1992 Catalan regional election

1992 Catalan regional election
15 March 1992
All 135 seats in the Parliament of Catalonia
68 seats needed for a majority
Opinion polls
Registered4,839,071 Increase 6.0%
Turnout2,655,051 (54.9%)
Decrease 4.5 pp
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader Jordi Pujol Raimon Obiols Àngel Colom
Party CiU PSC–PSOE ERC
Leader since 17 November 1974 12 July 1983 19 November 1989
Leader's seat Barcelona Barcelona Barcelona
Last election 69 seats, 45.7% 42 seats, 29.8% 6 seats, 4.1%
Seats won 70 40 11
Seat change Increase 1 Decrease 2 Increase 5
Popular vote 1,221,233 728,311 210,366
Percentage 46.2% 27.5% 8.0%
Swing Increase 0.5 pp Decrease 2.3 pp Increase 3.9 pp
  Fourth party Fifth party
 
Leader Rafael Ribó Alejo Vidal-Quadras
Party IC PP
Leader since 23 February 1987 9 January 1991
Leader's seat Barcelona Barcelona
Last election 9 seats, 7.8% 6 seats, 5.3%[a]
Seats won 7 7
Seat change Decrease 2 Increase 1
Popular vote 171,794 157,772
Percentage 6.5% 6.0%
Swing Decrease 1.3 pp Increase 0.7 pp
President before election

Jordi Pujol
CDC (CiU)

Elected President

Jordi Pujol
CDC (CiU)

A regional election was held in Catalonia on 15 March 1992 to elect the 4th Parliament of the autonomous community. All 135 seats in the Parliament were up for election.

Overview

Under the 1979 Statute of Autonomy, the Parliament of Catalonia was the unicameral legislature of the homonymous autonomous community, having legislative power in devolved matters, as well as the ability to grant or withdraw confidence from a regional president.[1] The electoral and procedural rules were supplemented by national law provisions.[2]

Date

The term of the Parliament of Catalonia expired four years after the date of its previous election, unless it was dissolved earlier. The election was required to be called no later than 15 days before the scheduled expiration date of parliament, with election day taking place within 60 days from the call.[3] The previous election was held on 29 May 1988, which meant that the chamber's term would have expired on 29 May 1992. The election was required to be called no later than 14 May 1992, setting the latest possible date for election day on 13 July 1992.

The regional president had the prerogative to dissolve the Parliament of Catalonia at any given time and call a snap election, provided that no motion of no confidence was in process and that dissolution did not occur before one year after a previous one under this procedure.[4] In the event of an investiture process failing to elect a regional president within a two-month period from the first ballot, the Parliament was to be automatically dissolved and a fresh election called.[5]

The Parliament of Catalonia was officially dissolved on 21 January 1992 with the publication of the corresponding decree in the Official Journal of the Government of Catalonia (DOGC), setting election day for 15 March.[6][7]

Electoral system

Voting for the Parliament was based on universal suffrage, comprising all Spanish nationals over 18 years of age, registered in Catalonia and with full political rights, provided that they had not been deprived of the right to vote by a final sentence, nor were legally incapacitated.[8]

The Parliament of Catalonia had a minimum of 100 and a maximum of 150 seats, with electoral provisions fixing its size at 135. All were elected in four multi-member constituencies—corresponding to the provinces of Barcelona, Girona, Lleida and Tarragona, each of which was assigned a fixed number of seats—using the D'Hondt method and closed-list proportional voting, with a three percent-threshold of valid votes (including blank ballots) in each constituency.[9] The use of this electoral method resulted in a higher effective threshold depending on district magnitude and vote distribution.[10]

As a result of the aforementioned allocation, each Parliament constituency was entitled the following seats:[11]

Seats Constituencies[b]
85 Barcelona
18 Tarragona
17 Girona
15 Lleida

The law did not provide for by-elections to fill vacant seats; instead, any vacancies arising after the proclamation of candidates and during the legislative term were filled by the next candidates on the party lists or, when required, by designated substitutes.[13]

Parties and candidates

The electoral law allowed for parties and federations registered in the interior ministry, alliances and groupings of electors to present lists of candidates. Parties and federations intending to form an alliance were required to inform the relevant electoral commission within 10 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.[14]

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

Candidacy Parties and
alliances 		Leading candidate Ideology Previous result Gov. Ref.
Vote % Seats
CiU
List
 Jordi Pujol Catalan nationalism
Centrism 		45.7% 69 Yes
PSC–PSOE
List
 Raimon Obiols Social democracy 29.8% 42 No
IC
List
 Rafael Ribó Eco-socialism
Green politics 		7.8% 9 No
PP
List
 Alejo Vidal-Quadras Conservatism
Christian democracy
5.3%
[a] 		6 No
ERC
List
 Àngel Colom Catalan independence
Left-wing nationalism
Social democracy 		4.1% 6 No [15]
CDS
List
 Teresa Sandoval Centrism
Liberalism 		3.8% 3 No

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; 68 seats were required for an absolute majority in the Parliament of Catalonia.

Victory preferences

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

Victory likelihood

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

Preferred President

The table below lists opinion polling on leader preferences to become president of the Government of Catalonia.

Results

Overall

← Summary of the 15 March 1992 Parliament of Catalonia election results →
Parties and alliances Popular vote Seats
Votes % ±pp Total +/−
Convergence and Union (CiU) 1,221,233 46.19 +0.47 70 +1
Socialists' Party of Catalonia (PSC–PSOE) 728,311 27.55 −2.23 40 −2
Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC) 210,366 7.96 +3.82 11 +5
Initiative for Catalonia (IC) 171,794 6.50 −1.26 7 −2
People's Party (PP)1 157,772 5.97 +0.66 7 +1
Democratic and Social Centre (CDS) 24,033 0.91 −2.92 0 −3
Party of the Communists of Catalonia (PCC) 22,181 0.84 New 0 ±0
The Greens–Green Union (EV–UV) 14,041 0.53 New 0 ±0
Ruiz-Mateos Group (ARM) 13,067 0.49 New 0 ±0
Green Alternative–Ecologist Movement of Catalonia (AV–MEC) 10,323 0.39 −0.22 0 ±0
Workers' Socialist Party (PST) 10,270 0.39 +0.18 0 ±0
The Ecologists (LVE) 9,879 0.37 +0.05 0 ±0
Ecologist Party of Catalonia–VERDE (PEC–VERDE) 7,786 0.29 +0.07 0 ±0
Free Catalonia (CLL) 5,241 0.20 New 0 ±0
Revolutionary Workers' Party of Spain (PORE) 2,258 0.09 −0.01 0 ±0
Independent Socialists (SI)2 2,080 0.08 +0.04 0 ±0
Humanist Party (PH) 1,752 0.07 −0.01 0 ±0
Lleida Republican Youth (JRLL) 431 0.02 New 0 ±0
Blank ballots 31,092 1.18 +0.55
Total 2,643,910 135 ±0
Valid votes 2,643,910 99.58 +0.09
Invalid votes 11,141 0.42 −0.09
Votes cast / turnout 2,655,051 54.87 −4.50
Abstentions 2,184,020 45.13 +4.50
Registered voters 4,839,071
Sources[16][17][18][19][20]
Footnotes:
  • 1 People's Party results are compared to People's Alliance totals in the 1988 election.
  • 2 Independent Socialists results are compared to Alliance for the Republic totals in the 1988 election.
Popular vote
CiU
 
 46.19%
PSC–PSOE
 
 27.55%
ERC
 
 7.96%
IC
 
 6.50%
PP
 
 5.97%
Others
 
 4.67%
Blank ballots
 
 1.18%
Seats
CiU
 
 51.85%
PSC–PSOE
 
 29.63%
ERC
 
 8.15%
IC
 
 5.19%
PP
 
 5.19%

Distribution by constituency

Constituency CiU PSC ERC IC PP
% S % S % S % S % S
Barcelona 44.6 41 28.9 27 7.2 6 7.4 6 5.9 5
Girona 54.3 11 21.8 4 11.6 2 3.4 − 4.0 −
Lleida 53.6 9 21.8 4 9.8 1 2.9 − 6.9 1
Tarragona 45.8 9 26.5 5 9.2 2 4.7 1 7.7 1
Total 46.2 70 27.5 40 8.0 11 6.5 7 6.0 7
Sources[16][17][18][19][20]

Aftermath

Government formation

Investiture
Nomination of Jordi Pujol (CDC)
Ballot → 9 April 1992
Required majority → 68 out of 135 checkY
Yes
70 / 135
No
58 / 135
Abstentions
  • • PP (7)
7 / 135
Absentees
0 / 135
Sources[16][21]

Notes

  1. ^ a b Results for AP in the 1988 election.
  2. ^ The provinces of Gerona and Lérida were officially renamed as Girona and Lleida on 1 March 1992.[12]
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Within PP.

References

Opinion poll sources

  1. ^ a b c d e f g "Sondejos". Generalitat de Catalunya (in Catalan). Retrieved 5 July 2017.
  2. ^ "Colom explica que doblará diputados y CiU puede tener 78, según su sondeo". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). 8 March 1992.
  3. ^ "La campaña no logra modificar la mayoría absoluta de Pujol". El Periódico de Catalunya (in Spanish). 9 March 1992.
  4. ^ "Pujol mantiene la mayoría absoluta, con una ligera tendencia al alza del voto nacionalista". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). 8 March 1992.
  5. ^ "Convergència i Unió incrementa su mayoría absoluta". El País (in Spanish). 8 March 1992.
  6. ^ "Sólo un aumento de la abstención puede arrebatar la mayoría absoluta a Pujol". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). 23 February 1992.
  7. ^ "Pujol conservará la mayoría absoluta". El País (in Spanish). 23 February 1992.
  8. ^ "Ficha técnica". El País (in Spanish). 23 February 1992.
  9. ^ "Pujol mantendrá la mayoría absoluta en las elecciones del 15 de marzo". El Periódico de Catalunya (in Spanish). 16 February 1992.
  10. ^ "Encuestas socialistas "quitan" a Pujol la mayoría absoluta". ABC (in Spanish). 3 January 1992.
  11. ^ a b c "El 48% de los catalanes prefiere a Pujol como presidente". El País (in Spanish). 8 March 1992.
  12. ^ a b "División de opiniones sobre la eficacia de un gobierno de coalición". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). 23 February 1992.
  13. ^ a b c "El 45% de los electores votaría a Pujol para presidente, y un 16%, a Obiols". El País (in Spanish). 23 February 1992.
  14. ^ a b "Situación social y política de Cataluña (XIII). Preelectoral (II) (Estudio nº 1987. Enero 1992)". CIS (in Spanish). 25 January 1992.
  15. ^ a b "Situación social y política de Cataluña (XII). Preelectoral (I) (Estudio nº 1978. Octubre 1991)". CIS (in Spanish). 1 October 1991.
  16. ^ "Situación social y política de Cataluña (XV). Preelectoral (IV) (Estudio nº 1994. Febrero 1992)". CIS (in Spanish). 9 March 1992.
  17. ^ "Situación social y política de Cataluña (XIV). Preelectoral (III) (Estudio nº 1995. Enero 1992)". CIS (in Spanish). 1 February 1992.

Other

  1. ^ Statute (1979), arts. 30 & 33–34.
  2. ^ Statute (1979), trans. prov. 4; Decree 1/1992 (1992), add. prov.
  3. ^ Statute (1979), art. 31; LPPCEG (1982), arts. 7 & 47.
  4. ^ LPPCEG (1982), art. 46 (am. by LPPCEG (1985), single art.).
  5. ^ LPPCEG (1982), arts. 46 & 54.
  6. ^ Decree 1/1992 (1992), arts. 1–2.
  7. ^ Antich, José (15 January 1992). "Pujol convoca para el 15 de marzo las cuartas elecciones al Parlamento catalán". El País (in Spanish). Barcelona. Retrieved 16 February 2026.
  8. ^ Statute (1979), art. 31 & trans. prov. 4 (suppl. by LOREG (1985), arts. 2–3).
  9. ^ Statute (1979), art. 31 & trans. prov. 4 (suppl. by LOREG (1985), arts. 162–164); LPPCEG (1982), art. 3.
  10. ^ Gallagher, Michael (30 July 2012). "Effective threshold in electoral systems". Dublin: Trinity College Dublin. Archived from the original on 30 July 2017. Retrieved 22 July 2017.
  11. ^ Statute (1979), trans. prov. 4; Decree 1/1992 (1992), art. 3.
  12. ^ Law 2/1992 (1992), arts. 1–2 & final prov..
  13. ^ LOREG (1985), arts. 46 & 48.
  14. ^ LOREG (1985), arts. 44 & 169.
  15. ^ "Independentistas radicales se hacen con el control de Esquerra Republicana". El País (in Spanish). 21 November 1989. Retrieved 18 April 2014.
  16. ^ a b c Lozano, Carles. "Eleccions al Parlament de Catalunya (des de 1980)". Historia Electoral.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 1 November 2025.
  17. ^ a b "Resultats electorals. Eleccions al Parlament de Catalunya 1992. Catalunya" (in Catalan). Government of Catalonia. Retrieved 15 November 2025.
  18. ^ a b "Edictos de 20 y 21 de marzo de 1992, por los que se hacen públicos los resultados correspondientes a la proclamación de electos al Parlamento de Catalunya de las circunscripciones de Girona, Lleida y Tarragona" (PDF). Official Journal of the Government of Catalonia (in Spanish) (1578): 2094–2095. 3 April 1992. ISSN 1988-298X. Retrieved 16 February 2026.
  19. ^ a b "Edicto de 30 de marzo de 1992, por el que se hacen públicos los resultados correspondientes a la proclamación de electos al Parlamento de Catalunya de la circunscripción de Barcelona" (PDF). Official Journal of the Government of Catalonia (in Spanish) (1578): 2095–2096. 3 April 1992. ISSN 1988-298X. Retrieved 16 February 2026.
  20. ^ a b "Edicto de 3 de abril de 1992, de modificación del Edicto de 30 de marzo de 1992, por el que se hacen públicos los resultados correspondientes a la proclamación de electos al Parlamento de Catalunya de la circunscripción de Barcelona" (PDF). Official Journal of the Government of Catalonia (in Spanish) (1581): 2264. 10 April 1992. ISSN 1988-298X. Retrieved 16 February 2026.
  21. ^ Company, Enric; Antich, José (10 April 1992). "Pujol, reelegido por cuarta vez en un debate de guante blanco con la oposición". El País (in Spanish). Barcelona. Retrieved 17 February 2026.

Bibliography

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