A regional election was held in the Canary Islands on 27 May 2007 to elect the 7th Parliament of the autonomous community. All 60 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.

Overview Under the 1982 Statute of Autonomy, the Parliament of the Canary 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 Canary Islands expired four years after the date of its previous ordinary election, with election day being fixed for the fourth Sunday of May every four years. The election decree was required to be issued no later than 54 days before the scheduled election date and published on the following day in the Official Gazette of the Canaries (BOC).; ( by ). The previous election was held on 25 May 2003, setting the date for election day on the fourth Sunday of May four years later, which was 27 May 2007.

The Parliament of the Canary Islands could not be dissolved before the expiration date of parliament, except in the event of an investiture process failing to elect a regional president within a two-month period from the first ballot. In such a case, the Parliament was to be automatically dissolved and a snap election called, with elected lawmakers serving the remainder of its original four-year term..

The election to the Parliament of the Canary Islands was officially called on 3 April 2007 with the publication of the corresponding decree in the BOC, setting election day for 27 May..

Electoral system Voting for the Parliament was based on universal suffrage, comprising all Spanish nationals over 18 years of age, registered in the Canary 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 ).

The Parliament of the Canary Islands had a minimum of 50 and a maximum of 70 seats, with electoral provisions fixing its size at 60. All were elected in seven multi-member constituencies—corresponding to the islands of El Hierro, Fuerteventura, Gran Canaria, La Gomera, La Palma, Lanzarote and Tenerife, each of which was assigned a fixed number of seats—using the D'Hondt method and closed-list proportional voting, with a 30 percent-threshold of valid votes (including blank ballots) in each constituency or six percent regionally..

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

Seats Constituencies 15 Gran Canaria, Tenerife 8 La Palma, Lanzarote 7 Fuerteventura 4 La Gomera 3 El Hierro

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 the election call.

+ Parliamentary composition in April 2007 Groups Parties Legislators Seats Total Canarian Coalition Parliamentary Group (CC) CC 21 23 AHI 2 Canarian Socialist Parliamentary Group PSOE 17 17 People's Parliamentary Group PP 16 16 Mixed Parliamentary Group PIL 3 3 Non-Inscrits CCN 1 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 ). Amendments earlier in 2007 required a balanced composition of men and women 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 Candidate Ideology Previous result Vote % Seats CC–PNC Paulino Rivero RegionalismCanarian nationalismCentrism 36.3% PP José Manuel Soria ConservatismChristian democracy 30.6% PSOE Juan Fernando López Aguilar Social democracy 25.4% CCN Ignacio González Santiago Canarian nationalismCentrism 1.4% NCa Román Rodríguez Canarian nationalismSocial democracy 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.

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; 31 seats were required for an absolute majority in the Parliament of the Canary Islands.

Polling firm/Commissioner Fieldwork date Sample size Turnout PIL Lead 2007 regional election 27 May 2007 60.4 24.2 24.0 34.5 1.0 0.7 5.4 10.3 Ipsos/RTVE–FORTA 27 May 2007?? 21.0 24.0 36.0 – – – 12.0 Hamalgama Métrica/La Provincia 20 May 2007????? – – –? Demométrica/Canarias7 19 May 2007?? 25.9 26.9 33.3 2.3 – 6.1 6.4 Opina/El País 14–17 May 2007?? 23.0 30.0 37.5 2.5 – – 7.5 Celeste-Tel/Terra 9–15 May 2007?? 26.3 29.6 30.9? 2.1 – 1.3 Opina/Cadena SER 11 May 2007 1,200? 23.0 30.0 36.0 3.0 – – 6.0 Sigma Dos/El Mundo 27 Apr–8 May 2007 1,200? 27.8 30.2 31.5 2.9 – 2.4 1.3 CIS 9 Apr–6 May 2007 1,785? 25.0 28.3 29.3 – 2.5 2.8 1.0 PSOE 18–23 Feb 2007 2,500???? – –?? Demométrica/Canarias7 9–24 Jan 2007 3,200????? –?? Sigma Dos/El Mundo 16–24 Nov 2006?????? – –? Hamalgama Métrica/La Provincia 2–11 Nov 2006 1,920? 23.5 25.8 36.7? –? 10.9 Demométrica/Canarias7 19 Apr–9 May 2006?????? –?? TNS Demoscopia/CC 25 Nov–3 Dec 2005 2,006? 34.3 29.0 26.9 – 1.7 – 5.3 2004 EP election 13 Jun 2004 36.5 16.9 40.0 38.5 – 1.8 – 1.5 2004 general election 14 Mar 2004 66.7 24.3 35.4 34.5 – 1.9 – 0.9 2003 regional election 25 May 2003 64.6 32.9 30.6 25.4 1.4 1.3 – 2.3

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

Polling firm/Commissioner Fieldwork date Sample size Lead 2007 regional election 27 May 2007 14.8 15.4 22.0 0.3 3.5 36.2 6.6 CIS 9 Apr–6 May 2007 1,785 14.6 14.0 19.8 1.9 1.7 34.1 7.3 5.2 TNS Demoscopia/CC 25 Nov–3 Dec 2005 2,006 26.9 22.6 21.5 1.7 – 13.1 7.5 4.3 2004 EP election 13 Jun 2004 5.8 15.0 14.3 0.7 – 63.1 0.7 2004 general election 14 Mar 2004 15.8 24.1 23.5 1.3 – 32.3 0.6 2003 regional election 25 May 2003 21.5 20.4 16.8 0.9 – 33.6 1.1

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

Polling firm/Commissioner Fieldwork date Sample size Other/None Lead CIS 9 Apr–6 May 2007 1,785 19.1 18.0 25.6 2.4 2.7 12.2 20.0 6.5

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.

Polling firm/Commissioner Fieldwork date Sample size Other/None Lead CIS 9 Apr–6 May 2007 1,785 28.1 13.6 21.1 0.6 1.2 3.6 31.7 7.0

Preferred President The table below lists opinion polling on leader preferences to become president of the Canary Islands.

Polling firm/Commissioner Fieldwork date Sample size Other/None/Notcare Lead Opina/El País 14–17 May 2007? – – – 28.0 – – – –? CIS 9 Apr–6 May 2007 1,785 – 16.3 18.3 21.0 0.7 6.0 4.1 33.7 2.7 Hamalgama Métrica/La Provincia 2–11 Nov 2006 1,920 13.2 – 15.6 18.2 – – 53.0 2.6

Results Overall + ← Summary of the 27 May 2007 Parliament of the Canary Islands election results → Parties and alliances Popular vote Seats Votes % ±pp Total +/− Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) 322,833 34.51 +9.09 26 +9 Canarian Coalition–Canarian Nationalist Party (CC–PNC)1 225,878 24.15 −12.12 19 −4 People's Party (PP) 224,883 24.04 −6.57 15 −2 New Canaries (NCa) 50,749 5.43 New 0 ±0 Canarian Centre (CCN)2 46,676 4.99 +3.58 0 −3 The Greens (Verdes) 17,793 1.90 −0.08 0 ±0 Commitment to Gran Canaria (CGCa) 8,512 0.91 New 0 ±0 Canarian United Left (IUC) 6,558 0.70 −0.61 0 ±0 Canarian Popular Alternative–25 May Citizens' Alternative (APCa–AC25M)3 4,824 0.52 −0.50 0 ±0 Canarian Nationalist Alternative (ANC) 2,539 0.27 New 0 ±0 Unity of the People (UP) 1,485 0.16 New 0 ±0 Communist Party of the Canarian People (PCPC) 1,338 0.14 −0.05 0 ±0 Nationalist Maga Alternative (AMAGA) 1,079 0.12 New 0 ±0 Party of Gran Canaria (PGC) 1,073 0.11 New 0 ±0 Centre Coalition (CCCAN) 1,006 0.11 New 0 ±0 Movement for the Unity of the Canarian People (MUPC) 888 0.09 New 0 ±0 Alternative Island (ISAL) 870 0.09 New 0 ±0 Humanist Party (PH) 777 0.08 −0.06 0 ±0 Citizens' Union–Independent Progressives of Canaries (UC–PIC) 557 0.06 New 0 ±0 Commitment to Tenerife (CTF) 466 0.05 New 0 ±0 The Phalanx (FE) 327 0.03 New 0 ±0 National Democracy (DN) 302 0.03 −0.01 0 ±0 Citizens' Initiative for Fuerteventura (ICF) 286 0.03 New 0 ±0 Pensionist Assembly of the Canaries (TPC) 280 0.03 −0.02 0 ±0 Canarian Nationalist Party (PNC)4 244 0.03 −0.02 0 ±0 Blank ballots 13,237 1.42 +0.14 Total 935,460 60 ±0 Valid votes 935,460 99.43 −0.01 Invalid votes 5,392 0.57 +0.01 Votes cast / turnout 940,852 60.44 −4.18 Abstentions 615,735 39.56 +4.18 Registered voters 1,556,587 Sources

Distribution by constituency Constituency PSOE CC–PNC PP % S % S % S El Hierro 23.5 1 47.1 2 19.8 − Fuerteventura 32.3 3 30.3 2 23.9 2 Gran Canaria 37.9 7 5.4 1 34.2 7 La Gomera 54.8 3 31.9 1 5.0 − La Palma 28.2 3 46.2 4 17.0 1 Lanzarote 28.7 4 18.7 2 15.2 2 Tenerife 32.2 5 39.6 7 16.5 3 Total 34.5 26 24.1 19 24.0 15 Sources

Aftermath Government formation Investiture Ballot → 11 July 2007 Required majority → 31 out of 60 Abstentions Absentees Sources

Notes

References Opinion poll sources

Other

Bibliography