2023 Cantabrian regional election

2023 Cantabrian regional election
All 35 seats in the Parliament of Cantabria; 18 seats needed for a majority
	Opinion polls
Incumbent President; Miguel Ángel Revilla; PRC	; ;

The 2023 Cantabrian regional election will be held on Sunday, 28 May 2023, to elect the 11th Parliament of the autonomous community of Cantabria. All 35 seats in the Parliament will be up for election. The election will be held simultaneously with regional elections in at least seven other autonomous communities and local elections all throughout Spain.

Overview

Electoral system

The Parliament of Cantabria is 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.^[1]

Voting for the Parliament is on the basis of universal suffrage, which comprises all nationals over 18 years of age, registered in Cantabria and in full enjoyment of their political rights. Additionally, Cantabrians abroad are required to apply for voting before being permitted to vote, a system known as "begged" or expat vote (Spanish: Voto rogado).^[2] The 35 members of the Parliament of Cantabria are elected using the D'Hondt method and a closed list proportional representation, with an electoral threshold of five percent of valid votes—which includes blank ballots—being applied regionally.^[1]^[3]

Election date

The term of the Parliament of Cantabria expires four years after the date of its previous election. Elections to the Parliament are 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 Sunday, 28 May 2023.^[1]^[3]^[4]

The president has the prerogative to dissolve the Parliament of Cantabria and call a snap election, provided that no motion of no confidence is in process, no nationwide election is due and some time requirements are met: namely, that dissolution does not occur either during the first legislative session or within the legislature's last year ahead of its scheduled expiry, nor before one year has 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 is to be automatically dissolved and a fresh election called. Any snap election held as a result of these circumstances will not alter the period to the next ordinary election, with elected deputies merely serving out what remains of their four-year terms.^[1]

Parliamentary composition

The table below shows the composition of the parliamentary groups in the Parliament at the present time.^[5]

Current parliamentary composition
Groups		Parties		Legislators
Groups		Parties		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 allows 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 are required to inform the relevant Electoral Commission within ten days of the election call, whereas groupings of electors need 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.^[3]^[4]

Below is a list of the main parties and electoral alliances which will likely contest the election:

Candidacy		Parties and alliances	Candidate		Ideology	Previous result		Gov.	Ref.
Candidacy		Parties and alliances	Candidate		Ideology	Votes (%)	Seats	Gov.	Ref.
	PRC	List Regionalist Party of Cantabria (PRC)		Miguel Ángel Revilla	Regionalism Centrism	37.64%	14	Y
	PP	List People's Party (PP)		María José Sáenz de Buruaga	Conservatism Christian democracy	24.04%	9	N
	PSOE	List Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE)		Pablo Zuloaga	Social democracy	17.61%	7	Y
	Cs	List Citizens–Party of the Citizenry (Cs)		TBD	Liberalism	7.94%	3	N
	Vox	List Vox (Vox)		Cristóbal Palacio	Right-wing populism Ultranationalism National conservatism	5.06%	2	N
	Podemos	List We Can (Podemos)		TBD	Left-wing populism Direct democracy Democratic socialism	3.14%	0	N

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.^[6]

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

Polling firm/Commissioner	Fieldwork date	Sample size	Turnout	PRC									Lead
Polling firm/Commissioner	Fieldwork date	Sample size	Turnout										Lead
ElectoPanel/Electomanía^{[p 1]}	30 Jun–13 Aug 2022	101	?	28.9 11	28.9 11	18.3 7	2.0 0	11.4 4	^[a]	^[a]	7.5 2	0.5 0	Tie
Logos Lab/PRC^{[p 2]}	6 Mar 2022	800	?	31.5 12	26.1 10	19.5 7	3.9 0	10.0 4	^[a]	^[a]	5.0 2	–	5.4
ElectoPanel/Electomanía^{[p 3]}	15 Jan–27 Feb 2022	?	?	29.9 11	27.6 11	20.0 7	2.3 0	10.3 4	^[a]	^[a]	7.1 2	0.7 0	2.3
ElectoPanel/Electomanía^{[p 4]}	1 Dec 2021	?	?	30.0 12	27.5 11	20.0 7	2.0 0	10.0 3	^[a]	^[a]	7.0 2	–	2.5
ElectoPanel/Electomanía^{[p 5]}	31 May 2021	800	?	28.2 12	28.1 11	20.7 8	2.5 0	10.5 4	4.2 0	1.8 0	–	–	0.1
Metroscopia/PP^{[p 6]}	21–28 Apr 2021	1,500	60	26.1 10	28.9 12	21.7 9	2.9 0	9.8 4	4.6 0	1.5 0	–	–	2.8
ElectoPanel/Electomanía^{[p 7]}	28 Feb 2021	?	?	32.5 13	24.8 10	20.0 8	4.8 0	10.2 4	4.4 0	1.4 0	–	–	7.7
SyM Consulting^{[p 8]}^{[p 9]}	23–25 Oct 2020	916	68.7	31.0 12/13	22.4 9	16.6 6/7	3.9 0	17.9 7	3.8 0	1.8 0	–	–	8.6
ElectoPanel/Electomanía^{[p 10]}^{[p 11]}	1 Apr–15 May 2020	?	?	32.5 12	30.0 12	18.6 7	5.0 2	5.9 2	3.5 0	1.4 0	–	–	2.5
SyM Consulting^{[p 12]}^{[p 13]}	6–8 May 2020	807	67.6	37.9 14/15	21.2 8	20.4 8	4.3 0	6.8 2/3	5.5 2	1.5 0	–	–	16.7
SW Demoscopia^{[p 14]}^{[p 15]}	30 Jan–7 Feb 2020	800	?	32.5 13	22.4 8	22.5 9	3.9 0	8.6 3	^[a]	^[a]	7.1 2	–	10.0
November 2019 general election	10 Nov 2019	—	65.7	21.0 8	25.9 10	23.2 9	4.8 0	14.9 5	^[a]	^[a]	8.7 3	–	2.7

2019 regional election	26 May 2019	—	65.7	37.6 14	24.0 9	17.6 7	7.9 3	5.1 2	3.1 0	1.9 0	–	–	13.6

Notes

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l Within Unidas Podemos.

References

Opinion poll sources

^ "EP (Cantabria 31Ag): empate perfecto entre PP y PRC". Electomanía (in Spanish). 31 August 2022.
^ "CANTABRIA. Encuesta Logos Lab 06/03/2022: PODEMOS-IU 5,0% (2), PSOE 19,5% (7), PRC 31,5% (12), Cs 3,9%, PP 26,1% (10), VOX 10,0% (4)". Electograph (in Spanish). 6 March 2022.
^ "EP Cantabria (28F): empate a escaños entre el PRC y el PP". Electomanía (in Spanish). 28 February 2022.
^ "PRC y PSOE podrían reeditar el pacto de Gobierno, y Podemos regresaría al Parlamento". El Diario Cantabria (in Spanish). 1 December 2021.
^ "Cantabria (EP 31M): Revilla, en apuros, cae y queda al borde del sorpasso del PP". Electomanía (in Spanish). 31 May 2021.
^ "CANTABRIA. Encuesta Metroscopia (interna PP) 01/05/2021: IU 1,5%, PODEMOS 4,6%, PSOE 21,7% (9), PRC 26,1% (10), Cs 2,9%, PP 28,9% (12), VOX 9,8% (4)". Electograph (in Spanish). 1 May 2021.
^ "EP (28F – Cantabria): Revilla sube, Vox alcanza el 10%. Podemos y Cs, extraparlamentarios". Electomanía (in Spanish). 28 February 2021.
^ "Estimación oleada Cantabria Noviembre 2020. Autonómicas 2023". SyM Consulting (in Spanish). 27 November 2020.
^ "CANTABRIA. Encuesta SyM Consulting 27/11/2020: IU 1,8%, PODEMOS 3,8%, PSOE 16,6% (6/7), PRC 31,0% (12/13), Cs 3,9%, PP 22,4% (9), VOX 17,9% (7)". Electograph (in Spanish). 27 November 2020.
^ "EP (17My): Cantabria – victoria de Revilla, pero la Presidencia pende de un hilo". Electomanía (in Spanish). 17 May 2020.
^ "MacroPanel Autonómico (17My): 8 gobiernos para PSOE+, 8 para PP+ y 3 para otros+". Electomanía (in Spanish). 17 May 2020.
^ "Estimación oleada Cantabria Mayo 2020. Autonómicas 2023". SyM Consulting (in Spanish). 14 May 2020.
^ "CANTABRIA. Encuesta SyM Consulting 14/05/2020: IU 1,5%, PODEMOS 5,5% (2), PSOE 20,4% (8), PRC 37,9% (14/15), Cs 4,3%, PP 21,2% (8), VOX 6,8% (2/3)". Electograph (in Spanish). 14 May 2020.
^ "El PRC perdería a la mitad de sus votantes sin Miguel Angel Revilla como candidato". eldiario.es (in Spanish). 17 February 2020.
^ "CANTABRIA. Encuesta SW Demoscopia: UP 7,1% (2), PSOE 22,5% (9), PRC 32,5% (13), Cs 3,9%, PP 22,4% (8), VOX 8,6% (3)". Electograph (in Spanish). 17 February 2020.

Other

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "Ley Orgánica 8/1981, de 30 de diciembre, de Estatuto de Autonomía para Cantabria". Organic Law No. 8 of 30 December 1981. Boletín Oficial del Estado (in Spanish). Retrieved 18 September 2017.
^ Reig Pellicer, Naiara (16 December 2015). "Spanish elections: Begging for the right to vote". cafebabel.co.uk. Retrieved 17 July 2017.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Ley 5/1987, de 27 de marzo, de Elecciones a la Asamblea Regional de Cantabria". Law No. 5 of 27 March 1987. Boletín Oficial del Estado (in Spanish). Retrieved 30 January 2020.
^ ^a ^b "Ley Orgánica 5/1985, de 19 de junio, del Régimen Electoral General". Organic Law No. 5 of 19 June 1985. Boletín Oficial del Estado (in Spanish). Retrieved 30 January 2020.
^ "Elecciones al Parlamento de Cantabria (1983 - 2019)". Historia Electoral.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 15 August 2019.
^ "Dimite Felisuco como portavoz de Ciudadanos en Cantabria por desavenencias con la dirección". El Mundo (in Spanish). 19 December 2019. Retrieved 17 February 2020.

[UP-8] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l Within Unidas Podemos.

[7] "EP (Cantabria 31Ag): empate perfecto entre PP y PRC". Electomanía (in Spanish). 31 August 2022.

[9] "CANTABRIA. Encuesta Logos Lab 06/03/2022: PODEMOS-IU 5,0% (2), PSOE 19,5% (7), PRC 31,5% (12), Cs 3,9%, PP 26,1% (10), VOX 10,0% (4)". Electograph (in Spanish). 6 March 2022.

[10] "EP Cantabria (28F): empate a escaños entre el PRC y el PP". Electomanía (in Spanish). 28 February 2022.

[11] "PRC y PSOE podrían reeditar el pacto de Gobierno, y Podemos regresaría al Parlamento". El Diario Cantabria (in Spanish). 1 December 2021.

[12] "Cantabria (EP 31M): Revilla, en apuros, cae y queda al borde del sorpasso del PP". Electomanía (in Spanish). 31 May 2021.

[13] "CANTABRIA. Encuesta Metroscopia (interna PP) 01/05/2021: IU 1,5%, PODEMOS 4,6%, PSOE 21,7% (9), PRC 26,1% (10), Cs 2,9%, PP 28,9% (12), VOX 9,8% (4)". Electograph (in Spanish). 1 May 2021.

[14] "EP (28F – Cantabria): Revilla sube, Vox alcanza el 10%. Podemos y Cs, extraparlamentarios". Electomanía (in Spanish). 28 February 2021.

[15] "Estimación oleada Cantabria Noviembre 2020. Autonómicas 2023". SyM Consulting (in Spanish). 27 November 2020.

[16] "CANTABRIA. Encuesta SyM Consulting 27/11/2020: IU 1,8%, PODEMOS 3,8%, PSOE 16,6% (6/7), PRC 31,0% (12/13), Cs 3,9%, PP 22,4% (9), VOX 17,9% (7)". Electograph (in Spanish). 27 November 2020.

[17] "EP (17My): Cantabria – victoria de Revilla, pero la Presidencia pende de un hilo". Electomanía (in Spanish). 17 May 2020.

[18] "MacroPanel Autonómico (17My): 8 gobiernos para PSOE+, 8 para PP+ y 3 para otros+". Electomanía (in Spanish). 17 May 2020.

[19] "Estimación oleada Cantabria Mayo 2020. Autonómicas 2023". SyM Consulting (in Spanish). 14 May 2020.

[20] "CANTABRIA. Encuesta SyM Consulting 14/05/2020: IU 1,5%, PODEMOS 5,5% (2), PSOE 20,4% (8), PRC 37,9% (14/15), Cs 4,3%, PP 21,2% (8), VOX 6,8% (2/3)". Electograph (in Spanish). 14 May 2020.

[21] "El PRC perdería a la mitad de sus votantes sin Miguel Angel Revilla como candidato". eldiario.es (in Spanish). 17 February 2020.

[22] "CANTABRIA. Encuesta SW Demoscopia: UP 7,1% (2), PSOE 22,5% (9), PRC 32,5% (13), Cs 3,9%, PP 22,4% (8), VOX 8,6% (3)". Electograph (in Spanish). 17 February 2020.

[CtbSoA-1] "Ley Orgánica 8/1981, de 30 de diciembre, de Estatuto de Autonomía para Cantabria". Organic Law No. 8 of 30 December 1981. Boletín Oficial del Estado (in Spanish). Retrieved 18 September 2017.

[2] Reig Pellicer, Naiara (16 December 2015). "Spanish elections: Begging for the right to vote". cafebabel.co.uk. Retrieved 17 July 2017.

[CtbELaw-3] "Ley 5/1987, de 27 de marzo, de Elecciones a la Asamblea Regional de Cantabria". Law No. 5 of 27 March 1987. Boletín Oficial del Estado (in Spanish). Retrieved 30 January 2020.

[SpaELaw-4] "Ley Orgánica 5/1985, de 19 de junio, del Régimen Electoral General". Organic Law No. 5 of 19 June 1985. Boletín Oficial del Estado (in Spanish). Retrieved 30 January 2020.

[HE-5] "Elecciones al Parlamento de Cantabria (1983 - 2019)". Historia Electoral.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 15 August 2019.

[6] "Dimite Felisuco como portavoz de Ciudadanos en Cantabria por desavenencias con la dirección". El Mundo (in Spanish). 19 December 2019. Retrieved 17 February 2020.

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v t e (← 2010s) Regional elections in Spain in the 2020s
2020	July: Basque Country Galicia
2021	February: Catalonia May: Madrid
2022	February: Castile and León June: Andalusia
2023	May(*): Asturias Cantabria Castilla–La Mancha Ceuta La Rioja Madrid Melilla Murcia Navarre June or earlier: Aragon Balearic Islands Canary Islands Extremadura Valencian Community
Other	2024 or earlier: Basque Country Galicia 2025 or earlier: Catalonia 2026 or earlier: Andalusia Castile and León
(*) Lists autonomous communities with a fixed election date for May 2023. This listing does not preclude these communities holding additional, earlier elections under their statutory provisions.