At stake in this election:      

• The 135 seats in Catalonia’s regional government, the Generalitat (Parlament de Catalunya). 

Description of government structure:

• Chief of State: King FELIPE VI
• Head of Government: President of the Government Mariano RAJOY Brey*
• Assembly: Spain has a bicameral The General Courts (Las Cortes Generales) consisting of the Senate (Senado) with 255 seats and the Congress of Deputies (Congreso de los Diputados) with 350 seats.** 

* The current President of the Catalan regional government, the Generalitat, is Artur MAS i Gavarró.

** Catalonia has a regional government, the Parliament of Catalonia (Parlament de Catalunya) with 135 seats.

Description of electoral system:

• The King is hereditary head of state.
• President of the Government is elected by parliament.*
• In the Senate (Senado), 204 members are elected by plurality vote in multi-member constituencies to serve 4-year terms and 51 members are appointed by regional legislatures to serve 4-year terms. In the Congress of Deputies (Congreso de los Diputados) 350 members are elected through a closed-list proportional representation system to serve 4-year terms.**

* The President of the Generalitat is nominated by the party with the most seats in the Parliament and approved by parliamentary vote.

** Members are elected in 50 multi-member districts using the D'Hondt method, with the enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla electing one member each using plurality voting.  Members of the Parliament of Catalonia (Parlament de Catalunya) are elected by closed-list proportional representation in 4 electoral districts (Barcelona (85 seats), Girona (17 seats), Lleida (15 seats), and Tarragona (18 seats)). Seats are allocated using the D’Hondt method, and political parties must cleat the 3% threshold to gain seats in the electoral district.

Main parties in the electoral race[1]:*

• Alliance: Liberals / Convergència Democràtica de Catalunya (CDC) and Republican Left of Catalonia / Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya (ERC)
  • Party: Liberals / Convergència Democràtica de Catalunya (CDC)

Leader: Artur MAS i Gavarró

Seats won in last election: N/A**

• Party: Republican Left of Catalonia / Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya (ERC)

Leader: Oriol JUNQUERAS

Seats won in last election: 21

• Party: Christian Democrats / Unió Democràtica de Catalunya (UDC)

Leader: Josep Antoni DURAN i Lleida

Seats won in last election: N/A**

• Party: Socialist Party of Catalonia / Partit dels Socialistes de Catalunya (PSC)

Leader: Miquel ICETA

Seats won in last election: 20

• Party: People’s Party / Partit Popular (PP)

Leader: Alicia SÁNCHEZ-CAMACHO

Seats won in last election: 19

• Party: Initiative for Catalonia Greens—United Left Alternative / Iniciativa per Catalunya Verds – Esquerra Unida i Alternativa (ICV-EUiA)

Leader: Joan HERRERA

Seats won in last election: 13

• Party: Citizens / Ciutadans – Partido de la Ciudadanía (C’s)

Leader: Albert RIVERA Díaz

Seats won in last election: 9

• Party: Popular Unity Candidates / Candidatura d’Unitat Popular – Alternativa d’Esquerres (CUP)

Leader: David FERNANDEZ

Seats won in last election: 3

*At least three parties (CDC, ERC and CUP) consider the election a plebiscite and a de facto independence referendum.  

**In the last election, the two parties ran as the Convergence and Unity Alliance and won 50 seats.  The alliance was dissolved in June 2015. 

Last election[2]:

• The last election for the Generalitat (Parlament de Catalunya) was held on 25 November 2012.  There were 5,257,960 registered voters for the election.  The Convergence and Union Party won 50 seats (of 135) or 31.6% of the vote, the Socialist Party of Catalonia won 20 seats (14.65% of the vote), the Republican Left of Catalonia won 21 seats (13.91% of the vote), the People’s Party won 19 seats (13.17% of the vote), Initiative for Catalonia Greens—United Left Alternative won 13 seats (10.04% of the vote), the Citizens Party won 9 seats (7.68% of the vote), and the Popular Unity Candidates won 3 seats (3.53% of the vote). 

Population and number of registered voters:

• Population: 7,480,921 (2013 est.) [3]
• Registered voters: 5,257,960 (2012)[4]

Gender Data:

• Female Population[5]: 3,796, 033
• Is SPAIN a signatory to CEDAW[6]: Yes (17 July 1980)
• Has SPAIN ratified CEDAW[7]: Yes (5 January 1984)
• Gender Quota[8]:  Yes/ No.
• Female Candidates in this election: Yes
• Number of Female Legislators[9]: N/A
• Human Development Index (HDI) Position[10]: 27 (Spain)
• Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) Categorization[11]: Very Low (Spain)

Disability Data:

• Is SPAIN a signatory to CRPD[12]: Yes (30 March 2007)
• Has SPAIN ratified CRPD[13]: Yes (3 December 2007)
• Population with a disability[14]: 7,105,581