2004 Spanish general election

2004 Spanish general election
← 2000 14 March 2004 2008 →
All 350 seats in the Congress of Deputies and 208 (of 259) seats in the Senate
176 seats needed for a majority in the Congress of Deputies
Opinion polls
Registered34,571,831 Green arrow up1.8%
Turnout26,155,436 (75.7%)
Green arrow up7.0 pp
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero Mariano Rajoy Josep Antoni Duran i Lleida
Party PSOE PP CiU
Leader since 22 July 2000 2 September 2003 24 January 2004
Leader's seat Madrid Madrid Barcelona
Last election 125 seats, 34.2%[a] 183 seats, 44.5% 15 seats, 4.2%
Seats won 164 148 10
Seat change Green arrow up39 Red arrow down35 Red arrow down5
Popular vote 11,026,163 9,763,144 835,471
Percentage 42.6% 37.7% 3.2%
Swing Green arrow up8.3 pp Red arrow down6.8 pp Red arrow down1.0 pp
  Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party
 
Leader Josep-Lluís Carod-Rovira Josu Erkoreka Gaspar Llamazares
Party ERC EAJ/PNV IU
Leader since 2 February 2004 2004 29 October 2000
Leader's seat Barcelona Biscay Madrid
Last election 1 seat, 0.8% 7 seats, 1.5% 9 seats, 6.0%[b]
Seats won 8 7 5
Seat change Green arrow up7 Blue arrow right0 Red arrow down4
Popular vote 652,196 420,980 1,284,081
Percentage 2.5% 1.6% 5.0%
Swing Green arrow up1.7 pp Green arrow up0.1 pp Red arrow down1.0 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

José María Aznar
PP

Prime Minister after election

José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero
PSOE

The 2004 Spanish general election was held on Sunday, 14 March 2004, to elect the 8th Cortes Generales of the Kingdom of Spain. All 350 seats in the Congress of Deputies were up for election, as well as 208 of 259 seats in the Senate. Incumbent Prime Minister José María Aznar of the People's Party (PP) was retiring from politics and did not stand.[1]

The electoral outcome was heavily influenced by the aftermath of the Madrid train bombings on 11 March, as a result of which all parties suspended their electoral campaigns.[2] For two days following the attacks, the government kept blaming the terrorist organization ETA for the bombings, even in spite of mounting evidence suggesting the involvement of Islamist groups. The government was accused of misinformation, as an Islamist attack would have been perceived as the direct result of Spain's involvement in the Iraq War, which had been highly unpopular among the public.[3][4]

The election result was described by some media as an "unprecedented electoral upset". The perceived abuse of the PP's absolute majority throughout the legislature, with a focus on Spain's involvement in Iraq, was said to have helped fuel a wave of discontent against the incumbent ruling party, with the government's mismanagement on the bombings serving as the final catalyst for change to happen.[5][6] At 11 million votes and 42.6%, the opposition Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) increased by 3.1 million its 2000 result, securing 164 seats—a net gain of 39. In contrast, the PP, which opinion polls earlier in the year had predicted would secure a diminished but still commanding victory, lost 35 seats and 7 percentage points, resulting in the worst defeat for a sitting government in Spain up to that point since 1982. The 75.7% turnout was among the highest since the Spanish transition to democracy, with no subsequent general election having exceeded such a figure. The number of votes cast, at 26.1 million votes, remained the highest figure in gross terms for any Spanish general election until the April 2019 election.[7][8]

The day after the election, Zapatero announced his will to form a minority PSOE government, supported by other parties in a confidence and supply basis. Two minor left-wing parties, Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC) and United Left (IU), immediately announced their intention to support Zapatero's government. On 16 April 2004, Zapatero was elected as new prime minister by an outright majority of the new Congress, with 183 out of 350 members voting for him, being sworn in the next day.[9]


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  1. ^ "Voters punish Aznar on Iraq". CNN. Retrieved 29 October 2024.
  2. ^ "Los partidos suspenden la campaña electoral" (in Spanish). Cadena SER. 11 March 2004. Retrieved 28 January 2019.
  3. ^ "Protestas en las sedes del PP por los atentados del 11M" (in Spanish). RTVE. 13 March 2004. Retrieved 28 January 2019.
  4. ^ "El 91% de los españoles rechaza la intervención militar en Irak, según el CIS". El País (in Spanish). 28 March 2003. Retrieved 28 January 2019.
  5. ^ "El voto de castigo dio la victoria al PSOE, según la prensa". El País (in Spanish). 15 March 2004. Retrieved 28 January 2019.
  6. ^ "Zapatero atribuye su victoria a las "ganas de cambio en España" y no al atentado del 11-M". El País (in Spanish). 16 March 2004. Retrieved 28 January 2019.
  7. ^ "El PSOE da el gran vuelco electoral". El País (in Spanish). 15 March 2004. Retrieved 28 January 2019.
  8. ^ "Zapatero vence con casi 11 millones de votos". El País (in Spanish). 15 March 2004. Retrieved 28 January 2019.
  9. ^ "Zapatero, investido presidente del Gobierno con mayoría absoluta". ABC (in Spanish). 16 April 2004. Retrieved 28 January 2019.