Regional elections were held in Spain on 28 May 2023 to elect the regional parliaments of twelve of the seventeen autonomous communities—Aragon, Asturias, the Balearic Islands, the Canary Islands, Cantabria, Castilla–La Mancha, Extremadura, La Rioja, Madrid, Murcia, Navarre and the Valencian Community. 737 of 1,212 seats in the regional parliaments were up for election, as well as the 50 seats in the regional assemblies of Ceuta and Melilla. The elections were held simultaneously with local elections all throughout Spain.
The results produced a landslide victory for the right-of-centre political forces, erasing all the gains made by the ruling Socialist Party in 2015 and 2019. The right recovered power of several regions and even broke through progressive strongholds such as Extremadura, with the PSOE only holding power in Castilla–La Mancha, Asturias and Navarre. This outcome prompted Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez to call a snap general election.
Election date
Determination of election day vary depending on the autonomous community, with each one having competency to establish its own regulations. Typically, thirteen out of the seventeen autonomous communities—all but Andalusia, the Basque Country, Catalonia and Galicia—had their elections fixed for the fourth Sunday of May every four years, to be held together with nationwide local elections.
In some cases, regional presidents have the prerogative to dissolve the regional parliament and call for extra elections at a different time, but newly elected assemblies are restricted to serving out what remained of their previous four year-terms without altering the period to their next ordinary election. In other cases—namely, Aragon, the Balearic Islands, Castile and León, Extremadura, Navarre and the Valencian Community—, the law grants presidents the power to call a snap election resulting in fresh four year-parliamentary terms. By the time of the 2023 regional elections, this prerogative had been exercised by Castile and León by holding a snap regional election on 13 February 2022.
Regional governments
The following table lists party control in autonomous communities and cities. Gains for a party are highlighted in that party's colour.
Summary by region
Aragon
Asturias
Balearic Islands
Canary Islands
Cantabria
Castilla–La Mancha
Extremadura
La Rioja
Madrid
Murcia
Navarre
Valencian Community
Autonomous cities
Ceuta
Melilla
References
External links
- Juntaelectoralcentral.es (in Spanish). Central Electoral Commission – Regional elections
- Argos.gva.es (in Spanish). Argos Information Portal – Electoral Historical Archive
- Historiaelectoral.com (in Spanish and Catalan). Electoral History – Regional elections since 1980
