The 2023 Cantabrian regional election was held on 28 May 2023 to elect the 11th Parliament of the autonomous community of Cantabria. All 35 seats in the Parliament were up for election. It was held concurrently with regional elections in eleven other autonomous communities and local elections all throughout Spain.

Overview Electoral system The Parliament of Cantabria was the devolved, unicameral legislature of the autonomous community of Cantabria, having legislative power in regional matters as defined by the Spanish Constitution and the Cantabrian Statute of Autonomy, as well as the ability to vote confidence in or withdraw it from a regional president. Voting for the Parliament was on the basis of universal suffrage, which comprised all nationals over 18 years of age, registered in Cantabria and in full enjoyment of their political rights. Amendments to the electoral law in 2022 abolished the "begged" or expat vote system (), under which Spaniards abroad were required to apply for voting before being permitted to vote. The expat vote system was attributed responsibility for a major decrease in the turnout of Spaniards abroad during the years it had been in force.

The 35 members of the Parliament of Cantabria were elected using the D'Hondt method and a closed list proportional representation, with an electoral threshold of five percent of valid votes—which included blank ballots—being applied regionally.

Election date The term of the Parliament of Cantabria expired four years after the date of its previous election. Elections to the Parliament were fixed for the fourth Sunday of May every four years. The previous election was held on 26 May 2019, setting the election date for the Parliament on 28 May 2023.

The president had the prerogative to dissolve the Parliament of Cantabria and call a snap election, provided that no motion of no confidence was in process, no nationwide election was due and some time requirements were met: namely, that dissolution did not occur either during the first legislative session or within the legislature's last year ahead of its scheduled expiry, nor before one year had elapsed since a previous dissolution. In the event of an investiture process failing to elect a regional president within a two-month period from the first ballot, the Parliament was to be automatically dissolved and a fresh election called. Any snap election held as a result of these circumstances would not alter the period to the next ordinary election, with elected lawmakers serving the remainder of its original four-year term.

The election to the Parliament of Cantabria was officially triggered on 4 April 2023 after the publication of the election decree in the Official Gazette of Cantabria (BOC), scheduling for the chamber to convene on 22 June.

Parliamentary composition The table below shows the composition of the parliamentary groups in the Parliament at the time of dissolution.

+ Parliamentary composition in April 2023 Groups Parties Legislators Seats Total Regionalist Parliamentary Group PRC 14 14 People's Parliamentary Group PP 9 9 Socialist Parliamentary Group PSOE 7 7 Citizens Parliamentary Group CS 3 3 Mixed Parliamentary Group Vox 2 2

Parties and candidates The electoral law allowed for parties and federations registered in the interior ministry, coalitions and groupings of electors to present lists of candidates. Parties and federations intending to form a coalition ahead of an election were required to inform the relevant Electoral Commission within ten days of the election call, whereas groupings of electors needed to secure the signature of at least one percent of the electorate in Cantabria, disallowing electors from signing for more than one list of candidates.

Below is a list of the main parties and electoral alliances which contested the election:

Candidacy Parties andalliances Candidate Ideology Previous result Vote % Seats PRC Miguel Ángel Revilla RegionalismCentrism 37.6% PP María José Sáenz de Buruaga ConservatismChristian democracy 24.0% PSOE Pablo Zuloaga Social democracy 17.6% CS Félix Álvarez Liberalism 7.9% Vox Leticia Díaz Right-wing populismUltranationalismNational conservatism 5.1% Podemos–IU Mónica Rodero Left-wing populismDirect democracyDemocratic socialism 5.0%

On 19 December 2019, Félix Álvarez resigned as leader of Citizens (CS) in Cantabria, citing "disagreements" with the party's leadership after a scandal broke out over the one-day hiring of Cs former leading candidate for the Congress of Deputies in the region, Rubén Gómez, a contract which Álvarez had publicly denied from having taken place.

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.

Graphical summary

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; 18 seats were required for an absolute majority in the Parliament of Cantabria.

Polling firm/Commissioner Fieldwork date Sample size Turnout PRC Lead 2023 regional election 28 May 2023 65.3 20.8 35.8 20.6 2.3 11.1 4.1 – 15.0 NC Report/La Razón 22 May 2023?? 25.8 34.8 19.9 – 9.8 4.8 – 9.0 KeyData/Público 17 May 2023? 70.0 24.1 34.6 20.6 1.3 11.1 5.5 – 10.5 Easiest 15–17 May 2023 400? 26.1 33.6 22.9 1.2 11.1 <5.0 – 7.5 EM-Analytics/El Plural 11–17 May 2023 600? 25.8 33.5 19.6 1.4 10.4 7.1 – 7.7 EM-Analytics/El Plural 4–10 May 2023 600? 27.3 32.5 19.6 1.4 10.1 7.0 – 5.2 EM-Analytics/El Plural 26 Apr–3 May 2023 600? 27.8 32.4 19.7 1.4 9.9 6.6 – 4.6 GAD3/ABC 26–27 Apr 2023 805? 21.9 33.3 20.9 1.0 14.3 5.2 – 11.4 Metroscopia 25–27 Apr 2023 1,000 64.0 22.5 37.1 19.8 – 9.4 5.5 – 14.6 CIS 10–26 Apr 2023 471? 19.2 31.8 22.2 2.3 11.9 8.6 – 9.6 EM-Analytics/El Plural 19–25 Apr 2023 600? 27.3 32.6 19.6 1.4 10.0 6.9 – 5.3 EM-Analytics/El Plural 12–18 Apr 2023 600? 26.8 31.5 19.0 1.4 10.0 7.1 – 4.7 Simple Lógica/elDiario.es 11–18 Apr 2023 451? 23.7 34.0 20.2 2.4 11.2 5.8 – 10.3 EM-Analytics/El Plural 5–11 Apr 2023 600? 26.9 30.5 19.1 1.6 10.4 7.5 – 3.6 EM-Analytics/El Plural 27 Mar–4 Apr 2023 600? 26.9 31.5 18.8 1.6 10.2 7.0 – 4.6 KeyData/Público 15 Mar 2023? 70.0 29.0 34.2 18.3 1.5 8.4 5.4 – 5.2 NC Report/La Razón 27 Feb–3 Mar 2023? 65.2 32.4 36.0 15.8 1.5 6.9 4.7 – 3.6 EM-Analytics/Electomanía 15 Jan–26 Feb 2023 243? 27.3 30.1 18.9 1.9 10.9 6.8 – 2.8 Metroscopia 9–14 Feb 2023 1,500? 23.4 34.9 20.6 1.2 9.5 5.6 – 11.5 Sigma Dos/El Mundo 3–9 Feb 2023 870? 31.8 33.4 18.1 1.8 7.9 5.4 – 1.6 CIS 17 Nov–2 Dec 2022 196? 14.7 28.8 28.6 2.6 11.0 7.0 – 0.2 EM-Analytics/Electomanía 30 Jun–13 Aug 2022 101? 28.9 28.9 18.3 2.0 11.4 7.5 0.5 Tie Logos Lab/PRC 6 Mar 2022 800 ? 31.5 26.1 19.5 3.9 10.0 5.0 – 5.4 EM-Analytics/Electomanía 15 Jan–27 Feb 2022?? 29.9 27.6 20.0 2.3 10.3 7.1 0.7 2.3 EM-Analytics/Electomanía 1 Dec 2021?? 30.0 27.5 20.0 2.0 10.0 7.0 – 2.5 EM-Analytics/Electomanía 31 May 2021 800? 28.2 28.1 20.7 2.5 10.5 4.2 1.8 – – 0.1 Metroscopia/PP 21–28 Apr 2021 1,500 60 26.1 28.9 21.7 2.9 9.8 4.6 1.5 – – 2.8 EM-Analytics/Electomanía 28 Feb 2021?? 32.5 24.8 20.0 4.8 10.2 4.4 1.4 – – 7.7 SyM Consulting 23–25 Oct 2020 916 68.7 31.0 22.4 16.6 3.9 17.9 3.8 1.8 – – 8.6 ElectoPanel/Electomanía 1 Apr–15 May 2020?? 32.5 30.0 18.6 5.0 5.9 3.5 1.4 – – 2.5 SyM Consulting 6–8 May 2020 807 67.6 37.9 21.2 20.4 4.3 6.8 5.5 1.5 – – 16.7 SW Demoscopia 30 Jan–7 Feb 2020 800? 32.5 22.4 22.5 3.9 8.6 7.1 – 10.0 November 2019 general election 10 Nov 2019 65.7 21.0 25.9 23.2 4.8 14.9 8.7 – 2.7 2019 regional election 26 May 2019 65.7 37.6 24.0 17.6 7.9 5.1 3.1 1.9 – – 13.6

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

Polling firm/Commissioner Fieldwork date Sample size PRC Lead 2023 regional election 28 May 2023 14.4 24.7 14.2 1.6 7.7 2.8 29.5 10.3 CIS 10–26 Apr 2023 471 13.2 23.1 16.5 1.2 9.9 5.8 24.4 1.9 6.6 CIS 17 Nov–2 Dec 2022 196 9.1 19.9 18.9 1.3 7.3 4.5 29.7 4.0 1.0 November 2019 general election 10 Nov 2019 14.8 18.2 16.3 3.3 10.5 6.1 29.2 1.9 2019 regional election 26 May 2019 26.5 16.9 12.3 5.6 3.5 2.2 1.3 – 29.0 9.6

Results + ← Summary of the 28 May 2023 Parliament of Cantabria election results → Parties and alliances Popular vote Seats Votes % ±pp Total +/− People's Party (PP) 116,198 35.78 +11.74 15 +6 Regionalist Party of Cantabria (PRC) 67,523 20.79 −16.85 8 −6 Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) 66,917 20.61 +3.00 8 +1 Vox (Vox) 35,982 11.08 +6.02 4 +2 We Can–United Left (Podemos–IU)1 13,395 4.12 −0.92 0 ±0 Citizens–Party of the Citizenry (CS) 7,527 2.32 −5.62 0 −3 Cantabrists (Cantabristas) 5,522 1.70 +1.21 0 ±0 Animalist Party with the Environment (PACMA)2 1,837 0.57 ±0.00 0 ±0 Greens Equo (Equo) 1,548 0.48 New 0 ±0 Cantabria Wave (OlaCantabria) 1,125 0.35 +0.01 0 ±0 Communist Party of the Workers of Spain (PCTE) 757 0.23 −0.01 0 ±0 Different Cantabria (Cantabria Distinta) 588 0.18 New 0 ±0 Blank ballots 5,809 1.75 +0.77 Total 324,728 35 ±0 Valid votes 324,728 97.98 −1.04 Invalid votes 6,685 2.02 +1.04 Votes cast / turnout 331,413 65.31 −0.40 Abstentions 176,025 34.69 +0.40 Registered voters 507,438 Sources

Aftermath

InvestitureMaría José Sáenz de Buruaga (PP) Ballot → 30 June 2023 3 July 2023 Required majority → 18 out of 35 Simple Absentees Sources

Notes

References Opinion poll sources

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