# 2011 Castilian-Leonese regional election

The 2011 Castilian-Leonese regional election was held on Sunday, 22 May 2011, to elect the 8th Cortes of the autonomous community of Castile and León. All 84 seats in the Cortes were up for election. The election was held simultaneously with regional elections in twelve other autonomous communities and local elections all throughout Spain.
The election saw the People's Party (PP), which had formed the government of the region since the second democratic election in 1987, winning its largest majority to date with over 63% of the seats at stake (53 out of 84 seats), with incumbent president Juan Vicente Herrera being subsequently re-elected for a fourth term in office. The opposition Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) and Leonese People's Union (UPL) both lost ground, with the former securing its worst result since 1995, whereas United Left (IU) re-entered parliament for the first time since the 1999 election. The new Union, Progress and Democracy (UPyD) party, while achieving a remarkable result for a first-time national party with 3.3% of the share (and scoring in third place in the Ávila and Burgos constituencies), failed to obtain any seats.

## Overview
### Electoral system

The Cortes of Castile and León were the devolved, unicameral legislature of the autonomous community of Castile and León, having legislative power in regional matters as defined by the Spanish Constitution and the Castilian-Leonese Statute of Autonomy, as well as the ability to vote confidence in or withdraw it from a regional president. Voting for the Cortes was on the basis of universal suffrage, which comprised all nationals over 18 years of age, registered in Castile and León and in full enjoyment of their political rights. Amendments to the electoral law in 2011 required for Castilian-Leonese people abroad to apply for voting before being permitted to vote, a system known as "begged" or expat vote (Spanish: Voto rogado).
All members of the Cortes of Castile and León were elected using the D'Hondt method and a closed list proportional representation, with an electoral threshold of three percent of valid votes—which included blank ballots—being applied in each constituency. Seats were allocated to constituencies, corresponding to the provinces of Ávila, Burgos, León, Palencia, Salamanca, Segovia, Soria, Valladolid and Zamora, with each being allocated an initial minimum of three seats, as well as one additional member per each 45,000 inhabitants or fraction greater than 22,500.
As a result of the aforementioned allocation, each Cortes constituency was entitled the following seats:
| Seats | Constituencies |
| 15 | Valladolid |
| 14 | León |
| 11 | Burgos, Salamanca |
| 7 | Ávila, Palencia, Segovia$^{(+1)}$, Zamora |
| 5 | Soria |
In smaller constituencies, the use of the electoral method resulted in an effective threshold based on the district magnitude and the distribution of votes among candidacies.

### Election date

After legal amendments in 2007, fixed-term mandates were abolished, instead allowing the term of the Cortes of Castile and León to expire after an early dissolution. The election Decree was required to be issued no later than the twenty-fifth day prior to the date of expiry of parliament and published on the following day in the Official Gazette of Castile and León, with election day taking place between the fifty-fourth and sixtieth days from publication. The previous election was held on 27 May 2007, which meant that the legislature's term would have expired on 27 May 2011. The election Decree was required to be published no later than 3 May 2011, with the election taking place up to the sixtieth day from publication, setting the latest possible election date for the Cortes on Saturday, 2 July 2011.
The president had the prerogative to dissolve the Cortes of Castile and León and call a snap election, provided that no motion of no confidence was in process and that dissolution did not occur either during the first legislative session or 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 Cortes were to be automatically dissolved and a fresh election called.

## Parliamentary composition

The Cortes of Castile and León were officially dissolved on 29 March 2011, after the publication of the dissolution decree in the Official Gazette of Castile and León. The table below shows the composition of the parliamentary groups in the Cortes at the time of dissolution.
Parliamentary composition in March 2011 :
| Groups | Groups | Parties | Parties | Legislators | Legislators |
| Groups | Groups | Parties | Parties | Seats | Total |
| | People's Parliamentary Group | | PP | 48 | 48 |
| | Socialist Parliamentary Group | | PSOE | 33 | 33 |
| | Mixed Parliamentary Group | | UPL | 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 the constituencies for which they sought election, 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 | Candidacy | Parties and alliances | Leading candidate | Leading candidate | Ideology | Previous result | Previous result | Gov. | Ref. |
| Candidacy | Candidacy | Parties and alliances | Leading candidate | Leading candidate | Ideology | Votes (%) | Seats | Gov. | Ref. |
| | PP | List People's Party (PP) | | Juan Vicente Herrera | Conservatism Christian democracy | 49.17% | 48 | Y | |
| | PSOE | List Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) | | Óscar López | Social democracy | 37.73% | 33 | N | [9] [10] |
| | IUCyL | List United Left of Castile and León (IUCyL) | | José María González | Socialism Communism | 3.08% | 0 | N | [11] [12] [13] |
| | UPL | List Leonese People's Union (UPL) | | Alejandro Valderas | Regionalism Autonomism | 2.73% | 2 | N | |

## 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; 43 seats were required for an absolute majority in the Cortes of Castile and León (42 until 1 January 2010).
| Polling firm/Commissioner | Fieldwork date | Sample size | Turnout | | | | UPL | | Lead |
| 2011 regional election | 22 May 2011 | — | 67.5 | 51.6 53 | 29.7 29 | 4.9 1 | 1.9 1 | 3.3 0 | 21.9 |
| TNS Demoscopia/Antena 3 | 6–10 May 2011 | 2,000 | ? | 51.8 50/53 | 31.9 29/31 | 4.8 0/2 | 2.4 1/2 | – | 19.9 |
| NC Report/La Razón | 3–10 May 2011 | ? | ? | 52.8 49/51 | 34.6 30/32 | ? 0/1 | 2.3 1/2 | – | 18.2 |
| TNS Demoscopia/RTVCyL | 26 Apr–3 May 2011 | 4,600 | ? | 52.4 51/53 | 32.4 30/31 | 4.6 0/1 | 2.1 1 | 2.6 0 | 20.0 |
| NC Report/La Razón | 25 Apr 2011 | ? | ? | 53.4 50/52 | 35.5 29/31 | 3.6 0/1 | 2.4 1/2 | – | 17.9 |
| Celeste-Tel/Terra | 13–20 Apr 2011 | 900 | ? | 52.9 51 | 31.1 30 | 5.4 2 | 3.3 1 | – | 21.8 |
| Ikerfel/Vocento | 13–17 Apr 2011 | 3,200 | ? | 51.5 51 | 34.0 31 | 4.2 0 | 3.4 2 | 2.8 0 | 17.5 |
| CIS | 17 Mar–17 Apr 2011 | 2,974 | ? | 51.5 50 | 32.8 32 | 4.3 1 | 2.0 1 | 2.1 0 | 18.7 |
| Sigma Dos/El Mundo | 7–12 Apr 2011 | 1,600 | ? | 53.8 49/54 | 33.4 28/31 | 3.9 0/1 | 2.6 1/2 | – | 20.4 |
| TNS Demoscopia/Ical | 10–28 Mar 2011 | 5,850 | ? | 54.2 53/54 | 31.2 28/29 | 5.2 1 | 1.7 1 | 2.4 0 | 23.0 |
| Sigma Dos/El Mundo | 20–23 Dec 2010 | 1,600 | ? | 53.6 48/54 | 34.4 27/33 | 3.0 0/1 | 2.4 1/2 | – | 19.2 |
| Sigma Dos/El Mundo | 20–24 May 2010 | 1,600 | ? | 55.1 52/54 | 31.4 28/30 | 3.9 0 | 1.8 1 | 3.6 0 | 23.7 |
| TNS Demoscopia/Ical | 8–20 Apr 2010 | 2,500 | ? | 49.8 48/49 | 34.5 31/33 | 5.4 1/2 | 2.4 1/2 | 1.8 0 | 15.3 |
| Obradoiro de Socioloxía/Público | 1–6 Mar 2010 | 800 | ? | 48.9 49 | 33.4 33 | 6.0 1 | 2.0 0 | 5.4 1 | 15.5 |
| 2009 EP election | 7 Jun 2009 | — | 51.4 | 51.7 (49) | 38.2 (34) | 2.3 (0) | – | 3.7 (0) | 13.5 |
| 2008 general election | 9 Mar 2008 | — | 77.7 | 50.0 (46) | 42.8 (37) | 2.5 (0) | 0.3 (0) | 1.5 (0) | 7.2 |
| 2007 regional election | 27 May 2007 | — | 70.7 | 49.2 48 | 37.7 33 | 3.1 0 | 2.7 2 | – | 11.5 |

### Voting preferences

The table below lists raw, unweighted voting preferences.
| Polling firm/Commissioner | Fieldwork date | Sample size | | | | UPL | | ? | N | Lead |
| 2011 regional election | 22 May 2011 | — | 36.0 | 20.6 | 3.4 | 1.3 | 2.3 | — | 28.9 | 15.4 |
| CIS | 17 Mar–17 Apr 2011 | 2,974 | 34.4 | 15.0 | 2.6 | 0.8 | 1.3 | 32.7 | 7.7 | 19.4 |
| Obradoiro de Socioloxía/Público | 1–6 Mar 2010 | 800 | 36.3 | 21.2 | 2.4 | 0.7 | 2.7 | – | – | 15.1 |
| 2007 regional election | 27 May 2007 | — | 35.6 | 27.0 | 2.2 | 2.0 | – | — | 28.6 | 8.6 |

### Preferred President

The table below lists opinion polling on leader preferences to become president of the Junta of Castile and León.
| Polling firm/Commissioner | Fieldwork date | Sample size | | | Other/ None/ Not care | ? | Lead |
| Polling firm/Commissioner | Fieldwork date | Sample size | Herrera PP | López PSOE | Other/ None/ Not care | ? | Lead |
| CIS | 17 Mar–17 Apr 2011 | 2,974 | 35.8 | 11.1 | 12.4 | 40.7 | 24.7 |
| Obradoiro de Socioloxía/Público | 1–6 Mar 2010 | 800 | 38.4 | 17.0 | 44.6 | 44.6 | 21.4 |

## Results
### Overall

← Summary of the 22 May 2011 Cortes of Castile and León election results → :
| Parties and alliances | Parties and alliances | Popular vote | Popular vote | Popular vote | Seats | Seats |
| Parties and alliances | Parties and alliances | Votes | % | ±pp | Total | +/− |
| | People's Party (PP) | 739,502 | 51.55 | +2.38 | 53 | +5 |
| | Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) | 425,777 | 29.68 | –8.05 | 29 | –4 |
| | United Left of Castile and León (IUCyL) | 69,872 | 4.87 | +1.79 | 1 | +1 |
| | Union, Progress and Democracy (UPyD) | 47,040 | 3.28 | New | 0 | ±0 |
| | Leonese People's Union (UPL) | 26,660 | 1.86 | –0.87 | 1 | –1 |
| | Party of Castile and León (PCAL)$^1$ $^2$ | 13,537 | 0.94 | –0.06 | 0 | ±0 |
| | The Party of Castile and León–Independent Candidacy (PCL–CI) | 10,796 | 0.75 | –0.33 | 0 | ±0 |
| | Anti-Bullfighting Party Against Mistreatment of Animals (PACMA) | 5,368 | 0.37 | New | 0 | ±0 |
| | Social Alternative Movement (MASS) | 4,777 | 0.33 | New | 0 | ±0 |
| | Leonese Autonomist Party–Leonesist Unity (PAL–UL) | 3,925 | 0.27 | –0.06 | 0 | ±0 |
| | Yes for Salamanca (UPSa–C's)$^3$ | 3,718 | 0.26 | –0.26 | 0 | ±0 |
| | Citizens for Blank Votes (CenB) | 3,545 | 0.25 | New | 0 | ±0 |
| | Zamoran Independent Electors–Zamoran People's Union (ADEIZA–UPZ) | 3,322 | 0.23 | +0.02 | 0 | ±0 |
| | Greens of Salamanca (LV)$^2$ | 2,822 | 0.20 | –0.07 | 0 | ±0 |
| | Initiative for the Development of Soria (IDES) | 2,680 | 0.19 | –0.06 | 0 | ±0 |
| | The Greens–Green Group (LV–GV) | 2,619 | 0.18 | New | 0 | ±0 |
| | Party of El Bierzo (PB) | 2,401 | 0.17 | +0.08 | 0 | ±0 |
| | National Democracy (DN) | 2,102 | 0.15 | +0.05 | 0 | ±0 |
| | Citizens of Burgos for Old Castile (CiBu) | 2,001 | 0.14 | +0.06 | 0 | ±0 |
| | Regionalist Party of the Leonese Country (PREPAL) | 1,965 | 0.14 | +0.03 | 0 | ±0 |
| | Greens and Castilians (LV–PCAL)$^4$ | 1,553 | 0.11 | –0.06 | 0 | ±0 |
| | Civiqus (Civiqus) | 1,527 | 0.11 | New | 0 | ±0 |
| | Spanish Phalanx of the CNSO (FE–JONS) | 1,522 | 0.11 | +0.03 | 0 | ±0 |
| | Regionalist Unity of Castile and León (URCL) | 1,428 | 0.10 | +0.04 | 0 | ±0 |
| | Internationalist Solidarity and Self-Management (SAIn) | 1,302 | 0.09 | New | 0 | ±0 |
| | Communist Party of the Castilian People (PCPC) | 1,254 | 0.09 | +0.02 | 0 | ±0 |
| | Independents for San Andrés (IxSA) | 859 | 0.06 | New | 0 | ±0 |
| | Merindades of Castile Initiative (IMC) | 854 | 0.06 | New | 0 | ±0 |
| | Left Segovia (SdI) | 760 | 0.05 | New | 0 | ±0 |
| | Regionalist Party of El Bierzo (PRB) | 657 | 0.05 | –0.02 | 0 | ±0 |
| | Humanist Party (PH) | 529 | 0.04 | +0.01 | 0 | ±0 |
| | Communist Unification of Spain (UCE) | 492 | 0.03 | New | 0 | ±0 |
| | Family and Life Party (PFyV) | 238 | 0.02 | New | 0 | ±0 |
| Blank ballots | Blank ballots | 47,008 | 3.28 | +1.30 | | |
| Total | Total | 1,434,412 | | | 84 | +1 |
| Valid votes | Valid votes | 1,434,412 | 98.09 | –1.11 | | |
| Invalid votes | Invalid votes | 27,985 | 1.91 | +1.11 | | |
| Votes cast / turnout | Votes cast / turnout | 1,462,397 | 67.50 | –3.20 | | |
| Abstentions | Abstentions | 703,988 | 32.50 | +3.20 | | |
| Registered voters | Registered voters | 2,166,385 | | | | |
| Sources |||||||
| Footnotes: $^1$ Party of Castile and León results are compared to Commoners' Land–Alternative for Castile and León totals in the 2007 election.$^2$ Party of Castile and León and Greens of Salamanca do not include results in Segovia.$^3$ Yes for Salamanca results are compared to Union of the Salamancan People totals in the 2007 election.$^4$ Greens and Castilians results are compared to the combined totals of The Greens and Commoners' Land–Alternative for Castile and León in Segovia in the 2007 election. |||||||
Popular vote
PP
51.55%
PSOE
29.68%
IUCyL
4.87%
UPyD
3.28%
UPL
1.86%
Others
5.48%
Blank ballots
3.28% :
Seats
PP
63.10%
PSOE
34.52%
IUCyL
1.19%
UPL
1.19% :

### Distribution by constituency

| Constituency | PP | PP | PSOE | PSOE | IUCyL | IUCyL | UPL | UPL |
| Constituency | % | S | % | S | % | S | % | S |
| Ávila | 59.1 | 5 | 23.7 | 2 | 5.3 | − | | |
| Burgos | 50.7 | 7 | 27.2 | 4 | 4.5 | − | | |
| León | 44.7 | 8 | 31.8 | 5 | 3.8 | − | 8.9 | 1 |
| Palencia | 53.0 | 4 | 32.8 | 3 | 4.4 | − | | |
| Salamanca | 56.7 | 7 | 29.2 | 4 | 3.2 | − | | |
| Segovia | 54.3 | 5 | 31.5 | 2 | 4.3 | − | | |
| Soria | 52.0 | 3 | 32.9 | 2 | 3.1 | − | | |
| Valladolid | 50.2 | 9 | 29.1 | 5 | 7.8 | 1 | | |
| Zamora | 54.0 | 5 | 30.7 | 2 | 4.6 | − | 1.2 | − |
| Total | 51.6 | 53 | 29.7 | 29 | 4.9 | 1 | 1.9 | 1 |
| Sources |||||||||

## Aftermath

Investiture Juan Vicente Herrera (PP) :
| Ballot → | Ballot → | 23 June 2011 |
| Required majority → | Required majority → | 43 out of 84 Y |
| | Yes • PP (53) | 53 / 84 |
| | No • PSOE (29) • IU (1) • UPL (1) | 31 / 84 |
| | Abstentions | 0 / 84 |
| | Absentees | 0 / 84 |
| Sources |||