An election was held in Spain on 15 June 1989 as part of the concurrent EU-wide election to the 3rd European Parliament. All 60 seats allocated to the Spanish constituency as per the 1985 Treaty of Accession were up for election.

The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) emerged as the largest party, followed by the newly amalgamated People's Party (PP) and Adolfo Suárez's Democratic and Social Centre—both of which scoring far below expectations—, as well as left-wing United Left (IU), which improved slightly on its 1987 performance. Ruiz-Mateos Group was the election surprise by winning two seats, with former Rumasa CEO and party leader José María Ruiz Mateos being elected as MEP—which granted him immunity from criminal prosecution, as he had been a fugitive from Spanish justice at the time of his election—. Registered turnout was a record low at the time for a nationwide election held in Spain, with abstention peaking at 45.3%.

The election was largely influenced by a recent string of PP–CDS agreements to vote no confidence motions on PSOE local governments, which included the Madrid city council and regional governments. This was said to have influenced the election's outcome, which had resulted in a sizeable PSOE win and a collapse in support for both the PP and CDS. His party's showing in this election was said to be one of the reasons that led Prime Minister Felipe González to call a snap general election for 29 October 1989.

Overview Electoral system Voting for the European Parliament in Spain was based on universal suffrage, which comprised all Spanish nationals over 18 years of age with full political rights, provided that they had not been deprived of the right to vote by a final sentence, nor were legally incapacitated..

60 European Parliament seats were allocated to Spain as per the 1985 Treaty of Accession.; ; . All were elected in a single multi-member constituency—comprising the entire national territory—using the D'Hondt method and closed-list proportional voting, with no electoral threshold.. The use of this electoral method resulted in an effective threshold depending on district magnitude and vote distribution.

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 delegation

The table below shows the composition of the Spanish delegation in the chamber at the time of the election call.

+ Delegation composition in May 1989 Groups Parties MEPs Seats Total Socialist Group PSOE 29 29 European Democrats PP 17 17 Communist and Allies PCE 1 3 PASOC 1 PSUC 1 Liberal and Democratic Reformist Group CDC 2 2 European People's Party UDC 1 1 Rainbow Group EA 1 1 Non-Inscrits CDS 6 7 HB 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. In order to be entitled to run, parties, federations, alliances and groupings of electors needed to secure the signature of at least 15,000 registered electors; this requirement could be lifted and replaced through 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. Electors and elected officials were disallowed 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 PSOE Fernando Morán Social democracy 39.1% PP Marcelino Oreja ConservatismChristian democracy 25.5% CDS José Ramón Caso CentrismLiberalism 10.3% IU Fernando Pérez Royo SocialismCommunism 5.3% CiU Carles Gasòliba Catalan nationalismCentrism 4.4% HB Txema Montero Basque independenceAbertzale leftRevolutionary socialism 1.9% PEP Carlos Garaikoetxea Left-wing nationalism 1.7% CN Jon Gangoiti Regionalism 1.7% IP Juan María Bandrés Left-wing nationalism 1.4% FPR Héctor Villalba Regionalism 1.1% PA Pedro Pacheco Andalusian nationalismSocial democracy 1.0% Ruiz-Mateos José María Ruiz-Mateos Right-wing populism 0.6%

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 given poll. When available, seat projections are also displayed below the voting estimates in a smaller font.

Polling firm/Commissioner Fieldwork date Sample size Turnout PEP IP CN ARM LV Lead 1989 EP election 15 Jun 1989 54.7 39.6 7.1 6.1 4.2 1.7 1.5 1.8 1.9 1.2 1.9 3.8 1.0 21.4 18.2 PSOE 15 Jun 1989 39,000 54 39.3 7.2 6.4 4.5 1.6 1.5 1.7 1.5 – 2.2 3.6 – 21.1 18.2 Opina/La Vanguardia 15 Jun 1989? 54.4 38.0–39.0 7.0 6.4 4.4 1.8 1.5 1.7 1.9 1.3 1.9 4.0 1.2 21.0–22.0 17.0 Sigma Dos/COPE 15 Jun 1989?? 35.0–37.0 7.0–8.0 7.0–7.5 4.3–4.8 1.8–2.0 1.4–1.6 1.7–1.9 1.4–1.6 – 2.0–2.2 2.5–3.0 – 22.5–23.5 12.5–13.5 Demoscopia/Cadena SER 15 Jun 1989?? 36.4 7.9 6.7 5.1 2.3 1.6?? –? 4.0 – 19.4 17.0 Metra Seis/RNE 15 Jun 1989?? 36.0–38.0 8.5–10.0 5.5–7.0 4.5–5.0 1.3–1.8 1.5–2.0 2.0–2.5 1.5–2.0 – 2.0–2.5 2.0–3.0 – 24.0–26.0 12.0 OTR–IS/Interviú 9 Jun 1989??? ???? – – – – – – –?? Opina/La Vanguardia 5–8 Jun 1989 1,800 50 37.8 9.7 6.3 6.1 – 1.9 1.6? – – – – 25.5 12.3 Demoscopia/El País 1–5 Jun 1989 2,500 50 35.3 10.4 6.8 3.6 1.9 1.9 2.5 1.7 – 2.7 1.5? 27.7 7.6 PP 3 Jun 1989??? ?????? –? – – –?? ICP–Research/Diario 16 30 May–3 Jun 1989 2,400 70 37.6 8.3 7.7 4.6 2.2 0.7 2.2 1.1? 1.9 –? 19.7 17.9 Gruppo/Colpisa 2 Jun 1989 1,000 57–62 33.4 10.5 7.2 4.4 1.8 1.5 1.5 1.7 – 1.3 – – 26.5 6.9 Opina/La Vanguardia 15–26 May 1989 1,800 50 36.1 12.4 5.7 6.1 2.0? 2.3?? – – – 22.4 13.7 Demoscopia/El País 17–21 May 1989 2,500 55 37.8 11.1 7.1 3.7 1.7 2.2 1.5 3.0 – 2.6 – – 25.5 12.3 CIS 9–11 May 1989 4,459? 41.6 12.1 6.6 5.2 – – – 1.2 – – – – 26.1 15.5 Gruppo/Colpisa 26 Apr 1989 1,000 60–69 34.5 11.7 8.4 4.2 1.8 1.6 1.6 1.7 – – – – 26.2 8.3 CIS 22–24 Apr 1989 2,499? 42.0 6.0–9.0 5.0–7.0 – – – – – – – – – 25.0–28.0 14.0–17.0 Opina/La Vanguardia 7–10 Apr 1989 1,610? 34.8 15.0 5.9 6.7 – – – – – – – – 27.6 7.2 CIS 6–10 Apr 1989 2,951? 40.0–42.0 9.0–11.0 6.0–7.0 – – – – – – – – – 23.0–25.0 17.0 Gallup/EE 7 Mar 1989??? ??????? –? – –?? 1987 EP election 10 Jun 1987 68.5 39.1 24.6 10.3 5.3 4.4 1.9 1.7 1.4 1.2 1.2 1.0 0.9 0.6 0.6 – 14.5

Results Overall

+ ← Summary of the 15 June 1989 European Parliament election results in Spain → Parties and alliances Popular vote Seats Votes % ±pp Total +/− Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) 6,275,552 39.57 +0.51 27 −1 People's Party (PP)1 3,395,015 21.41 −4.13 15 −2 Democratic and Social Centre (CDS) 1,133,429 7.15 −3.11 5 −2 United Left (IU) 961,742 6.06 +0.81 4 +1 Convergence and Union (CiU) 666,602 4.20 −0.23 2 −1 Ruiz-Mateos Group (Ruiz-Mateos)2 608,560 3.84 +3.23 2 +2 Nationalist Coalition (CN)3 303,038 1.91 +0.16 1 +1 Andalusian Party (PA) 295,047 1.86 +0.90 1 +1 Left of the Peoples (IP)4 290,286 1.83 +0.47 1 +1 Popular Unity (HB) 269,094 1.70 −0.17 1 ±0 For the Europe of the Peoples (PEP)5 238,909 1.51 −0.19 1 ±0 Workers' Party of Spain–Communist Unity (PTE–UC) 197,095 1.24 +0.08 0 ±0 Green List (Adhered to the European Greens) (LV)6 164,524 1.04 +0.14 0 ±0 The Ecologist Greens (LVE) 161,903 1.02 New 0 ±0 Federation of Regional Parties (FPR)7 151,835 0.96 −0.16 0 ±0 Communist Party of the Peoples of Spain–PCC (PCPE–PCC) 79,970 0.50 New 0 ±0 National Front (FN) 60,672 0.38 −0.26 0 ±0 Spanish Vertex Ecological Development Revindication (VERDE) 58,686 0.37 New 0 ±0 Social Democratic Coalition (CSD) 52,577 0.33 +0.20 0 ±0 Green Alternative–Ecologist Movement of Catalonia (AV–MEC) 47,250 0.30 New 0 ±0 Galician Nationalist Bloc (BNG) 46,052 0.29 +0.01 0 ±0 Workers' Socialist Party–Revolutionary Workers' Party (PST–PORE)8 38,683 0.24 −0.32 0 ±0 Europe for Life (EPV) 30,252 0.19 New 0 ±0 Spanish Phalanx of the CNSO (FE–JONS) 24,340 0.15 +0.03 0 ±0 Free Catalonia (CLL) 19,774 0.12 New 0 ±0 Humanist Party (PH) 19,356 0.12 ±0.00 0 ±0 Alliance for the Republic (AxR)9 17,189 0.11 −0.02 0 ±0 Asturian Nationalist Unity (UNA) 13,165 0.08 New 0 ±0 Centrist Unity–Democratic Spanish Party (PED) 10,392 0.07 +0.02 0 ±0 Andalusian Liberation (LA) 9,421 0.06 +0.01 0 ±0 Initiative for a European Democracy (IDE) 8,789 0.06 New 0 ±0 Carlist Party (PC) 8,477 0.05 New 0 ±0 BACTERIA Electors' Group (BACTERIA) 0 0.00 New 0 ±0 Blank ballots 200,794 1.27 +0.28 Total 15,858,470 60 ±0 Valid votes 15,858,470 98.98 +0.17 Invalid votes 163,806 1.02 −0.17 Votes cast / turnout 16,022,276 54.71 −13.81 Abstentions 13,261,706 45.29 +13.81 Registered voters 29,283,982 Sources

Maps

Distribution by European group + Summary of political group distribution in the 3rd European Parliament (1989–1994) Groups Parties Seats Total % Socialist Group (SOC)Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) 27 27 45.00 European People's Party (EPP)People's Party (PP) Democratic Union of Catalonia (UDC) 151 16 26.67 Liberal Democrat and Reform Party (LDR)Democratic and Social Centre (CDS) Democratic Convergence of Catalonia (CDC) 51 6 10.00 European United Left (EUL)Communist Party of Spain (PCE) Initiative for Catalonia (IC) Socialist Action Party (PASOC) 211 4 6.67 Rainbow Group (RBW)Basque Solidarity (EA) Andalusian Party (PA) 11 2 3.33 The Green Group in the European Parliament (G)Basque Country Left (EE) 1 1 1.67 Non-Inscrits (NI)Ruiz-Mateos Group (Ruiz-Mateos) Popular Unity (HB) Basque Nationalist Party (EAJ/PNV) 211</p> 4 6.67 Total 60 60 100.00

Notes

References Opinion poll sources

Other

Bibliography

External links European elections Spain in Europe Politique.