1996 Andalusian regional election

1996 Andalusian regional election
← 1994 3 March 1996 2000 →
All 109 seats in the Parliament of Andalusia
55 seats needed for a majority
Opinion polls
Registered5,577,567 3.5%
Turnout4,347,193 (77.9%)
10.6 pp
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader Manuel Chaves Javier Arenas Luis Carlos Rejón
Party PSOE–A PP IULV–CA
Leader since 19 April 1990 25 July 1993 21 July 1988
Leader's seat Cádiz Seville Córdoba
Last election 45 seats, 38.7% 41 seats, 34.4% 20 seats, 19.1%
Seats won 52 40 13
Seat change 7 1 7
Popular vote 1,903,160 1,466,980 603,495
Percentage 44.1% 34.0% 14.0%
Swing 5.4 pp 0.4 pp 5.1 pp
  Fourth party
 
Leader Pedro Pacheco
Party PA
Leader since 1994
Leader's seat Cádiz
Last election 3 seats, 5.8%[a]
Seats won 4
Seat change 1
Popular vote 287,764
Percentage 6.7%
Swing 0.9 pp
Constituency results map for the Parliament of Andalusia
President before election

Manuel Chaves
PSOE–A

Elected President

Manuel Chaves
PSOE–A

The 1996 Andalusian regional election was held on Sunday, 3 March 1996, to elect the 5th Parliament of the autonomous community of Andalusia. All 109 seats in the Parliament were up for election. The election was held simultaneously with the 1996 Spanish general election.

The 1994 election had resulted in a hung parliament. Manuel Chaves had formed a minority government of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party of Andalusia (PSOE–A), but was forced to dissolve the Parliament and call a snap election for March 1996 after barely twenty months into his term, as a result of the conservative People's Party (PP) and left-wing United Left (IULV–CA) joining into an unofficial alliance (dubbed as la pinza, Spanish for "the clamp") to block the Chaves government's parliamentary action. Scandals rocking Felipe González's national government and favourable opinion polls were among the reasons that led the two parties to team up to bring down the PSOE regional government.[1][2]

Despite opinion polls predicting a likely PSOE defeat, the election result was a major upset: the PSOE gained over 500,000 votes and 7 seats compared to the previous election and won a resounding victory as the PP stagnated and the IU vote collapsed. At 77.9%, turnout was the highest ever registered for a regional election in Andalusia.[3][4][5] This result allowed Chaves to form a coalition government with the Andalusian Party (PA), ending the period of political turmoil that had dominated the previous legislature.[6][7]


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  1. ^ "Chaves anuncia elecciones anticipadas en Andalucía al ser rechazados los presupuestos". El País (in Spanish). 23 November 1995. Retrieved 5 December 2018.
  2. ^ "La "pinza" acabó en veinte meses con el único gobierno en minoría de Andalucía". ABC (in Spanish). 24 March 2015. Retrieved 5 December 2018.
  3. ^ "Chaves logra el quinto triunfo consecutivo del PSOE". El País (in Spanish). 4 March 1996. Retrieved 5 December 2018.
  4. ^ "Los socialistas conservan su feudo andaluz". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). 4 March 1996. Retrieved 6 December 2018.
  5. ^ "El estrepitoso final de la "pinza"". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). 5 March 1996. Retrieved 6 December 2018.
  6. ^ "Los socialistas andaluces se decantan por un pacto con el PA". El País (in Spanish). 5 March 1996. Retrieved 7 December 2018.
  7. ^ "Chaves incorpora a dos andalucistas a su Gobierno". El País (in Spanish). 14 April 1996. Retrieved 7 December 2018.