Under the Impact of Territorial Reform: The May 2007 Local and Regional Elections in Spain

On 27 May 2007, the Spanish elected their city councils and regional parliaments. The right-wing Popular Party (PP) won the local elections by a very small margin of votes, although the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) obtained more local councillors. The results brought little change and only one regional incumbent was removed from office. Analysis of the elections shows that the main electoral changes occurred in Catalonia, Madrid and Valencia. The authors offer possible explanations for the results and argue that these changes were not only due to developments in local and regional politics, but also involved national politics.

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