✶ 1977 → 2023 · 16 general elections

From the Transition
to fragmentation.

For more than three decades two parties shared most of the Congress. Since 2015 no party has come close to a majority, governments have depended on smaller and regional parties, and two elections (2016 and November 2019) were reruns after no one could be invested.

Congress seats by political family, every general election

Left of PSOE (PCE, IU, Podemos, Sumar)
PSOE
UCD
CDS
Citizens
PP (AP before 1989)
Vox
Catalan centre-right (CiU, Junts)
ERC
PNV
Basque left (HB, Amaiur, EH Bildu)
BNG
Canarian Coalition
Others

Families group predecessor parties: the PP includes AP and its coalitions before 1989; the left of PSOE runs PCE → IU → Podemos → Sumar. Hover a column for the winner and turnout.

Table: every election

Election	Largest party	Top two	Effective parties	Turnout	Source
1977	UCD 165	283	2.9	78.8%	results ↗
1979	UCD 168	289	2.8	68.0%	results ↗
1982	PSOE 202 ★	309	2.3	80.0%	results ↗
1986	PSOE 184 ★	289	2.7	70.5%	results ↗
1989	PSOE 175	282	2.9	69.7%	results ↗
1993	PSOE 159	300	2.7	76.4%	results ↗
1996	PP 156	297	2.7	77.4%	results ↗
2000	PP 183 ★	308	2.5	68.7%	results ↗
2004	PSOE 164	312	2.5	75.7%	results ↗
2008	PSOE 169	323	2.3	73.8%	results ↗
2011	PP 186 ★	296	2.6	68.9%	results ↗
2015	PP 123	213	4.1	69.7%	results ↗
2016	PP 137	222	3.8	66.5%	results ↗
Apr 2019	PSOE 123	189	4.8	71.8%	results ↗
Nov 2019	PSOE 120	209	4.6	66.2%	results ↗
2023	PP 137	258	3.4	66.6%	results ↗

★ absolute majority (176+). Effective parties: Laakso–Taagepera index on seats.

Seven chapters

Forty-nine years
of the Cortes.

1977–1982
Transition

The first free election since 1936 was held on 15 June 1977. Adolfo Suárez's UCD won 165 seats and governed without a majority. Voters approved the Constitution by referendum on 6 December 1978, and UCD won again in 1979. On 23 February 1981, during the vote to invest Suárez's successor Leopoldo Calvo-Sotelo, Civil Guards stormed the Congress in a failed coup.
1982–1996
Socialist majorities

Felipe González's PSOE won 202 seats in 1982, still the largest majority under the Constitution, and kept a majority in 1986. In 1989 it fell one short, at 175, and in 1993 it won 159.
1996–2004
The PP's turn

José María Aznar's PP won in 1996 with 156 seats, short of a majority, then took an absolute majority of 183 in 2000.
2004–2011
Zapatero

The PSOE returned under José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, with 164 seats in 2004 and 169 in 2008, both short of a majority.
2011
Crisis and the indignados

The 15-M protests began on 15 May 2011, in the middle of the economic crisis. In November the PP won 186 seats under Mariano Rajoy, the last absolute majority to date.
2015–2019
Four parties, then five

In December 2015 Podemos (69) and Citizens (40) broke the two-party system and nobody could be invested; the election was rerun in June 2016. In June 2018 a motion of censure, the first ever to pass, made Pedro Sánchez Prime Minister with 180 votes. Two elections followed in 2019; Vox went from 24 seats in April to 52 in November.
2023–2026
Coalition and dissolution

In July 2023 the PP finished first with 137 seats, but Feijóo lost his investiture 172–178. Sánchez was re-invested 179–171 in November with a PSOE–Sumar coalition backed by six other parties. On 6 October 2026 the Cortes were dissolved for a snap election on 29 November.

Presidents of the Government

Seven people
since 1976.

1976–1981 Adolfo Suárez UCD
1981–1982 Leopoldo Calvo-Sotelo UCD
1982–1996 Felipe González PSOE
1996–2004 José María Aznar PP
2004–2011 José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero PSOE
2011–2018 Mariano Rajoy PP
2018–present Pedro Sánchez PSOE

La Moncloa — presidents and their appointment decrees ↗

Constitution art. 113

Six motions
of censure.

A motion must name an alternative Prime Minister and win an absolute majority. Only one has passed.

1980 Felipe González against Adolfo Suárez 152
1987 Antonio Hernández Mancha against Felipe González 67
2017 Pablo Iglesias against Mariano Rajoy 82
2018 Pedro Sánchez against Mariano Rajoy 180
2020 Santiago Abascal against Pedro Sánchez 52
2023 Ramón Tamames against Pedro Sánchez 53
Yes votes of 350; the mark is 176. Tallies ↗

Rule changes

What changed,
and when.

1978
The Constitution
Fixes the province as the Congress constituency, proportional representation, and four senators per province (arts. 68–69). BOE ↗
1985
Electoral law (LOREG)
LO 5/1985 sets the 350 seats, the D'Hondt rule with a 3% threshold per province, and the limited vote for the Senate. BOE ↗
2011
Voting abroad by request
LO 2/2011 rewrote art. 75: Spaniards living abroad had to apply for their ballot, the 'voto rogado'. BOE ↗
2015
No more company donations
LO 3/2015 bars donations to parties from companies and other legal persons. BOE ↗
2022
Ballots sent automatically again
LO 12/2022 ends the 'voto rogado': the census office mails ballots to every voter registered abroad. BOE ↗
2026
A senator for Formentera
A reform of art. 69.3 and LO 2/2026 give Formentera its own senator, separate from Ibiza: 209 directly elected seats from 29 November 2026. BOE ↗

The last Congress elected · 2023

350 seats,
11 parties.

176 for an absolute majority

Congress seats by political family, every general election

Forty-nine yearsof the Cortes.

Transition

Socialist majorities

The PP's turn

Zapatero

Crisis and the indignados

Four parties, then five

Coalition and dissolution

Seven peoplesince 1976.

Six motionsof censure.

What changed,and when.

350 seats,11 parties.

Forty-nine years
of the Cortes.

Seven people
since 1976.

Six motions
of censure.

What changed,
and when.

350 seats,
11 parties.