A regional election was held in the Canary Islands on 22 May 2011 to elect the 8th 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 27 May 2007, setting the date for election day on the fourth Sunday of May four years later, which was 22 May 2011.

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 29 March 2011 with the publication of the corresponding decree in the BOC, 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 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 ). Amendments earlier in 2011 required non-resident citizens to apply for voting, a system known as "begged" voting ()..

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 March 2011 Groups Parties Legislators Seats Total Canarian Socialist Parliamentary Group PSOE 26 26 Canarian Coalition Parliamentary Group (CC) CC 17 19 AHI 2 People's Parliamentary Group PP 15 15

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 Candidate Ideology Previous result Vote % Seats PSOE José Miguel Pérez García Social democracy 34.5% CC–PNC Paulino Rivero RegionalismCanarian nationalismCentrism 28.1% PP José Manuel Soria ConservatismChristian democracy 24.0% NCa Román Rodríguez Canarian nationalismSocial democracy 6.5%

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 CCN PIL Lead 2011 regional election 22 May 2011 58.9 21.0 24.9 31.9 9.1 0.8 1.0 7.0 Demométrica/ACN Press 2–12 May 2011 2,820? 26.9 25.8 30.4 11.6 – – 3.5 NC Report/La Razón 3–10 May 2011?? 25.9 27.5 27.9? – – 0.4 Ikerfel/Vocento 9 May 2011?? 28.8 25.7 22.9 12.9 – – 3.1 TNS Demoscopia/Antena 3 9 May 2011 1,500? 26.7 28.4 27.7 6.0 – – – 0.7 Celeste-Tel/Terra 13–20 Apr 2011 700? 23.2 25.1 30.3 8.5 – – – 5.2 OPMC Consultores 5–17 Apr 2011 2,400? 27.7 27.1 30.6 9.2 – – – 2.9 CIS 17 Mar–17 Apr 2011 1,797? 30.2 23.9 27.3 5.1 – 1.7 0.8 2.9 Sigma Dos/El Mundo 7–12 Apr 2011 1,200? 27.3 25.6 33.6 6.0 – – – 6.3 Demométrica/ACN Press 22 Feb–17 Mar 2011 2,806? 26.9 24.6 30.7 11.0 – – – 3.8 Sigma Dos/PP 15–18 Feb 2011 3,600? 28.0 25.7 33.1 – – – – – 5.1 Perfiles/Canarias7 1–9 Feb 2011 2,400? 22.0–23.0 30.0–31.0 29.0–30.0 7.0–8.0 – – – 1.0 Sigma Dos/El Mundo 21–27 Dec 2010 1,200? 27.6 25.2 37.0 – – – – – 9.4 OPMC Consultores 12–24 Jul 2010 3,600 60.1 31.7 20.5 28.4 15.8 – – 3.3 60.1 33.1 22.7 29.6 6.7 5.2 0.8 – – 3.5 Sigma Dos/El Mundo 19–24 May 2010 1,200? 30.7 22.0 35.3 – – – – – 4.6 2009 EP election 7 Jun 2009 39.2 36.0 15.8 40.8 – – – 1.6 1.2 4.8 KDK Creativa 1 Jun 2009 2,550 60.5 33.6 23.1 27.4 9.8 6.9 0.8 – – 6.2 2008 general election 9 Mar 2008 65.9 39.6 17.5 35.0 3.8 1.2 0.4 4.6 2007 regional election 27 May 2007 60.4 34.5 24.2 24.0 5.4 4.0 1.0 0.7 – 10.3

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

Polling firm/Commissioner Fieldwork date Sample size Lead 2011 regional election 22 May 2011 12.9 15.3 19.6 5.6 0.5 0.6 36.8 4.3 CIS 17 Mar–17 Apr 2011 1,797 13.1 15.0 16.1 1.3 1.1 0.4 39.9 7.3 1.1 2009 EP election 7 Jun 2009 14.6 6.4 16.7 – 0.6 0.5 59.0 4.8 2008 general election 9 Mar 2008 26.6 11.3 23.9 2.6 0.9 0.2 32.4 2.7 2007 regional election 27 May 2007 22.0 14.8 15.4 3.5 0.3 – 36.2 6.6

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 17 Mar–17 Apr 2011 1,797 17.1 19.9 22.5 1.9 1.2 0.6 10.3 26.4 2.6

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 17 Mar–17 Apr 2011 1,797 8.4 29.1 30.2 0.5 0.1 0.0 2.6 29.2 1.1

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 CIS 17 Mar–17 Apr 2011 1,797 9.2 27.4 18.4 – – 0.9 0.3 13.6 30.1 9.0 Perfiles/Canarias7 1–9 Feb 2011 2,400 14.0 31.1 27.7 6.2 2.4 – – 5.8 12.8 3.4

Results Overall + ← Summary of the 22 May 2011 Parliament of the Canary Islands election results → Parties and alliances Popular vote Seats Votes % ±pp Total +/− People's Party (PP) 289,381 31.94 +7.90 21 +6 Canarian Coalition–Nationalist Party–Canarian Centre (CC–PNC–CCN)1 225,948 24.94 −3.16 21 +2 Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) 190,028 20.98 −13.53 15 −11 New Canaries (NCa)2 82,148 9.07 +2.60 3 +3 Yes We Can Citizens' Alternative (ACSSP)3 19,020 2.10 +1.58 0 ±0 The Greens (Verdes) 18,831 2.08 +0.18 0 ±0 Union, Progress and Democracy (UPyD) 9,069 1.00 New 0 ±0 Commitment to Gran Canaria (CGCa) 7,382 0.81 −0.10 0 ±0 Canarian United Left (IUC) 6,818 0.75 +0.05 0 ±0 Canarian Nationalist Alternative (ANC) 6,494 0.72 +0.45 0 ±0 Common Sense in the Canaries (SCC) 4,761 0.53 New 0 ±0 Majorero Progressive Party (PPMAJO) 4,334 0.48 New 0 ±0 Canarian Patriotic Movement (MPC) 2,750 0.30 New 0 ±0 Anti-Bullfighting Party Against Mistreatment of Animals (PACMA) 2,715 0.30 New 0 ±0 Communist Party of the Canarian People (PCPC) 2,368 0.26 +0.12 0 ±0 Party for Services and Public Employed (PSyEP) 1,993 0.22 New 0 ±0 For a Fairer World (PUM+J) 1,442 0.16 New 0 ±0 Movement for the Unity of the Canarian People (MUPC) 1,268 0.14 +0.05 0 ±0 Humanist Party (PH) 1,246 0.14 +0.06 0 ±0 Unity of the People (UP) 1,133 0.13 −0.03 0 ±0 Liberal Democratic Centre (CDL) 1,018 0.11 New 0 ±0 Canarian Social Democratic Centre (CSDC) 361 0.04 New 0 ±0 National Democracy (DN) 314 0.03 ±0.00 0 ±0 Communist Unification of Spain (UCE) 120 0.01 New 0 ±0 Blank ballots 25,017 2.76 +1.34 Total 905,959 60 ±0 Valid votes 905,959 97.31 −2.12 Invalid votes 25,051 2.69 +2.12 Votes cast / turnout 931,010 58.90 −1.54 Abstentions 649,690 41.10 +1.54 Registered voters 1,580,700 Sources

Distribution by constituency Constituency PP CC–PNC PSOE NCa % S % S % S % S El Hierro 25.3 1 35.7 1 33.9 1 Fuerteventura 20.4 2 33.7 3 17.3 2 8.6 − Gran Canaria 41.4 8 9.2 1 21.1 4 14.3 2 La Gomera 24.7 1 20.9 1 44.9 2 4.2 − La Palma 28.1 2 39.5 4 24.9 2 1.8 − Lanzarote 22.4 2 34.8 4 17.2 1 13.6 1 Tenerife 25.6 5 36.6 7 20.2 3 4.7 − Total 31.9 21 24.9 21 21.0 15 9.1 3 Sources

Aftermath Government formation Investiture Ballot → 5 July 2011 Required majority → 31 out of 60 Absentees Sources

Notes

References Opinion poll sources

Other

Bibliography