Spain (European Parliament constituency)

Spain is a European Parliament constituency for elections in the European Union covering the member state of Spain. It is currently represented by 59 Members of the European Parliament and is the second largest European Parliament constituency in terms of geographic area after France, as well as the third most populated after Germany and France.

Spain
European Parliament constituency
Location among the current constituencies
Member state	Spain
Created	1987
MEPs	60 (1986–1993) 64 (1993–2004) 54 (2004–2009) 50 (2009–2011) 54 (2011–2020) 59 (2020–present)
Sources
[1][2]

Electoral system

The constituency was created as per the 1985 Treaty of Accession and was first contested in the 1987 European election in Spain. The Treaty provided for Spain to be allocated 60 representatives within the European Parliament, but successive amendments to the Treaty on European Union and the Treaties establishing the European Communities have seen this number change: 64 under Council Decision 93/81/Euratom, ECSC, EEC and Amsterdam; 50 under Nice and 54 under Lisbon.^{[1][2][3][4][5]} The European Parliament Committee on Constitutional Affairs proposed on 23 January 2018 an increase of the number of seats allocated to Spain from 54 to 59 after Brexit has taken place, a proposal that first needs to be adopted by the Parliament, then approved by the European Council, to be made effective.^[6][7]

Voting is on the basis of universal suffrage, which comprises all nationals and non-national European citizens over eighteen and in full enjoyment of their political rights. Amendments to the electoral law in 2011 required for Spaniards abroad to apply for voting before being permitted to vote, a system known as "begged" or expat vote (Spanish: Voto rogado).^[8] Seats are elected using the D'Hondt method and a closed list proportional representation, with no electoral threshold being applied in order to be entitled to enter seat distribution.^[9][10] However, the use of the D'Hondt method may result in an effective threshold depending on the district magnitude.^[11]

The electoral law provides that parties, federations, coalitions and groupings of electors are allowed to present lists of candidates. However, they are required to secure the signature of at least 15,000 registered electors. Electors are barred from signing for more than one list of candidates. Parties, federations and coalitions are allowed to replace this requirement with 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—. Concurrently, parties and federations intending to enter in coalition to take part jointly at an election are required to inform the relevant Electoral Commission within ten days of the election being called.^[9][10]

Members of the European Parliament

Members of the European Parliament for Spain 1987–present
Key to parties   HB   EH   LPD   AR   BNG   IU/IP   UP   Podemos   PE   IdP   EPDD   EP   PA   PSOE   CN–EP   CN   CE   Galeusca   CEUS   CEU   Junts   Cs   CDS   CiU   PP   AP   Ruiz-Mateos   Vox
Parliament	Election	Distribution
2nd	1987	1 3 1 28 7 3 17
3rd	1989	1 4 1 1 1 27 1 5 2 15 2
4th	1994	9 22 2 3 28
5th	1999	1 1 4 24 2 2 3 27
6th	2004	2 1 25 2 24
7th	2009	2 1 21 1 2 23
	2011^[a]	2 1 23 1 3 24
8th	2014	1 6 5 1 2 14 4 2 3 16
9th	2019	3 6 20 1 2 7 12 3
	2020^[b]	3 6 21 1 3 8 13 4

Elections

1987

Main articles: 1987 European Parliament election in Spain and List of members of the European Parliament for Spain, 1987–1989

The 1987 election was the first European election for Spain.

1989

Main articles: 1989 European Parliament election in Spain and List of members of the European Parliament for Spain, 1989–1994

The 1989 European election was the third election to the European Parliament and the second for Spain.

1994

Main articles: 1994 European Parliament election in Spain and List of members of the European Parliament for Spain, 1994–1999

The 1994 European election was the fourth election to the European Parliament and the third for Spain.

1999

Main articles: 1999 European Parliament election in Spain and List of members of the European Parliament for Spain, 1999–2004

The 1999 European election was the fifth election to the European Parliament and the fourth for Spain.

2004

Main articles: 2004 European Parliament election in Spain and List of members of the European Parliament for Spain, 2004–2009

The 2004 European election was the sixth election to the European Parliament and the fifth for Spain.

2009

Main articles: 2009 European Parliament election in Spain and List of members of the European Parliament for Spain, 2009–2014

The 2009 European election was the seventh election to the European Parliament and the sixth for Spain.

2014

Main articles: 2014 European Parliament election in Spain and List of members of the European Parliament for Spain, 2014–2019

The 2014 European election was the eighth election to the European Parliament and the seventh for Spain.

2019

Main articles: 2019 European Parliament election in Spain and List of members of the European Parliament for Spain, 2019–2024

The 2019 European election was the ninth election to the European Parliament and the eighth for Spain.

2024

Main article: 2024 European Parliament election in Spain

The 2024 European election will be the tenth election to the European Parliament and the ninth for Spain.

Notes

1. Once the Treaty of Lisbon came into force on 1 December 2011, Spain's MEP delegation was increased from 50 to 54 and applied retroactively.
2. As a result of Brexit, Spain's MEP delegation may grow to 59, with the additional 5 seats being allocated to PSOE (1), PP (1), Cs (1), Vox (1) and Junts (1).

References

1. "Treaty concerning the accession of the Kingdom of Spain and the Portuguese Republic to the European Economic Community and to the European Atomic Energy Community". of 15 November 1985. Retrieved 21 July 2017. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
2. "Decision amending the Act concerning the election of the representatives of the European Parliament by direct universal suffrage, annexed to Council Decision 76/787/ECSC, EEC, Euratom of 20 September 1976". Council Decision No. 93/81/Euratom, ECSC, EEC of 9 February 1993. Retrieved 21 July 2017. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
3. "Treaty of Amsterdam amending the Treaty on European Union, the Treaties establishing the European Communities and certain related acts". of 10 November 1997. Retrieved 21 July 2017. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
4. "Treaty of Nice amending the Treaty on European Union, the Treaties establishing the European Communities and certain related acts". of 10 March 2001. Retrieved 21 July 2017. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
5. "Treaty of Lisbon amending the Treaty on European Union and the Treaty establishing the European Community". of 17 December 2007. Retrieved 21 July 2017. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
6. "EUOBSERVER : France, Spain set to gain seats in post-Brexit EU parliament". FOCUS Information Agency (in Bulgarian). Retrieved 23 January 2018.
7. "MEPs to vote on shrinking Parliament post Brexit". POLITICO. 23 January 2018. Retrieved 23 January 2018.
8. Reig Pellicer, Naiara (16 December 2015). "Spanish elections: Begging for the right to vote". cafebabel.co.uk. Retrieved 17 July 2017.
9. "General Electoral System Organic Law of 1985". Organic Law No. 5 of 19 June 1985. Retrieved 6 March 2017. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
10. "Representation of the people Institutional Act". www.juntaelectoralcentral.es. Retrieved 16 June 2017.
11. Gallagher, Michael (30 July 2012). . Trinity College, Dublin. Archived from the original on 30 July 2017. Retrieved 22 July 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)

External links

• European Election News by European Election Law Association (Eurela)
• List of MEPs europarl.europa.eu