1979 Spanish general election

1979 Spanish general election

← 1977 1 March 1979 1982 →

All 350 seats in the Congress of Deputies and all 208 seats in the Senate
176 seats needed for a majority in the Congress of Deputies
Opinion polls
Registered26,836,490 Green arrow up13.8%
Turnout18,259,192 (68.0%)
Red arrow down10.8 pp
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader Adolfo Suárez Felipe González Santiago Carrillo
Party UCD PSOE PCE
Leader since 3 May 1977 13 October 1974 3 July 1960
Leader's seat Madrid Madrid Madrid
Last election 165 seats, 34.4% 124 seats, 33.8%[a] 20 seats, 9.3%
Seats won 168 121 23
Seat change Green arrow up3 Red arrow down3 Green arrow up3
Popular vote 6,268,593 5,469,813 1,938,487
Percentage 34.8% 30.4% 10.8%
Swing Green arrow up0.4 pp Red arrow down3.4 pp Green arrow up1.5 pp

  Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party
 
Leader Manuel Fraga Jordi Pujol Xabier Arzalluz
Party CD CiU EAJ/PNV
Leader since 9 October 1976 17 November 1974 1977
Leader's seat Madrid Barcelona Guipúzcoa
Last election 16 seats, 8.4%[b] 13 seats, 3.8%[c] 8 seats, 1.6%
Seats won 9 8 7
Seat change Red arrow down7 Red arrow down5 Red arrow down1
Popular vote 1,094,438 483,353 296,597
Percentage 6.1% 2.7% 1.6%
Swing Red arrow down2.3 pp Red arrow down1.1 pp Blue arrow right0.0 pp

Map of Spain showcasing seat distribution by Congress of Deputies constituency
Map of Spain showcasing winning party's strength by constituency
Map of Spain showcasing winning party's strength by autonomous community

Prime Minister before election

Adolfo Suárez
UCD

Prime Minister after election

Adolfo Suárez
UCD

The 1979 Spanish general election was held on Thursday, 1 March 1979, to elect the 1st Cortes Generales of the Kingdom of Spain. All 350 seats in the Congress of Deputies were up for election, as well as all 208 seats in the Senate.

This was the first election held under the Spanish Constitution of 1978. The Union of the Democratic Centre (UCD) remained the largest party, winning 168 of the 350 seats in the Congress of Deputies and 119 of the 208 seats in the Senate. As a result, Adolfo Suárez went on to form a minority government, depending on support from Manuel Fraga's Democratic Coalition, which experienced an electoral decline.
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