29.6	69.7
Segarra	21.1	53.6	6.9	15.6		−32.5	64.3
Segrià	35.3	42.8	9.7	8.9		−7.5	58.5
Selva	29.1	49.2	6.3	11.5		−20.1	60.7
Solsonès	17.5	57.8	5.9	15.9		−40.3	66.2
Tarragonès	38.8	34.5	13.9	8.8		+4.3	58.1
Terra Alta	25.1	49.1	14.2	9.4		−24.0	66.4
Urgell	22.5	54.2	6.9	13.8		−31.7	65.2
Val d'Aran	38.3	44.5	12.6	2.7		−6.2	58.1
Vallès Occidental	42.6	33.7	8.4	7.1	3.6	+8.9	57.5
Vallès Oriental	37.9	40.5	7.5	7.6	2.8	−2.6	59.1
Barcelona	40.0	35.1	9.9	7.7	3.3	+4.9	58.9
Girona	29.2	48.6	6.1	12.8		−19.4	62.2
Lleida	29.5	48.1	8.0	11.6		−18.6	60.8
Tarragona	34.1	41.3	10.6	10.5		−7.2	58.3
TOTAL	37.9	37.7	9.5	8.7	2.5	+0.2	59.2

Post-election

Investiture voting

16 November 1999 Investiture voting for Jordi Pujol (CiU) Absolute majority: 68/135
Vote	Parties	Votes
Y Yes	CiU (56), PP (12)	68 / 135
No	PSC (52), ICV (3)	55 / 135
Abstentions	ERC (12)	12 / 135
Source: Historia Electoral