An election was held in Spain on 7 June 2009 as part of the concurrent EU-wide election to the 7th European Parliament. All 50 seats allocated to the Spanish constituency as per the Treaty of Nice—54 after the Treaty of Lisbon came into force on 1 December 2011—were up for election.

The election saw the first national victory for the People's Party (PP) since the 2000 Spanish general election, scoring 42.1% of the share in its best showing in a European Parliament election to date, as well as its third best in a national election overall. The ruling Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE), on the other hand, fell to second place with 38.8% of the votes after a cycle of electoral victories starting in 2004. As in the previous election, the result was close, as both parties came within three percentage points of each other. The Coalition for Europe (CEU), the alliance of regionalist and peripheral nationalist parties that came to succeed the late Galeusca–Peoples of Europe coalition, remained in third place with 5.1% of the votes, whereas United Left (IU)—which ran under The Left banner—saw its worst showing in a nationwide election up to that point, barely surpassing 3.7% of the share. On the other hand, the new Union, Progress and Democracy (UPyD) party had a strong performance by comfortably doubling its result from the 2008 Spanish general election, being the only national party that saw a net gain of votes compared to that electoral contest. The abertzale left-supported Internationalist Initiative–Solidarity among Peoples (II–SP) candidacy, which had been initially banned from running by the Supreme Court of Spain but later allowed by the Constitutional Court on the grounds that there was not enough evidence of its ties to the ETA terrorist group, scored 1.1% of the votes nationwide but failed to secure any parliamentary representation.

As the 2009 election was held under the provisions of the Treaty of Nice, Spain was allocated 50 MEP seats which, come Election Day, were distributed as follows: PP 23, PSOE 21, CEU 2, IU–ICV 2, UPyD 1 and EdP–V 1. After the Treaty of Lisbon came into force on 1 December 2011, Spain's delegation was increased to 54, granting additional seats to the PSOE (two) and to PP and CEU (one each) according to their June 2009 election results.

Overview Electoral system Voting for the European Parliament in Spain was based on universal suffrage, which comprised all Spanish nationals and resident non-national European citizens 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..

50 European Parliament seats were allocated to Spain as per the Treaty of Nice.; . 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 2009 Groups Parties MEPs Seats Total Party of European Socialists PSOE 24 24 European People's Party PP 23 24 UPN 1 Greens–European Free Alliance ICV 1 3 EA 1 LVdE 1 Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe CDC 1 2 EAJ/PNV 1 European United Left–Nordic Green Left IU 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. 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.. Amendments 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 Leading candidate Ideology Previous result Vote % Seats PSOE Juan Fernando López Aguilar Social democracy 43.5% PP Jaime Mayor Oreja ConservatismChristian democracy 41.2% CEU Ramon Tremosa Peripheral nationalism 5.2% IU–ICV Willy Meyer SocialismCommunism 4.1% EdP–V Oriol Junqueras Peripheral nationalism 3.4% UPyD Francisco Sosa Wagner Social liberalismRadical centrism colspan="2"

Campaign Party slogans Original slogan English translation PSOE « Este partido se juega en Europa » "This match plays out in Europe" PP « Ahora soluciones. Ahora PP » "Now, solutions. Now, PP" CEU CiU EAJ/PNV : « Ara »: « Europara, inoiz baino indar gehiagorekin » /« A Europa, con más fuerza que nunca » : "Now": "To Europe, with more strength than ever" IU–ICV « Izquierda Unida, tu voz en Europa » "United Left, your voice in Europe" EdP–V ERC BNG Aralar–EA : « Pròxima estació, Europa »: « Imos a Europa, ves? »: « Langileen Europa » /« La Europa de los trabajadores » : "Next stop, Europe": "We are going to Europe, are you coming?": "The Europe of workers" UPyD « Una España fuerte en una Europa unida » "A strong Spain within a united Europe"

Debates + 2009 European Parliament election debates in Spain Date Organizer(s) Moderator(s) PSOE PP CEU IU–ICV EdP–V Audience Refs 25 May RTVE Ana Blanco NI NI NI 13.9% 1 June Antena 3 Gloria Lomana NI NI NI 10.9% 3 June RTVE Pepa Bueno S S 8.3%

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.

Polling firm/Commissioner Fieldwork date Sample size Turnout CEU EdPV Lead 2009 EP election 7 Jun 2009 44.9 38.8 42.1 5.1 3.7 2.5 2.9 1.1 3.3 PSOE 5 Jun 2009? 45–50 42.4 42.7 – 3.6 – – – 0.3 TNS Demoscopia/Antena 3 28 May 2009?? 39.7 42.4 4.8 3.9 2.4 3.1 0.8 2.7 Metroscopia/El País 27–28 May 2009 1,000 45 39.3 43.0 5.0 4.1 3.9 3.0 – 3.7 NC Report/La Razón 26–28 May 2009 1,000? 40.2 43.2 4.7 3.9 2.3 3.0 – 3.0 Sigma Dos/El Mundo 26–28 May 2009 1,000 39–44 40.6 42.8 4.0 3.4 2.7 2.6 – 2.2 DYM/ABC 25–28 May 2009 1,040? 38.7 40.9 5.4 3.3 1.8 2.2 – 2.2 Noxa/La Vanguardia 25–28 May 2009 1,000? 42.5 40.9 4.9 3.2 2.2 3.3 – 1.6 Obradoiro de Socioloxía/Público 11–27 May 2009 2,402? 40.0 42.6 3.8 4.0 2.7 2.8 0.9 2.6 PSOE 25 May 2009 2,500 45–48 42.7 42.5 –? –? – 0.2 NC Report/La Razón 18–21 May 2009 1,000 40.1 41.0 43.7 4.5 3.7 2.0 2.9 – 2.7 CIS 29 Apr–17 May 2009 4,692? 42.8 42.2 5.1 3.1 3.6 1.3 – 0.6 GESOP/El Periódico 11–15 May 2009 1,500? 39.0 43.0 4.2 4.7 3.6 2.6 – 4.0 INVESOP/COPE 8 May 2009 1,700 58 40.7 44.0???? – 3.3 40 41.1 45.1???? – 4.0 NC Report/La Razón 4–8 May 2009 1,000 42.9 40.0 42.8 4.6 5.1 2.2 3.4 – 2.8 Obradoiro de Socioloxía/Público 14 Apr–8 May 2009?? 40.0 44.0 4.0 3.5 1.7 3.7 – 4.0 NC Report/La Razón 20 Apr 2009? 42.5 39.0 43.3 4.8 5.3 2.2 3.2 – 4.3 Sigma Dos/El Mundo 3–8 Apr 2009 900? 37.9 42.3 4.3 5.0 2.2 4.4 – 4.4 Obradoiro de Socioloxía/Público 10 Mar–2 Apr 2009 3,204? 39.0 43.5 4.8 4.9 1.9 3.2 – 4.5 2004 EP election 13 Jun 2004 45.1 43.5 41.2 5.1 4.1 2.5 – – 2.3

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

Polling firm/Commissioner Fieldwork date Sample size CEU EdPV Lead 2009 EP election 7 Jun 2009 17.6 19.3 2.3 1.7 1.1 1.3 54.0 1.7 Obradoiro de Socioloxía/Público 25–27 May 2009? 21.8 18.8 – – – – – – 3.0 Obradoiro de Socioloxía/Público 18–20 May 2009? 21.6 18.9 – – – – – – 2.7 CIS 29 Apr–17 May 2009 4,692 30.7 23.7 2.6 2.1 1.6 0.9 22.3 13.8 7.0 Obradoiro de Socioloxía/Público 11–13 May 2009? 20.3 20.5 – – – – – – 0.2 Obradoiro de Socioloxía/Público 14 Apr–8 May 2009? 21.4 19.3 1.6 1.9 0.5 2.0 36.6 15.7 2.1 Obradoiro de Socioloxía/Público 10 Mar–2 Apr 2009 3,204 21.6 20.6 2.3 2.7 0.8 1.7 33.3 16.3 1.0 2004 EP election 13 Jun 2004 19.7 18.8 2.4 1.9 1.1 – 54.1 0.9

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

Polling firm/Commissioner Fieldwork date Sample size CEU EdPV Other/None Lead Metroscopia/El País 27–28 May 2009 1,000 45.0 32.0 – – – – 23.0 13.0 Noxa/La Vanguardia 25–28 May 2009 1,000 42.0 33.0 – – – – 25.0 9.0 PSOE 25 May 2009 2,500 34.8 34.7 – – – – 30.5 0.1 CIS 29 Apr–17 May 2009 4,692 37.8 27.4 2.7 2.5 1.7 1.0 8.4 18.5 10.4

Victory likelihood The table below lists opinion polling on the perceived likelihood of victory for each party in the event of a European Parliament election taking place.

Polling firm/Commissioner Fieldwork date Sample size Other/None Lead Metroscopia/El País 27–28 May 2009 1,000 35.0 36.0 29.0 1.0 Noxa/La Vanguardia 25–28 May 2009 1,000 39.0 38.0 23.0 1.0 PSOE 25 May 2009 2,500 33.5 33.3 33.2 0.2 CIS 29 Apr–17 May 2009 4,692 30.9 31.5 2.2 35.4 0.6 Obradoiro de Socioloxía/Público 14 Apr–8 May 2009? 18.3 29.5 0.1 52.4 11.2 Obradoiro de Socioloxía/Público 10 Mar–2 Apr 2009 3,204 21.3 22.0 0.3 56.4 0.7

Results Overall