2010 Catalan regional election

2010 Catalan regional election

← 2006 28 November 2010 2012 →
All 135 seats in the Parliament of Catalonia 68 seats needed for a majority
Opinion polls
Registered	5,363,688 0.8%
Turnout	3,152,630 (58.8%) 2.8 pp
First party Second party Third party   Leader Artur Mas José Montilla Alicia Sánchez-Camacho Party CiU PSC–PSOE PP Leader since 7 January 2002 15 July 2006 6 July 2008 Leader's seat Barcelona Barcelona Barcelona Last election 48 seats, 31.5% 37 seats, 26.8% 14 seats, 10.7% Seats won 62 28 18 Seat change 14 9 4 Popular vote 1,202,830 575,233 387,066 Percentage 38.4% 18.4% 12.4% Swing 6.9 pp 8.4 pp 1.7 pp   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader Joan Herrera Joan Puigcercós Joan Laporta Party ICV–EUiA ERC SI Leader since 23 November 2008 7 June 2008 4 September 2010 Leader's seat Barcelona Barcelona Barcelona Last election 12 seats, 9.5% 21 seats, 14.0% Did not contest Seats won 10 10 4 Seat change 2 11 4 Popular vote 230,824 219,173 102,921 Percentage 7.4% 7.0% 3.3% Swing 2.1 pp 7.0 pp New party   Seventh party   Leader Albert Rivera Party C's Leader since 9 July 2006 Leader's seat Barcelona Last election 3 seats, 3.0% Seats won 3 Seat change 0 Popular vote 106,154 Percentage 3.4% Swing 0.4 pp
Election result by constituency
President before election José Montilla PSC Elected President Artur Mas CiU

The 2010 Catalan regional election was held on Sunday, 28 November 2010, to elect the 9th Parliament of the autonomous community of Catalonia. All 135 seats in the Parliament were up for election. This was the first election held in Catalonia after the Constitutional Court of Spain struck down parts of the regional 2006 Statute of Autonomy that granted new powers of self-rule to the region. The ruling came after four years of deliberation concerning a constitutional appeal filed by the conservative People's Party (PP) under Mariano Rajoy and was met with anger and street protests throughout the region.^[1][2]

The election resulted in a resounding victory for the Convergence and Union (CiU) federation under Artur Mas, whose 62 seats—six short of an absolute majority—virtually ensured that no alternative government was mathematically possible, as the left-wing alliance which had formed the government of Catalonia for the previous seven years fell to a bare 48 seats. The tripartit (English: tripartite) coalition formed by the Socialists' Party of Catalonia (PSC), Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC) and Initiative for Catalonia Greens (ICV) was already at the brink of split going into the election, with political disagreements between the former allies having led Catalan president José Montilla to announce that he would not seek a third alliance with ERC and ICV even if election numbers favored such a possibility.^[3] The election saw a collapse in support for all three parties and Montilla's retirement from the PSC leadership shortly afterwards.^[4]

The PP had one of its best showings in a Catalan regional election, with 12.4% of the vote and 18 seats. Albert Rivera's Citizens (C's) party saw a slight increase in its vote share, whereas the pro-Catalan independence Catalan Solidarity for Independence (SI) led by former FC Barcelona president Joan Laporta secured 4 seats in the Parliament.