IV Online magazine - Archive

The expected defeat of the Socialist Party (PSOE) in Spain’s elections on November 20, 2011 was not as heavy as had been predicted. The Spanish electoral system is far from proportional and projects deformed images which strongly distort reality. In terms of number of seats the elections can be seen as a "historic victory" for the Popular Party, the conservative right of Francoist origin The PP increased its representation from 153 deputies at the 2008 elections to 186 seats, a crushing absolute majority. Certainly, the right galvanised and mobilised its traditional electorate which indisputably included popular layers. However this was not a “blue tidal wave”: the PP only increased its vote by slightly over 600,000 votes on the scale of Spain as a whole. No, the shift to the right of the parliamentary majority is due to the undoubted collapse, heavy with consequences, of the PSOE. In terms of deputies the setback for the socialists is crushing: 169 seats in 2008, only 110 in 2011. But it is above all when one compares votes received that it is possible to grasp the extent of the disaster: the PSOE lost more than 4,000,000 votes in relation to the previous general election.