An election was held in Spain on 26 May 2019 as part of the concurrent EU-wide election to the 9th European Parliament. All 54 seats allocated to the Spanish constituency as per the Treaty of Lisbon—59 after Brexit was formalized on 31 January 2020—were up for election. It was held concurrently with regional elections in twelve autonomous communities and local elections all across Spain.
Held one month after the 28 April 2019 general election, the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez scored a landslide victory—as well as the first win for the party in a European Parliament election in 15 years, also with Josep Borrell as its main candidate—by achieving 32.9% of the share and 20 seats, a result which allowed it to become the largest national delegation within the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats. Concurrently, the opposition People's Party (PP) suffered a severe setback and scored its worst result ever in a European Parliament election, but slightly improved on its general election results by achieving 20.2% of the vote and 12 seats. Citizens (Cs), which had integrated Union, Progress and Democracy (UPyD) within its lists ahead of the election, became the third most-voted party of the country, but at 12.2% and 7 seats it only slightly improved on the combined Cs–UPyD results in 2014. Unidas Podemos Cambiar Europa (), the alliance of Podemos and United Left (IU) suffered a considerable drop from both parties' past results, being reduced to 10.1% and 6 seats. Far-right Vox performed well below expectations after disappointing results for the party in the 2019 general election, scoring 6.2% of the share and 3 seats.
Afterwards, and as a result of the United Kingdom's withdrawal from the European Union coming into effect on 31 January 2020, five additional seats were allocated to Spain's MEP delegation, which were re-distributed by granting one each to PSOE, PP, Cs, Vox and Junts according to their May 2019 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.; . Additionally, non-resident citizens were required to apply for voting, a system known as "begged" voting ()..
54 European Parliament seats were allocated to Spain as per the Treaty of Lisbon.; ; . 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 April 2019 Groups Parties MEPs Seats Total European People's Party PP 16 17 INDEP 1 Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats PSOE 14 14 European United Left–Nordic Green Left Podemos 5 10 IU 4 Anova 1 Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe Cs 4 8 UPyD 1 PDeCAT 1 EAJ/PNV 1 INDEP 1 Greens–European Free Alliance ERC 2 5 ICV 1 BNG 1 Equo 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.. 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 Dolors Montserrat ConservatismChristian democracy 26.1% PSOE Josep Borrell Social democracy 23.0% Podemos–IU María Eugenia Rodríguez Palop Left-wing populismDemocratic socialism 18.0% Cs Luis Garicano Liberalism 9.7% AhoraRepúblicas Oriol Junqueras SecessionismLeft-wing nationalism 6.1% Junts Carles Puigdemont Catalan independenceLiberalism 5.4% CEUS Izaskun Bilbao Peripheral nationalism CpE Jordi Sebastià Left-wing nationalismEco-socialism 1.9% Vox Jorge Buxadé Right-wing populismUltranationalismNational conservatism 1.6%
Campaign Party slogans Party or alliance Original slogan English translation PP « Centrados en tu futuro » "Centered on your future" PSOE « Siempre hacia delante » "Always forward" Podemos–IU « Verdades en Europa » "Truths in Europe" Cs « Vamos Europa » "Let's go Europe" Ahora Repúblicas « Impuls republicà » "Republican impulse" Vox « En Europa, por España » "In Europe, for Spain"
Debates + 2019 European Parliament election debates in Spain Date Organizer(s) Moderator(s) PP PSOE UPCE Cs AR Junts CEUS CpE Vox Audience Refs 12 May laSexta(El Objetivo) Ana Pastor NI NI NI NI 6.9% 22 May RTVE Xabier Fortes S S 5.2%
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.
Polling firm/Commissioner Fieldwork date Sample size Turnout AR Lead 2019 EP election 26 May 2019 60.7 20.2 32.9 5.6 2.8 12.2 1.3 6.2 1.3 10.1 4.5 12.7 Celeste-Tel/eldiario.es 26 May 2019 1,100? 17.3 28.4 6.0 3.1 16.0 1.5 6.5 1.5 12.4 2.8 11.1 GAD3/ABC 22–24 May 2019 2,100? 19.5 30.3 3.5? 14.2 – 8.2 – 11.8 4.8 10.8 ElectoPanel/Electomanía 29 Apr–23 May 2019 7,700? 16.8 28.4 5.2 1.5 17.1 1.4 8.4 1.5 12.3 4.4 11.3 ElectoPanel/Electomanía 29 Apr–22 May 2019 7,700? 16.9 28.3 5.2 1.5 17.0 1.3 8.3 1.5 12.4 4.1 11.3 ElectoPanel/Electomanía 29 Apr–21 May 2019 7,700? 16.7 28.4 5.0 1.4 17.1 1.2 8.1 1.6 12.2 4.2 11.3 ElectoPanel/Electomanía 29 Apr–20 May 2019 7,700? 16.8 28.4 5.1 1.4 16.7 1.2 8.4 1.7 12.4 4.0 11.6 Sigma Dos/El Mundo 20 May 2019?? 16.8 32.1 5.2 2.3 15.8 – 8.5 – 10.2 2.4 15.3 GAD3/ABC 17–20 May 2019 1,000? 19.7 32.9 3.5 1.8 13.5 – 6.8 – 10.6 4.8 13.2 GIPEyOP 7–20 May 2019 2,757? 14.9–17.6 26.3–29.1 4.0–5.0 1.4–2.7 15.8–19.2 1.4–2.3 8.7–11.0 0.4–2.0 13.4–16.3 2.4–3.5 9.9–10.5 NC Report/La Razón 19 May 2019?? 19.3 30.1 ?? 15.9 – 7.2 – 13.3? 10.8 ElectoPanel/Electomanía 29 Apr–19 May 2019 7,700? 16.7 28.2 4.9 1.5 16.8 1.2 8.2 1.8 12.8 4.1 11.4 ElectoPanel/Electomanía 29 Apr–18 May 2019 5,000? 16.8 26.8 5.0 1.5 16.9 1.3 8.3 2.0 14.0 4.0 9.9 KeyData/Público 16 May 2019? 64.0 17.5 28.8 5.0 1.8 15.8 1.5 9.7 1.3 13.8 2.9 11.3 ElectoPanel/Electomanía 29 Apr–16 May 2019 5,000? 16.3 25.7 5.4 1.5 16.9 1.5 8.7 2.5 14.1 3.5 8.8 Celeste-Tel/eldiario.es 13–16 May 2019 1,100? 17.9 28.9 5.8 2.3 16.5 1.8 7.2 2.0 12.8 2.0 11.0 DYM/El Independiente 10–15 May 2019 1,003? 20.0 30.0 6.0 – 16.0 – 8.0 – 14.0 3.0 10.0 Metroscopia/Henneo 9–14 May 2019 1,700 66–67 19.6 30.8 3.8 – 15.6 – 7.7 – 14.4 3.3 11.2 ElectoPanel/Electomanía 29 Apr–14 May 2019 5,000? 15.6 24.7 5.5 1.6 17.7 1.4 9.5 2.8 14.2 3.3 7.0 ElectoPanel/Electomanía 29 Apr–12 May 2019 5,000? 15.2 24.6 5.5 1.5 17.7 1.4 10.0 2.7 13.9 3.3 6.9 40dB/El País 6–10 May 2019 1,501? 18.9 28.9 5.5 – 16.1 – 8.4 – 14.8 2.5 10.0 ElectoPanel/Electomanía 29 Apr–10 May 2019 5,000? 15.0 23.7 5.4 1.5 18.2 1.5 10.2 2.7 14.2 3.7 5.5 ElectoPanel/Electomanía 29 Apr–8 May 2019 5,000? 14.9 22.9 5.8 1.6 18.3 1.6 10.3 2.6 14.1 3.5 4.6 GAD3/ABC 3–6 May 2019 830? 18.5 30.3 5.0 1.6 16.6 – 7.8 – 11.4 3.0 11.8 ElectoPanel/Electomanía 29 Apr–6 May 2019 5,000? 14.7 23.0 6.0 1.5 18.5 1.7 10.3 2.6 14.1 3.4 4.5 ElectoPanel/Electomanía 29 Apr–4 May 2019 5,000? 16.0 22.5 6.0 1.5 18.1 1.7 9.8 2.5 13.9 3.3 4.4 2019 general election 28 Apr 2019 71.8 16.7 28.7 5.3 2.1 15.9 1.0 10.3 1.3 14.3 1.9 12.0 CIS 21 Mar–23 Apr 2019 17,641 63 18.0–20.0 29.0–31.0 5.0–7.0 1.0–3.0 14.0–16.0 – 7.0–9.0 1.0–2.0 13.0–15.0 1.0–3.0 11.0 ElectoPanel/Electomanía 22 Feb–7 Apr 2019 9,600? 20.0 23.1 5.0 1.5 16.8 2.4 11.7 3.5 11.2 1.9 3.1 ElectoPanel/Electomanía 22 Feb–31 Mar 2019 8,850? 18.6 23.2 5.0 1.5 18.9 2.6 11.9 3.4 10.9 1.7 4.3 Sigma Dos/El Mundo 20–25 Mar 2019?? 21.8 29.6 4.7 1.4 13.8 – 9.6 1.0 12.7 1.0 7.8 ElectoPanel/Electomanía 22 Feb–24 Mar 2019 8,200? 19.0 24.0 5.0 3.1 18.6 2.5 11.3 3.3 10.4 5.0 ElectoPanel/Electomanía 22 Feb–17 Mar 2019 7,400? 19.6 22.3 5.1 3.1 17.6 2.3 13.4 3.1 10.6 2.7 ElectoPanel/Electomanía 22 Feb–10 Mar 2019 6,800? 19.0 21.8 5.3 3.1 18.3 2.3 13.3 3.0 10.9 2.8 ElectoPanel/Electomanía 22 Feb–3 Mar 2019 5,200? 19.1 21.3 5.1 3.0 18.8 2.4 13.4 3.1 11.1 2.2 Sigma Dos/El Mundo 25–28 Feb 2019 1,000? 20.3 28.8 4.6 1.4 15.1 – 8.4 1.3 15.6 1.0 8.5 ElectoPanel/Electomanía 26 Jan–30 Jan 2019 2,890? 16.0 21.3 – 6.3 3.1 21.0 1.8 13.0 1.8 11.3 0.3 SocioMétrica/El Español 22 Dec–5 Jan 2019 2,200? 18.5 22.1 – 5.2 3.0 18.2 2.2 13.0 – 15.6 3.6 ElectoPanel/Electomanía 26 May–2 Jun 2018 2,043? 17.2 21.6 0.2 3.3 4.1 22.7 2.8 4.6 4.2 16.8 1.1 Desk Research/PSOE 21 May 2018? 63 23.6 26.4 4.0 7.7 – – – 18.2 – – – – – 2.8 PP 10 Apr 2018?? 22.0 22.0 6.0 11.4 1.8 2.8 2.4 16.2 2.6 4.2 2.3 – 4.6 Tie Desk Research/PSOE 9 Apr 2018 10,000 63 24.0 26.0 4.0 8.0 – – – 17.0 – – – – – 2.0 2015 general election 26 Jun 2016 66.5 33.0 22.6 0.2 3.6 3.6 13.1 0.2 1.2 21.2 – 10.4 2015 general election 20 Dec 2015 69.7 28.7 22.0 3.7 20.7 0.6 3.6 3.9 13.9 0.2 0.9 – – 6.7 2014 EP election 25 May 2014 43.8 26.1 23.0 10.0 8.0 6.5 6.1 5.4 3.2 1.9 1.6 1.1 – – 3.1
Voting preferences The table below lists raw, unweighted voting preferences.
Polling firm/Commissioner Fieldwork date Sample size AR Lead 2019 EP election 26 May 2019 12.8 20.9 3.6 1.8 7.8 0.8 4.0 0.8 6.4 2.9 35.8 8.1 40dB/El País 6–10 May 2019 1,501 6.5 18.1 4.0 1.0 9.9 0.9 4.9 1.8 14.5 3.7 27.0 3.9 3.6 CIS 21 Mar–23 Apr 2019 17,641 9.6 18.7 3.6 0.8 5.5 – 2.6 0.7 7.0 0.9 38.2 10.4 9.1 2014 EP election 25 May 2014 11.7 10.4 4.5 3.6 2.9 2.6 2.4 1.4 0.9 0.7 0.5 – – 54.2 1.3
Results Overall