A regional election was held in Catalonia on 1 November 2006 to elect the 8th Parliament of the autonomous community. All 135 seats in the Parliament were up for election. Unlike other occasions, the election was held on a public holiday during the workweek, All Saints' Day.

The Socialists' Party of Catalonia (PSC), Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC) and Initiative for Catalonia Greens–United and Alternative Left (ICV–EUiA) had formed a coalition government in 2003 under Pasqual Maragall as Catalan president, in the first left-from-centre cabinet in Catalonia since the Spanish transition to democracy, colloquially dubbed as the "three-party" or "tripartite" alliance (). Maragall oversaw the drafting of a new statute of autonomy for Catalonia, which aimed at further expanding the authority of the regional institutions, but negotiations between the national government of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE)—the PSC's sister party—and the Catalan nationalist Convergence and Union (CiU) and ERC were uneasy. ERC left the coalition in May 2006 over disagreements on the final statutory draft approved by the Spanish parliament, thus leaving Maragall in minority. Following the statute being ratified in a referendum on 18 June 2006, Maragall announced a snap election for 1 November and his decision not to run for a second term in office.

The election saw the first undisputed win for Artur Mas's CiU since 1995, which in 1999 and 2003 had narrowly lost the popular vote to the PSC. However, the left-wing bloc formed by the latter—running under the former industry minister of Spain, José Montilla—together with ERC and ICV–EUiA, was able to secure a reduced but still working majority. The People's Party (PP) under Josep Piqué held its ground with a similar result as previous, but remained irrelevant in the government formation process. Citizens–Party of the Citizenry (C's), a new party formed under young lawyer Albert Rivera in opposition to Catalan nationalism and statutory reform, gained parliamentary representation by being able to clear the electoral threshold in the constituency of Barcelona.

Overview Under the 2006 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.. The electoral and procedural rules were supplemented by national law provisions. ( by ); .

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 between 40 and 60 days from the call.; . The previous election was held on 16 November 2003, which meant that the chamber's term would have expired on 16 November 2007. The election was required to be called no later than 1 November 2007, setting the latest possible date for election day on 31 December 2007.

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.; ( by ). 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.; .

The Parliament of Catalonia was officially dissolved on 8 September 2006 with the publication of the corresponding decree in the Official Journal of the Government of Catalonia (DOGC), setting election day for 1 November..

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.; ( by ).

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.; ( by ); . The use of this electoral method resulted in a higher effective threshold depending on district magnitude and vote distribution.

As a result of the aforementioned allocation, each Parliament constituency was entitled the following seats:; .

Seats Constituencies 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..

Outgoing parliament The table below shows the composition of the parliamentary groups in the chamber at the time of dissolution.

+ Parliamentary composition in September 2006 Groups Parties Legislators Seats Total Convergence and Union's Parliamentary Group CDC 33 46 UDC 13 Socialists–Citizens for Change Parliamentary Group PSC 32 42 CpC 10 Republican Left of Catalonia's Parliamentary Group ERC 23 23 People's Party of Catalonia's Parliamentary Group PP 15 15 Initiative for Catalonia Greens–Alternative Left'sParliamentary Group ICV 8 9 EUiA 1

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..

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

Candidacy Parties andalliances Leading candidate Ideology Previous result Vote % Seats CiU Artur Mas Catalan nationalismCentrism 30.9% PSC–CpC José Montilla Social democracy 31.2% ERC Josep-Lluís Carod-Rovira Catalan independenceLeft-wing nationalismSocial democracy 16.4% PP Josep Piqué ConservatismChristian democracy 11.9% ICV–EUiA Joan Saura RegionalismEco-socialismGreen politics 7.3% C's Albert Rivera Social liberalism colspan="2"

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.

Graphical summary

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.

Polling firm/Commissioner Fieldwork date Sample size Turnout Lead 2006 regional election 1 Nov 2006 56.0 26.8 31.5 14.0 10.7 9.5 3.0 4.7 Ipsos–Eco/CCRTV 1 Nov 2006 30,000 57.7 26.7 31.5 15.2 10.0 9.0 2.7 4.8 CiU 1 Nov 2006????????? TNS Demoscopia/ADN 25 Oct 2006??????? –? Opina/Cadena SER 23–24 Oct 2006 1,200? 30.0 30.5 13.0 10.0 10.0 – 0.5 Noxa/La Vanguardia 19–23 Oct 2006 1,000? 28.4 34.0 12.5 10.2 10.9 – 5.6 Infortécnica 22 Oct 2006 2,000?????? –? Opina/El País 22 Oct 2006 1,500? 30.0 30.0 13.0 10.5 10.5 – Tie GESOP/El Periódico 19–21 Oct 2006 1,000? 29.0 32.0 13.2 11.3 10.5 – 3.0 Feedback/RAC 1 18–20 Oct 2006 1,000 52.7 25.9 35.5 14.9 11.9 9.8 – 9.6 Iberconsulta/La Razón 17–19 Oct 2006 1,200 61.6 29.9 33.5 14.8 12.1 8.4 – 5.6 Opina/Cadena SER 16 Oct 2006 1,000? 31.5 29.3 15.5 10.7 9.0 – 2.2 DEP/Actual 5–16 Oct 2006 1,237? 29.3 31.8 14.6 12.1 8.7 – 2.5 CIS 2–15 Oct 2006 1,986? 27.8 33.7 14.8 10.2 8.9 – 5.9 Feedback/RAC 1 10–13 Oct 2006 1,000 54.4 27.4 35.9 15.0 10.1 9.1 – 8.5 Celeste-Tel/Terra 10 Oct 2006? 61.9 30.5 34.0 13.8 11.6 8.1 – 3.5 Sigma Dos/El Mundo 6–9 Oct 2006 800? 30.5 32.8 13.7 11.0 6.9 2.3 2.3 Noxa/La Vanguardia 5–9 Oct 2006 1,000? 29.0 35.5 12.1 10.5 10.4 – 6.5 GESOP/El Periódico 5–7 Oct 2006 1,000? 29.9 34.9 12.4 10.1 9.1 – 5.0 Feedback/RAC 1 3–6 Oct 2006 1,000 55.7 27.0 35.4 15.0 10.4 9.5 – 8.4 TNS Demoscopia/Antena 3 2–3 Oct 2006 1,200 59.2 29.1 32.1 14.9 11.6 8.8 – 3.0 Feedback/RAC 1 2 Oct 2006?? 27.8 35.9 14.7 9.6 9.6 – 8.1 Feedback/RAC 1 20–22 Sep 2006 1,000 53.9 27.7 36.4 14.6 9.5 9.6 – 8.7 Noxa/La Vanguardia 18–21 Sep 2006 1,000? 29.3 33.4 13.8 10.4 9.5 – 4.1 GESOP/El Periódico 14–16 Sep 2006 800? 29.5 34.5 13.3 10.5 9.0 – 5.0 Feedback/RAC 1 12–15 Sep 2006 1,000 54.1 27.6 36.6 14.8 9.3 9.5 – 9.0 Feedback/RAC 1 13 Sep 2006?? 27.7 36.4 14.8 9.2 9.6 – 8.7 Noxa/La Vanguardia 17–19 Jul 2006 800? 32.4 34.2 12.3 10.2 8.3 – 1.8 Opina/El País 7–8 Jun 2006 1,000? 33.5 30.5 15.0 10.5 7.5 – 3.0 GESOP/El Periódico 6–7 Jun 2006 600? 31.0 35.0 13.0 10.5 7.0 – 4.0 Opina/Cadena SER 30 May 2006 1,000? 33.8 31.2 13.1 9.8 8.9 – 2.6 GESOP/El Periódico 15–16 May 2006 600? 32.0 32.0 15.0 10.0 8.0 – Tie GESOP/El Periódico 17–19 Apr 2006 800? 31.0 32.0 16.0 10.3 7.4 – 1.0 Noxa/La Vanguardia 27–30 Mar 2006 850? 35.0 31.1 16.5 8.4 6.6 – 3.9 GESOP/El Periódico 2–4 Feb 2006 800? 30.7 31.5 14.8 12.9 7.5 – 0.8 Noxa/La Vanguardia 12–15 Dec 2005 850? 31.7 32.8 16.3 9.6 8.9 – 1.1 CiU 3 Dec 2005??????? –? Noxa/La Vanguardia 7–11 Nov 2005 400? 33.2 27.3 16.7 13.7 7.1 – 5.9 Noxa/La Vanguardia 3–6 Oct 2005 1,000? 32.5 29.2 16.0 12.7 8.9 – 3.3 GESOP/El Periódico 3–5 Oct 2005 800? 32.0 32.0 15.3 10.8 7.5 – Tie Noxa/La Vanguardia 18–21 Jul 2005 1,000? 33.5 28.9 16.3 12.9 7.2 – 4.6 GESOP/El Periódico 30 Jun–3 Jul 2005 800? 31.5 31.5 15.5 11.3 7.5 – Tie GESOP/El Periódico 20–22 Apr 2005 805? 30.3 30.3 16.2 12.6 7.8 – Tie Noxa/La Vanguardia 7–10 Mar 2005 850? 34.2 29.2 15.0 10.8 9.3 – 5.0 GESOP/El Periódico 16–18 Jan 2005 800? 34.7 31.6 13.9 10.4 7.0 – 3.1 Noxa/La Vanguardia 10–12 Nov 2004 850? 32.4 28.9 16.8 10.8 9.6 – 3.5 Vox Pública/El Periódico 28–29 Sep 2004 802? 33.5 30.7 15.2 11.5 6.7 – 2.8 Vox Pública/El Periódico 30 Jun–1 Jul 2004 800? 34.0 30.5 15.7 9.8 7.5 – 3.5 2004 EP election 13 Jun 2004 39.8 42.9 17.4 11.8 17.8 7.2 – 25.1 Vox Pública/El Periódico 14–15 Apr 2004 801? 33.0 32.0 16.4 9.9 6.1 – 1.0 2004 general election 14 Mar 2004 76.0 39.5 20.8 15.9 15.6 5.8 – 18.7 2003 regional election 16 Nov 2003 62.5 31.2 30.9 16.4 11.9 7.3 – 0.3

Voting preferences The table below lists raw, unweighted voting preferences.