2012 Catalan regional election

2012 Catalan regional election

← 2010 25 November 2012 2015 →
All 135 seats in the Parliament of Catalonia 68 seats needed for a majority
Opinion polls
Registered	5,413,868 0.9%
Turnout	3,668,310 (67.8%) 9.0 pp
First party Second party Third party   Leader Artur Mas Oriol Junqueras Pere Navarro Party CiU ERC–CatSí PSC–PSOE Leader since 7 January 2002 17 September 2011 17 December 2011 Leader's seat Barcelona Barcelona Barcelona Last election 62 seats, 38.4% 10 seats, 7.0% 28 seats, 18.4% Seats won 50 21 20 Seat change 12 11 8 Popular vote 1,116,259 498,124 524,707 Percentage 30.7% 13.7% 14.4% Swing 7.7 pp 6.7 pp 4.0 pp   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader Alicia Sánchez-Camacho Joan Herrera Albert Rivera Party PP ICV–EUiA C's Leader since 6 July 2008 23 November 2008 9 July 2006 Leader's seat Barcelona Barcelona Barcelona Last election 18 seats, 12.4% 10 seats, 7.4% 3 seats, 3.4% Seats won 19 13 9 Seat change 1 3 6 Popular vote 471,681 359,705 274,925 Percentage 13.0% 9.9% 7.6% Swing 0.6 pp 2.5 pp 4.2 pp   Seventh party   Leader David Fernàndez Party CUP Leader since 13 October 2012 Leader's seat Barcelona Last election Did not contest Seats won 3 Seat change 3 Popular vote 126,435 Percentage 3.5% Swing New party
Election result by constituency
President before election Artur Mas CiU Elected President Artur Mas CiU

The 2012 Catalan regional election was held on Sunday, 25 November 2012, to elect the 10th Parliament of the autonomous community of Catalonia. All 135 seats in the Parliament were up for election. It was a snap election, announced on 25 September by President Artur Mas following the pro-independence demonstration in Barcelona on 11 September—the National Day of Catalonia—and the failed talks between President Mas and Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy to give greater fiscal autonomy to Catalonia.^[1][2]

Despite Artur Mas campaigning to win an absolute majority of seats, Convergence and Union (CiU) suffered an electoral setback which had gone largely unnoticed by opinion polls. The Socialists' Party of Catalonia (PSC) also fared poorly, obtaining fewer seats than pro-independence Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC) and ending up as the third parliamentary force overall. In turn, ERC regained much of the strength it had loss in the 2010 election and became the main parliamentary opposition party for the first time. The People's Party (PP) and Citizens (C's) benefitted from the electoral polarization between the pro-independence and anti-independence blocs, scoring their best results until then, with 19 and 9 seats, respectively. The Popular Unity Candidacy (CUP) also entered the Parliament for the first time.^[3]