A regional election was held in the Balearic Islands on 22 May 2011 to elect the 8th Parliament of the autonomous community. All 59 seats in the Parliament were up for election. It was held concurrently with regional elections in twelve other autonomous communities and local elections all across Spain.

Political control of the islands had fluctuated in the preceding elections with the People's Party (PP) losing their majority and consequently, control to a coalition headed by the Socialist Party of the Balearic Islands (PSIB–PSOE) at the 2007 election. The 2011 election saw the PP regain their overall majority. The gains came largely at the expense of United Left, Convergence for the Isles (a successor to the late Majorcan Union), Republican Left and The Greens, all of whom lost their representation in this legislature. These parties had all won seats as part of various coalitions in the previous elections.

One of the first tasks of the Parliament was to elect the president of the Balearic Islands from among their number, with José Ramón Bauzá replacing Francesc Antich (1999–2003, and again 2007–2011) in the post.

Overview Under the 2007 Statute of Autonomy, the Parliament of the Balearic Islands 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..

Date The term of the Parliament of the Balearic Islands expired four years after the date of its previous election, unless it was dissolved earlier. The election decree was required to be issued no later than 25 days before the scheduled expiration date of parliament and published on the following day in the Official Gazette of the Balearic Islands (BOIB), with election day taking place 54 days after the decree's publication.; ( by ). The previous election was held on 27 May 2007, which meant that the chamber's term would have expired on 27 May 2011. The election decree was required to be published in the BOIB no later than 3 May 2011, setting the latest possible date for election day on 26 June 2011.

The regional president had the prerogative to dissolve the Parliament of the Balearic Islands 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.; . In the event of an investiture process failing to elect a regional president within a 60-day period from the first ballot, the Parliament was to be automatically dissolved and a fresh election called..

The Parliament of the Balearic Islands was officially dissolved on 29 March 2011 with the publication of the corresponding decree in the BOIB, setting election day for 22 May..

Electoral system Voting for the Parliament was based on universal suffrage, comprising all Spanish nationals over 18 years of age, registered in the Balearic Islands 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 ). Amendments earlier in 2011 required non-resident citizens to apply for voting, a system known as "begged" voting ()..

The Parliament of the Balearic Islands had 59 seats. All were elected in four multi-member constituencies—corresponding to the islands of Mallorca, Menorca, Ibiza and Formentera, each of which was assigned a fixed number of seats—using the D'Hondt method and closed-list proportional voting, with a five percent-threshold of valid votes (including blank ballots) in each constituency.; . 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 33 Mallorca 13 Menorca 12 Ibiza 1 Formentera

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. ( by ).

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

+ Parliamentary composition in March 2011 Groups Parties Legislators Seats Total People's Parliamentary Group PP 28 28 Socialist Parliamentary Group PSIB–PSOE 20 20 Bloc for Mallorca–PSM–GreensParliamentary Group PSM 2 5 EUIB 1 IV 1 PSMe 1 Mixed Parliamentary Group CxI 2 6 EUIB 1 ERC 1 AIPF 1 INDEP 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. ( by ). Additionally, a balanced composition of men and women was required in the electoral lists, so that candidates of either sex made up at least 40 percent of the total composition..

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

Candidacy Parties andalliances Leading candidate Ideology Previous result Vote % Seats PP José Ramón Bauzá ConservatismChristian democracy 46.0% PSIB–PSOE Francesc Antich Social democracy 27.6% PSM–IV–ExM Biel Barceló Left-wing nationalismSocialismEnvironmentalism 9.4% EUIB Manel Carmona SocialismCommunism PSOE–PxE Xico Tarrés Social democracyProgressivism 4.6% ExC Miquel Ramon SocialismEcologism CxI Josep Melià RegionalismLiberalism 6.7% PSM–EN Nel Martí Left-wing nationalismDemocratic socialismEnvironmentalism 0.8% Sa Unió Juanma Costa Conservatism 0.4% GxF Jaume Ferrer EnvironmentalismDemocratic socialism 0.3%

Campaign Debates + 2011 Balearic regional election debates Date Organizer(s) Moderator(s) PP PSIB Audience 15 May IB3 Cristina Bugallo 7.8%

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; 30 seats were required for an absolute majority in the Parliament of the Balearic Islands.

Polling firm/Commissioner Fieldwork date Sample size Turnout PSM ExC PSMe SaUnió GxF UIB CxI Lliga PxE Lead 2011 regional election 22 May 2011 58.8 46.4 21.4 8.7 – 0.5 0.9 0.3 2.3 0.5 – 2.1 2.8 2.9 3.0 22.0 Sigma Dos/El Mundo 9–11 May 2011 850? 49.7 31.4 8.7 – – – – – 2.1 – 18.3 NC Report/La Razón 3–10 May 2011?? 48.7 30.9? – – – – –? – 17.8 IBES/Última Hora 26 Apr–10 May 2011 1,800? 48.0 27.0 5.0 – 0.5 1.0? 3.0? – 2.0 2.0 2.0 4.0 17.0 Ikerfel/Vocento 9 May 2011?? 51.4 31.7 5.8 – – 5.5 – – – – 19.7 TNS Demoscopia/Antena 3 4–5 May 2011 900? 49.4 30.3 8.6 – – – – – 3.1 – 19.1 Gadeso 1 May 2011 1,300? 41.0–44.0 27.0–29.0 6.0–8.0 – 0.0–0.5 0.5–1.0? 3.0–4.0? – 1.0–2.0 2.0–3.0 2.0–3.0 4.0–5.0 14.0–15.0 NC Report/La Razón 25 Apr 2011?? 49.1 31.2 – – – – – – – – – 17.9 Celeste-Tel/Terra 13–20 Apr 2011 500? 46.9 35.1 9.8 – – – – – 2.8 – 11.8 CIS 17 Mar–17 Apr 2011 1,194? 47.9 30.4 6.0 – – 4.5 – 1.1 1.7 – 17.5 Sigma Dos/El Mundo 11–14 Apr 2011 1,000? 49.3 30.0 9.0 – –? – – – 3.2 – 19.3 IBES/Última Hora 21–30 Mar 2011 1,800? 48.0 33.0 6.0 – 0.5 1.0? 2.0? – 2.0 4.0 2.0 – 15.0 IBES/Última Hora 13 Feb 2011?? 47.0 33.0 6.0 4.0 0.5 0.5? 2.0? – 2.0 – – – 14.0 Sigma Dos/El Mundo 17–21 Dec 2010 650? 54.6 27.4 6.7 3.3 – 0.8 – – – – – – 27.2 IBES/Última Hora 1–13 Dec 2010 2,000? 46.0 35.0 6.0 4.0 0.5 1.0? 1.0? – 2.0 – – – 11.0 IBES/Última Hora 22 Aug–3 Sep 2010 1,700? 46.0 36.0 6.0 4.0 0.5 1.0? 2.0? – 2.0 – – – 10.0 Sigma Dos/El Mundo 19–21 May 2010 650? 49.6 33.3 5.7 2.9 – 0.7 – – 3.0 – – – 16.3 IBES/Última Hora 2 May 2010?? 43.0? 7.0 –? – – – – – – – – –? Gadeso 2 May 2010 1,300? 40.0–41.0 28.0–29.0 4.5–5.5 3.0–4.0 4.5–5.0 0.5–1.0 – – – – – – 12.0 Gadeso 7 Feb 2010 1,300? 40.0–41.0 28.0–29.0 4.5–5.5 4.5 4.5–5.0 0.5–1.0 – – – – – – 12.0 Gadeso 15–25 Sep 2009 1,300? 42.0–43.0 28.0–29.0 5.5–6.5 5.5–6.0 4.5–5.0 0.5–1.0 0.5–1.0 – 1.0–1.5 – – – 14.0 MGA Estudios/El Día de Baleares 21 Sep 2009?? 44.2 30.1 7.7 4.2 – – – – – – 2.9 – – – 14.1 2009 EP election 7 Jun 2009 37.6 43.7 38.7 – 3.8 – – – 2.6 – – 2.8 – – – 5.0 Gadeso 1–10 Jan 2009 1,300? 42.0–43.0 30.0–31.0 6.5–7.5 5.5–6.0 5.0–5.5 0.5–1.0 0.5–1.0 – 1.0–1.5 – – – 12.0 IBES/Última Hora 26 Oct 2008? 53.9?? 8.0 6.5 5.1 – – – – – – – – –? IBES/Última Hora 25 May 2008???? – 6.5 – – – – – – – – – –? 2008 general election 9 Mar 2008 67.6 44.0 44.2 – – 2.8 – 5.4 0.7 – – – 0.2 2007 regional election 27 May 2007 60.1 46.0 27.6 9.0 6.7 4.6 0.8 0.4 0.4 0.3 – – – – – 18.4

Results Overall