# 1995 Catalan regional election

The 1995 Catalan regional election was held on Sunday, 19 November 1995, to elect the 5th Parliament of the autonomous community of Catalonia. All 135 seats in the Parliament were up for election.

## Overview
### Electoral system

The Parliament of Catalonia was the devolved, unicameral legislature of the autonomous community of Catalonia, having legislative power in regional matters as defined by the Spanish Constitution and the Catalan Statute of Autonomy, as well as the ability to vote confidence in or withdraw it from a regional president. Transitory Provision Fourth of the Statute established a specific electoral procedure for elections to the Parliament of Catalonia, of application for as long as a regional electoral law was not approved, to be supplemented by the provisions within the national electoral law. Voting for the Parliament was on the basis of universal suffrage, which comprised all nationals over 18 years of age, registered in Catalonia and in full enjoyment of their political rights.
The 135 members of the Parliament of Catalonia 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 Barcelona, Girona, Lleida and Tarragona, with each being allocated a fixed number of seats:
| Seats | Constituencies |
| 85 | Barcelona |
| 18 | Tarragona |
| 17 | Girona |
| 15 | Lleida |
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

The term of the Parliament of Catalonia expired four years after the date of its previous election, unless it was dissolved earlier. The regional president was required to call an election fifteen days prior to the date of expiry of parliament, with election day taking place within sixty days after the call. The previous election was held on 15 March 1992, which meant that the legislature's term would have expired on 15 March 1996. The election was required to be called no later than 29 February 1996, with it taking place on the sixtieth day from the call, setting the latest possible election date for the Parliament on Monday, 29 April 1996.
The president had the prerogative to dissolve the Parliament of Catalonia and call a snap election, provided that no motion of no confidence was in process and that dissolution did not occur before one year had elapsed since a previous one under this procedure. 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.

## 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. |
| | CiU | List Democratic Convergence of Catalonia (CDC) Democratic Union of Catalonia (UDC) | | Jordi Pujol | Catalan nationalism Centrism | 46.19% | 70 | Y | |
| | PSC–PSOE | List Socialists' Party of Catalonia (PSC–PSOE) | | Joaquim Nadal | Social democracy | 27.55% | 40 | N | |
| | ERC | List Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC) | | Àngel Colom | Catalan independence Left-wing nationalism Social democracy | 7.96% | 11 | N | |
| | IC–EV | List Initiative for Catalonia (IC) The Greens–Ecologist Confederation of Catalonia (EV–CEC) | | Rafael Ribó | Eco-socialism Green politics | 7.73% | 7 | N | |
| | PP | List People's Party (PP) | | Alejo Vidal-Quadras | Conservatism Christian democracy | 5.97% | 7 | N | |

## Opinion polls

The table below lists voting intention estimates 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. When available, seat projections determined by the polling organisations are displayed below (or in place of) the percentages in a smaller font; 68 seats were required for an absolute majority in the Parliament of Catalonia.

### Color key

Exit poll
| Polling firm/Commissioner | Fieldwork date | Sample size | Turnout | | | | IC | | Lead |
| 1995 regional election | 19 Nov 1995 | — | 63.6 | 40.9 60 | 24.9 34 | 9.5 13 | 9.7 11 | 13.1 17 | 16.0 |
| Vox Pública/Antena 3 | 19 Nov 1995 | ? | ? | 44.0 64/67 | 22.0 30/33 | 11.0 13/15 | 9.5 9/10 | 12.0 14/16 | 22.0 |
| Eco Consulting/CCRTV | 19 Nov 1995 | ? | ? | 43.0 64/68 | 22.0 28/31 | 11.0 14/16 | 9.9 10/12 | 12.0 14/16 | 21.0 |
| Sigma Dos/El Mundo | 12 Nov 1995 | 1,000 | ? | 45.2 65/68 | 23.8 31/35 | 8.8 11/12 | 7.4 8/9 | 11.4 15/16 | 21.4 |
| Demoscopia/El País | 12 Nov 1995 | 2,000 | 63 | 45.4 66/70 | 23.2 29/30 | 7.2 10/11 | 11.6 12/13 | 11.7 14/16 | 22.2 |
| Vox Pública/El Periódico | 12 Nov 1995 | 1,200 | ? | 46.5 68/72 | 23.2 31/35 | 8.3 10/12 | 9.4 11/12 | 8.4 11/12 | 23.3 |
| Imagen & Opinión/ABC | 7–8 Nov 1995 | 1,260 | ? | 44.7 62/65 | 24.3 33/34 | 9.2 12/13 | 7.8 11 | 10.4 13/15 | 20.4 |
| Opina/La Vanguardia | 6–7 Nov 1995 | 2,000 | ? | 46.0 69/71 | 21.0 28/30 | 10.0 11/14 | 10.0 9/13 | 11.0 11/14 | 25.0 |
| EMB Yankelovich/Avui | 5 Nov 1995 | 1,223 | ? | 46.7 68/69 | 22.1 30/31 | 9.3 11/12 | 9.3 11/12 | 12.6 13/14 | 24.6 |
| Vox Pública/El Periódico | 25–26 Oct 1995 | 1,200 | ? | 46.3 67/70 | 21.7 31/33 | 8.2 11/12 | 10.3 12 | 9.8 12/13 | 24.6 |
| Imagen & Opinión/ABC | 22–24 Oct 1995 | 1,000 | ? | 45.5 65/69 | 24.4 32/34 | 8.6 10/12 | 8.7 9/11 | 11.4 15/16 | 21.1 |
| Opina/La Vanguardia | 16–17 Oct 1995 | 1,500 | ? | 45.5 67/69 | 22.3 32/33 | 10.2 12/13 | 8.4 10 | 10.5 12/13 | 23.2 |
| Demoscopia/El País | 9 Oct 1995 | 800 | ? | 42.0 60/64 | 23.0 29/33 | 9.0 10/11 | 12.0 13/15 | 13.0 15/17 | 19.0 |
| CIS | 22 Sep–4 Oct 1995 | 2,492 | 67.0 | 44.5 65/67 | 24.0 33/34 | 9.0 11/12 | 9.5 10/11 | 10.0 11/13 | 20.5 |
| Sigma Dos/El Mundo | 20 Sep 1995 | ? | ? | 40.6 60/63 | 27.7 38/40 | 7.4 9/11 | 7.6 8/9 | 12.1 16/17 | 12.9 |
| Imagen & Opinión/ABC | 14–20 Jul 1995 | 2,000 | ? | 42.1 59/62 | 23.0 31/33 | 8.4 10/11 | 8.0 8/9 | 16.4 22/24 | 19.1 |
| 1995 local elections | 28 May 1995 | — | 64.8 | 30.2 | 33.3 | 6.3 | 11.9 | 12.2 | 3.1 |
| 1994 EP election | 12 Jun 1994 | — | 51.9 | 31.5 (48) | 28.2 (41) | 5.5 (7) | 11.1 (13) | 18.5 (26) | 3.3 |
| 1993 general election | 6 Jun 1993 | — | 75.4 | 31.8 (49) | 34.9 (48) | 5.1 (6) | 7.5 (8) | 17.0 (24) | 3.1 |
| 1992 regional election | 15 Mar 1992 | — | 54.9 | 46.2 70 | 27.5 40 | 8.0 11 | 6.5 7 | 6.0 7 | 18.7 |

## Results
### Overall

← Summary of the 19 November 1995 Parliament of Catalonia 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 | +/− |
| | Convergence and Union (CiU) | 1,320,071 | 40.95 | –5.24 | 60 | –10 |
| | Socialists' Party of Catalonia (PSC–PSOE) | 802,252 | 24.89 | –2.66 | 34 | –6 |
| | People's Party (PP) | 421,752 | 13.08 | +7.11 | 17 | +10 |
| | Initiative for Catalonia–The Greens (IC–EV)$^1$ | 313,092 | 9.71 | +1.98 | 11 | +4 |
| | Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC) | 305,867 | 9.49 | +1.53 | 13 | +2 |
| | Ecologist Alternative of Catalonia (AEC)$^2$ | 14,651 | 0.45 | –0.08 | 0 | ±0 |
| | Ecologist Party of Catalonia–VERDE (PEC–VERDE) | 5,639 | 0.17 | –0.12 | 0 | ±0 |
| | Revolutionary Workers' Party (POR) | 3,886 | 0.12 | +0.03 | 0 | ±0 |
| | Workers' Revolutionary Party (PRT)$^3$ | 2,221 | 0.07 | –0.32 | 0 | ±0 |
| | Citizens of Catalonia–Platform of Independents of Spain (PICC–PIE) | 1,580 | 0.05 | New | 0 | ±0 |
| | Civic Platform–New Socialist Party (PC–NPS)$^4$ | 869 | 0.03 | –0.05 | 0 | ±0 |
| | Spanish Phalanx of the CNSO (FE–JONS) | 327 | 0.01 | New | 0 | ±0 |
| | Party of Self-employed of Spain (PAE) | 194 | 0.01 | New | 0 | ±0 |
| | Democratic Party of the People (PDEP) | 134 | 0.00 | New | 0 | ±0 |
| Blank ballots | Blank ballots | 31,417 | 0.97 | –0.21 | | |
| Total | Total | 3,223,952 | | | 135 | ±0 |
| Valid votes | Valid votes | 3,223,952 | 99.72 | +0.14 | | |
| Invalid votes | Invalid votes | 9,007 | 0.28 | –0.14 | | |
| Votes cast / turnout | Votes cast / turnout | 3,232,959 | 63.64 | +8.77 | | |
| Abstentions | Abstentions | 1,847,022 | 36.36 | –8.77 | | |
| Registered voters | Registered voters | 5,079,981 | | | | |
| Sources |||||||
| Footnotes: $^1$ Initiative for Catalonia–The Greens results are compared to the combined totals of Initiative for Catalonia, Party of the Communists of Catalonia and Green Alternative–Ecologist Movement of Catalonia in the 1992 election.$^2$ Ecologist Alternative of Catalonia results are compared to The Greens–Green Union totals in the 1992 election.$^3$ Workers' Revolutionary Party results are compared to Workers' Socialist Party totals in the 1992 election.$^4$ Civic Platform–New Socialist Party results are compared to Independent Socialists totals in the 1992 election. |||||||
Popular vote
CiU
40.95%
PSC–PSOE
24.89%
PP
13.08%
IC–EV
9.71%
ERC
9.49%
Others
0.92%
Blank ballots
0.97% :
Seats
CiU
44.44%
PSC–PSOE
25.19%
PP
12.59%
ERC
9.63%
IC–EV
8.15% :

### Distribution by constituency

| Constituency | CiU | CiU | PSC | PSC | PP | PP | IC–EV | IC–EV | ERC | ERC |
| Constituency | % | S | % | S | % | S | % | S | % | S |
| Barcelona | 39.1 | 34 | 25.4 | 22 | 13.6 | 12 | 11.2 | 10 | 8.7 | 7 |
| Girona | 48.6 | 9 | 25.7 | 5 | 7.9 | 1 | 4.0 | − | 12.3 | 2 |
| Lleida | 49.7 | 8 | 19.5 | 3 | 12.2 | 2 | 4.2 | − | 12.8 | 2 |
| Tarragona | 43.2 | 9 | 23.2 | 4 | 14.3 | 2 | 6.4 | 1 | 11.1 | 2 |
| Total | 40.9 | 60 | 24.9 | 34 | 13.1 | 17 | 9.7 | 11 | 9.5 | 13 |
| Sources |||||||||||

## Aftermath

Investiture Jordi Pujol (CDC) :
| Ballot → | Ballot → | 14 December 1995 | 16 December 1995 |
| Required majority → | Required majority → | 68 out of 135 N | Simple Y |
| | Yes • CiU (60) | 60 / 135 | 60 / 135 |
| | No • ERC (13) (on 14 Dec) • IC (11) | 24 / 135 | 11 / 135 |
| | Abstentions • PSC (33) (31 on 14 Dec) • PP (17) • ERC (13) (on 16 Dec) | 48 / 135 | 63 / 135 |
| | Absentees • PSC (1) (3 on 14 Dec) | 3 / 135 | 1 / 135 |
| Sources ||||