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176-607: Mariano Rajoy (acting) PP Mariano Rajoy PP The 2016 Spanish general election was held on Sunday, 26 June 2016, to elect the 12th Cortes Generales of the Kingdom of Spain . All 350 seats in the Congress of Deputies were up for election, as well as 208 of 266 seats in the Senate . No party had secured a majority in the 2015 election , resulting in the most fragmented parliament since 1977. Ensuing negotiations failed to produce
352-437: A lieutenant under Columbus, who later became the first governor of the island. From the start of the conquest of Puerto Rico, Castilians ruled over the religious ( Roman Catholic ) and political life. Some came to the island for just a few years and then returned to Spain; however, many stayed. Puerto Rico's founding family were Castilians (Ponce de León family). Their home was built in 1521 by Ponce de León but he died
528-413: A snap election , provided that no motion of no confidence was in process, no state of emergency was in force and that dissolution did not occur before one year had elapsed since the previous one. Additionally, both chambers were to be dissolved and a new election called if an investiture process failed to elect a prime minister within a two-month period from the first ballot. Barred this exception, there
704-580: A Latin American country due to Spanish colonialism, although the term "Spanish-American" is used only to refer to Americans whose ancestry originates entirely or partially from Spain . They are found in large concentrations in five major states from 1940 through the early twenty-first century. In 1940, the highest concentration of Spaniards were in New York (primarily New York City ), followed by California , Florida , New Jersey and Pennsylvania . Immigration to
880-625: A Podemos-led cabinet. Once his electoral coalition with IU had been formalized, Iglesias again reiterated his wish to see the PSOE "as an ally"—despite the Socialists having rejected Podemos' offer for an alliance to the Senate—and put overtaking the PP as his target. For the first time since 2011, the anniversary of the 15-M Movement came marked by the pre-electoral campaign of a general election. UP, self-declared as
1056-691: A candidate for prime minister. On 3 May 2016, the King exercised the constitutional mandate and triggered an election—with the endorsement of President of the Congress Patxi López —by issuing a royal decree dissolving the Parliament. This marked the first time since the transition to democracy that an election was called under Article 99.5 of the Constitution , wherein initiative for the Cortes' dissolution belonged to
1232-488: A common monarchy. According to Henry Kamen , it was only after centuries of a common rule that these separate realms formed a fully unified state. In 1492, Spain drove out the last Moorish king of Granada. After their victory, the Catholic monarchs negotiated with Christopher Columbus , a Genoese sailor attempting to reach Cipangu by sailing west. Castile was already engaged in a race of exploration with Portugal to reach
1408-570: A finger in the accident. His criticisms of the Zapatero administration were focused on what he perceived as: In foreign policy : Rajoy faced a serious situation within his party when he came under public pressure from the electorally successful Alberto Ruiz Gallardón (Madrid's Mayor) to be included in the PP ;lists for the March 2008 general election . Gallardón represents a more centrist sector within
1584-580: A firm stance on the issue but Íñigo Errejón stated that his party would "go to all debates, always sending spokespeople at the same level as those sent by other political forces", thus opening the door for Iglesias not attending debates if other parties did not send their prime ministerial candidates. As neither Rajoy nor Sánchez confirmed their presence at the Charles III debate, the Demos Association announced its cancellation on 30 May. A four-way debate
1760-667: A lesser extent from Andalusia, the Canary Islands, Catalonia and the Basque Country. It is estimated that between 1880 and 1930, 25,000 Spaniards moved to El Salvador. The Spanish people represented the third largest group of immigrants in the country, only surpassed by the French and Italians. The arrival of the Spaniards in Guatemala began in 1524 with the conquest of the territory under
1936-515: A lesser extent, Brazil , Belize , Haiti , United States , Canada , the Philippines and wider Europe . According to the latest data from the Instituto Nacional de Estadística 's Register of Spaniards Resident Abroad (PERE), "the number of people with Spanish nationality living abroad reached 2,908,649 on January 1, 2024, an increase of 4.2% (118,332 people) with respect to the data from
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#17328845394662112-563: A letter sent by Bárcenas himself to Rajoy in April 2010 (just a few days after he [Bárcenas] had been officially "removed" from his duties as treasurer) informing Rajoy of his "re-incorporation" in the party. On 26 November 2014, Ana Mato , Minister of Health , resigned due to the involvement of herself and her husband Jesús Sepúlveda in the Gürtel case . He testified in Audiencia Nacional as
2288-633: A major restructuring of the Spanish financial system as well as a major labour reform. The financial crisis peaked with a bailout of the Spanish banking system in June 2012. Unemployment in Spain peaked at 27% in 2012, which led to an initial drop of the People's Party in the polls, which was aggravated by the revelations of a series of corruption cases that seriously damaged the party's reputation. This, among other factors, led to
2464-527: A majority on their own, attention focused on the PSOE as it underwent a leadership crisis. The PP wanted the Socialists to either abstain in Rajoy's investiture vote or join them in a grand coalition , C's put pressure on the PSOE to abstain and avoid a snap election , while Podemos suggested that Sánchez had lost control of his party. PSOE and C's feared that a new election could harm them and benefit both PP and Podemos. A persistent wave of corruption scandals struck
2640-411: A new historical low. Albert Rivera 's Citizens (C's) suffered from the electoral system as well as from tactical voting to the PP and fell to 32 seats. Overall, a potential PP–C's bloc secured 6 more seats than before, but remained short of an overall majority. With the political deadlock settling in, commentators suggested that a new, third election could be eventually needed. Electoral setbacks for
2816-596: A part of the Spanish Empire ) and continues to the present day. On 25 September 1493, Christopher Columbus set sail on his second voyage with 17 ships and 1,200–1,500 men from Cádiz , Spain. On 19 November 1493, he landed on the island, naming it San Juan Bautista in honor of Saint John the Baptist . The first Spanish settlement, Caparra , was founded on 8 August 1508 by Juan Ponce de León , born in Valladolid , Spain,
2992-464: A profound shift in the Spanish party system, with the rise of new political parties from the left and the right: Podemos and Citizens . The 2015 general election led to a parliamentary configuration that made the formation of a government very difficult; as a result, Spain was without a government for over six months and new elections were held in June 2016 . Rajoy was finally appointed prime minister with
3168-586: A result of his involvement in the Panama Papers scandal and his confusing and inconsistent statements on the issue. While negotiations to form a government were underway, Spain's public deficit for 2015 was announced as 5.2%, well above the 4.2% target agreed with the European Union and even exceeding the European Commission (EC) forecast of 4.8%. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) demanded that
3344-683: A scandal involving the fraudulent awarding of public contracts. "Operation Taula", a major police operation in Valencia that took place on 26 January 2016, resulted in the arrest of several former and incumbent high-ranking members of the regional PP branch, as part of the ongoing investigation into PP corruption in the region during its time in government. By early February, a massive illegal financing network had been uncovered connected with PPCV , with dozens of party officials and city councillors indicted or arrested. The judicial investigation also implicated long-serving former Mayor of Valencia Rita Barberá in
3520-510: A sender to a receiver country . The first period of the conquest of the Canaries was carried out by the Norman nobles Jean de Béthencourt and Gadifer de la Salle . Their motives were primarily economic as Béthencourt possessed textile factories and dye works and the Canaries offered a source of dyes such as the orchil lichen. The treaty settled disputes between Castile and Portucalense County over
3696-586: A shorter campaign or for cuts to affect election debates. As some of these proposals required changes in the electoral law—something which could not happen as the Cortes would be dissolved—parties called for reaching a gentlemen's agreement ; in Albert Rivera 's words, "a political pact through which changing the law wouldn't be necessary". However, negotiations held to discuss the reduction of electoral spending failed to produce an agreement, with parties expected to cut their spending at will. As parties geared up for
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#17328845394663872-444: A sparsely populated strip of land). Then again in large numbers during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. A substantial Spanish-descended Criollo population gradually built up, while some mixed with the indigenous populations ( Mestizos ), with the black slave population ( Mulattoes ), or with other European immigrants. Since a great part of the immigrants to Uruguay before the mid-19th century were of Spanish descent, and
4048-455: A stable governing coalition, paving the way for a repeat election on 26 June. The political deadlock marked the first time that a Spanish election was triggered due to failure in the government formation process. Podemos and United Left (IU) joined forces ahead the election to form the Unidos Podemos alliance, along with several other minor left-wing parties. Opinion polling going into
4224-526: A system known as "begged" or expat vote ( Spanish : Voto rogado ). For the Congress of Deputies, 348 seats were elected using the D'Hondt method and a closed list proportional representation , with an electoral threshold of three percent of valid votes—which included blank ballots—being applied in each constituency. Seats were allocated to constituencies, corresponding to the provinces of Spain , with each being allocated an initial minimum of two seats and
4400-434: A teenager, breaking his glasses. All the political parties, unanimously, condemned the attack. In the general election of 26 June 2016, the PP increased its number of seats in parliament, while still falling short of an overall majority. Eventually on 29 October Rajoy was re-appointed as prime minister, after the majority of the PSOE members abstained in the parliamentary vote rather than oppose him. In February 2016, Rajoy
4576-502: A week until, on 2 February, the King invited Pedro Sánchez to form a government. After several weeks of negotiations between parties, the PSOE announced a surprise government deal with C's on 24 February. However, the form and content of the agreement met with criticism from parties both on the left and right of the spectrum, including PP and Podemos. The PP stated its opposition to the PSOE–C's pact, refusing to cede to C's demands to abstain in
4752-425: A witness in the framework of the investigation into the Gürtel corruption scandal , of the illegal financing of his party. He is the first PM in Spain in service to attend a trial. Although he benefited from this corruption scheme, he denied any knowledge. This situation prompted a no-confidence motion against Rajoy's government , which was debated on 13 June and defeated as expected on 14 June. Pío García-Escudero ,
4928-408: A €2 billion fine, while demanding additional spending cuts worth €8 billion. Despite the government's denial that new cuts would be needed, a letter leaked on 23 May revealed that Rajoy would be willing to impose additional spending cuts "once a new government was formed" after 26 June election, sparking criticism from opposition parties, who accused the PP of lying to the public. On 24 June,
5104-539: Is 342,040. The earliest European immigrants were Spanish colonisers who arrived in the 16th century. They came to form the majority of the population by the time of Chilean independence . They came mainly from Castile and Andalusia and formed the majority population. In the 18th and 19th centuries, many Basques from both Spain and France came to Chile where they integrated into the existing elites of Castilian origin. Other European nationalities then followed and also became rich and fused with each other and
5280-607: Is estimated that there are currently 26,880 Spanish nationals living in the Dominican Republic. After the discovery of the territory that is now El Salvador , the Spaniards began to conquer the territory. The east and north of El Salvador were easy to conquer due to the small indigenous population there, but the center-west had a lot of resistance; after the conquest, the Spanish were disappointed to learn that in El Salvador there
5456-505: Is in contrast to " Hispanic " which in English usually describes Spanish-speaking populations in general. The diaspora is concentrated in places that were part of the Spanish Empire . Countries with sizeable populations are Argentina , Bolivia , Chile , Colombia , Costa Rica , Cuba , Dominican Republic , Ecuador , El Salvador , Guatemala , Honduras , Mexico , Nicaragua , Panama , Paraguay , Peru , Uruguay , Venezuela , and, to
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5632-459: Is the 23rd and most recent United States national census . National Census Day , the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2010. Statistics for those who self-identify as ethnic Spaniard, Spanish, Spanish American in the 2010 American Community Survey . Spanish settlement in Uruguay took place firstly in the period before Uruguay's independence from Spain (then known as Banda Oriental ,
5808-469: The Balearic Islands ahead of a prospective election alliance, aiming at forming a "grand coalition of the left" in the islands. Podemos tried to probe PACMA for a common nationwide list for the 2016 election, but this was rejected by the latter as it perceived that Podemos was "not clear enough on the issue of banning bullfighting ". Already from 20 April, both Podemos and IU-UPeC started exploring
5984-580: The Canary Islands , inhabited by Guanche people, was only finished when the armies of the Crown of Castille won, in long and bloody wars, the islands of Gran Canaria (1478–1483), La Palma (1492–1493) and Tenerife (1494–1496). The marriage of the Reyes Católicos ( Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile ) created a confederation of reigns , each with their own administrations, but ruled by
6160-454: The Congress of Deputies , Sánchez thus becoming the first candidate ever to fail an investiture vote. Negotiations continued throughout March and April, but antipathy between Podemos and C's made any three-party pact between PSOE, Podemos and C's impossible. The PP pressured the PSOE to join a grand coalition , a scenario which the latter rejected. A final round of talks on 25–26 April proved inconclusive, with King Felipe VI failing to nominate
6336-622: The Cortes Generales —the Congress and the Senate—expired four years from the date of their previous election, unless they were dissolved earlier. The election decree was required to be issued no later than the twenty-fifth day prior to the date of expiry of parliament and published on the following day in the Official State Gazette (BOE), with election day taking place on the fifty-fourth day from publication. The previous election
6512-610: The Far East by sea when Columbus made his bold proposal to Isabella. Columbus instead inadvertently "discovered" the Americas , inaugurating the Spanish colonization of the continents . The Indies were reserved for Castile. After the Age of Discovery , the Spanish were the earliest and one of the largest communities to emigrate out of Europe, and the Spanish Empire 's expansion during the first half of
6688-545: The IBEX 35 —the benchmark stock market index of Spain's stock exchange —plummeted by 12.3%, the largest fall in its history, as a result of the ' Leave ' choice winning in the 2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum . On 22 January, Mariano Rajoy turned down King Felipe VI 's invitation to form a government after Podemos offered a coalition proposal to the PSOE, also including IU, with Sánchez as prime minister and Pablo Iglesias as his deputy. This offer shocked
6864-599: The President of the Senate also testified as a witness in the same investigation. On 26 April 2018, his former Minister of Justice , Alberto Ruiz Gallardón , was imputed by the judge for his involvement in the corruption scandal Case Lezo, which involves leaders of the PP in the Community of Madrid . The 2015 general election was held on 20 December, the latest possible day. The result
7040-564: The Spanish conquest of Guatemala was primarily the result of its technical superiority, the Spaniards were helped by the Mayans who were already involved in a bitter internal struggle. After a period of political instability exacerbated by the collapse of the world market for indigo , each province seceded from the federation, starting with Costa Rica . The federation collapsed between 1838 and 1840, when Guatemala became an independent nation. Spanish immigration to Mexico began in 1519 and spans to
7216-474: The Supreme Court rejected the lawsuit. The newspaper El País published in its edition of 30 January 2013 a series of documents, under the title of " Bárcenas ' secret papers", referring to the accounts of the conservative party from 1999 to 2009. According to those hand-written documents, Mariano Rajoy and María Dolores de Cospedal had received extra payments in "black" money from the former treasurer of
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7392-673: The Supreme Court , accusing them of diversion of public funds and misappropriation. Mariano Rajoy was accused of receiving a subsistence allowance despite the fact that he was living in the Moncloa Palace in Madrid. The lawsuit before the Supreme Court was a consequence of the data which had appeared in the media providing information about several deputies who had houses in Madrid but at the same time were receiving extra funds for lodging. According to
7568-713: The Xunta de Galicia . On 11 June 1983, Rajoy was elected President of the Provincial Deputation of Pontevedra , a position he held until 10 December 1986. In the General Elections of 22 June 1986, he won a seat in the Congress of Deputies as the head of the AP's list for Pontevedra , although he resigned in November to take up the post of vice-president of the Xunta of Galicia following
7744-481: The centre , with some fearing it could run down the path of the Greek PASOK . As the newly formed Unidos Podemos alliance was announced on early May, the PSOE found itself under threat of being marginalised as both PP and UP sought to polarise the campaign between the two. Sánchez tried to remain in the spotlight and cast off the phantom of party internal division by releasing a series of key announcements throughout
7920-503: The conquest of the Americas . At the end of the 16th century both commoners and aristocrats from Spain migrated to Mexico. The regions from which most Spanish immigrants originated were those of Extremadura , Castile , Galicia , Catalonia and Andalusia . Most of the colonial immigrants, in consequence, went from the southern regions of Spain to what now is considered the coastal Peruvian region. These immigrants generally departed from
8096-461: The public work contract kickbacks from the Punica case could also involve possible illegal financing of the PP branch in the region . Esperanza Aguirre , former President of Madrid from 2003 to 2012 and president of the party's regional branch since 2004, resigned as regional leader on 14 February as a consequence of the scandal's political fallout, emphasising her lack of "direct responsibility" for
8272-476: The 12 autonomous communities agree their own austerity plans within 15 days to freeze public spending. Other economic data for the first quarter of 2016 showed the Spanish economy growing by 0.8% on the previous quarter , but with unemployment increasing slightly by 11,900, to 21%. As a result of Spain not meeting its deficit target, the EC gave the country an additional year to meet its deficit requirements, but proposed
8448-570: The 16th century saw an "extraordinary dispersion of the Spanish people", with particular concentrations "in North and South America", mainly the vice-royalties of the New Spain and Peru . During the first half of the 16th century, following the Age of Discovery , the Spanish became one of Europe's first and largest emigrating populations. The rapid expansion of the Spanish Empire led to an unprecedented dispersal of Spanish people, primarily concentrated in
8624-472: The 19th century. In 1800 the population was 155,426 and the century ended with almost a million inhabitants (953,243), multiplying the population by about six times. The main component responsible was the Royal Decree of Graces of 1815 which led to immigrants from some 74 countries arriving. Included were hundreds of Corsican , French , Irish , German , Lebanese , Maltese and Portuguese families moving to
8800-520: The 2015 election under the Democracy and Freedom (DL) banner—made an offer to ERC to resurrect the unitary coalition in which they both contested the 2015 Catalan regional election . Former Catalonia President Artur Mas offered himself to lead such a coalition into the election if it was eventually formed. ERC, however, rejected the offer and chose to run alone instead. Subsequently, debate arose within CDC on
8976-552: The 8 seats at stake in the December election. Meanwhile, in Navarre , both Navarrese People's Union and PP were likely to maintain their alliance ahead of the upcoming general election, aiming at keeping their status as the first political force in the region. Izquierda-Ezkerra started talks with Podemos ahead of an alliance, whereas Geroa Bai and EH Bildu were open to "exploring" coalition possibilities after failing to make headway in
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#17328845394669152-530: The Basque–Castilian elite to create modern Chilean culture . In the 20th century, there was an influx of refugees of the Spanish Civil War and Franco's regime. (see Winnipeg ship ). They have kept their Spanish national identity and set up Spanish clubs throughout the country. The Spanish culture of the original settlers slowly evolved into Chilean folk culture, especially the huaso culture, and at
9328-465: The Congress in the region after the 2015 election. After Podemos and I-E rejected their offer of building a common platform, both parties studied the option of running together, but ended up discarding such a possibility. Both PSOE and NCa announced their intention of continuing their alliance in the Canary Islands , whereas the PP offered to maintain its alliance with PAR in Aragon. CDC —which contested
9504-506: The Cortes at the preceding election were required to secure the signature of at least 0.1 percent of electors in the aforementioned constituencies. Below is a list of the main parties and electoral alliances which contested the election: In Asturias , Asturias Forum announced its intention to continue their electoral coalition with the People's Party , due to the PP–FAC tandem obtaining 3 out of
9680-414: The December election—both announced their withdrawal from PSOE lists ahead of the June election. Concurrently, PSOE leaders had tried to pressure IU into avoiding an electoral alliance with Podemos out of fear of being pushed into third place nationally, with some commenting that the party's actions had been erratic and confusing throughout negotiations. Coupled with growing pessimism within PSOE ranks, this
9856-423: The December run. Iglesias offered to explore the possibility of an accord with PSOE after the election, expressing his will to form a "progressive" government, but condemned the way the PSOE had—in his view—treated his party up until that point. During an interview held a few days later, Iglesias took for granted that his party had already surpassed the PSOE nationally and stated he would offer Sánchez be his deputy in
10032-668: The Dominican Republic dates back to the founding of La Isabela, the first European settlement in the Americas, by Christopher Columbus in 1493 after the destruction of the Fuerte de la Navidad a year prior by the Cacique Caonabo. In 1510, there were 10,000 Spaniards in the colony of Santo Domingo, and it rose to over 20,000 in 1520. During the eighteenth century, there were French colonists that settled in many Spanish towns, particularly in Santiago de los Caballeros ; by 1730 they accounted for 25% of
10208-420: The Government of the Basque Country, as Interior Minister. In this role, he passed legislation including the Organic Law on the right of association, approved the decree implementing the Organic Law on the rights and duties of foreigners, and presented the draft law on the prevention of alcoholism. In the major cabinet reshuffle of 9 July 2002, he became minister of the presidency, retained his vice presidency and
10384-431: The King and not to the prime minister. The tables below show the composition of the parliamentary groups in both chambers at the time of dissolution. The electoral law allowed for parties and federations registered in the interior ministry , coalitions and groupings of electors to present lists of candidates. Parties and federations intending to form a coalition ahead of an election were required to inform
10560-444: The Ministry of Economy and Finance was split into two new ministries. The Ministry of Agriculture and Environment was kept intact, despite statements made by Rajoy speech before Congress that indicated the opposite intention. Among the ministers, Cristóbal Montoro Romero , Minister of Finance, and Miguel Arias Cañete , Minister of Agriculture, Food and Environment, had been members of the previous Aznar government and continued to occupy
10736-399: The Movement's political heir, intended to use the event as a launching point for its campaign. Various nods to 15-M were made: the announcement of the Podemos–IU alliance was staged on 9 May at Puerta del Sol , long-regarded as a symbol and focal point for 15-M. Concurrently, Podemos launched an "accountability" campaign under the 'Congress in your square' label "to regain the connection with
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#173288453946610912-436: The PP government in the first successful motion of no confidence since the Spanish transition to democracy . The Spanish Cortes Generales were envisaged as an imperfect bicameral system. The Congress of Deputies had greater legislative power than the Senate , having the ability to vote confidence in or withdraw it from a prime minister and to override Senate vetoes by an absolute majority of votes. Nonetheless,
11088-440: The PP throughout the negotiation process. On 22 January, the PP became the first party ever to be charged in a corruption case, after being accused of destroying Bárcenas' hard drives in 2013, which had allegedly contained information related to the party's illegal funding. The same day, a key member of Deputy PM Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría 's staff was forced to resign from his post after it was discovered that he had been involved in
11264-450: The PP to prevent Podemos ' rise. Albert Rivera said that the PP was "controlled by its 'old guard'" and that his party would not negotiate with the PP so long as Rajoy remained as leader. The PSOE suffered from the end of the negotiations period. Carme Chacón —former Defence Minister under José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero —and Irene Lozano —an independent , formerly aligned to UPyD , personally enlisted into PSOE by Pedro Sánchez for
11440-455: The PP to try to form a government on its own, and the possibility of a PSOE-Podemos pact faded. President of Andalusia Susana Díaz , who was reported to be leading an open rebellion within the party, was said to be seeking to replace Sánchez as party leader and to eventually lead the PSOE into a new general election in 2016. As neither of the two possible pacts between the major parties ( PP – C's or PSOE–Podemos) had enough deputies to command
11616-425: The PSOE after it was announced that a new election would be held, with party leaders stating that it "won't be in force anymore" once the Cortes were dissolved. However, they wanted to use the accord as a showing of the party's "willingness to negotiate" with forces both to the left and right of the spectrum. The party's main aim was to prevent that a possible campaign polarization could cast " fearful " voters away to
11792-447: The PSOE in opinion polling ahead of the election. Mariano Rajoy Mariano Rajoy Brey ( Galician: [maɾiˈanʊ raˈʃoj] , Spanish: [maˈɾjano raˈxoj] ; born 27 March 1955), is a Spanish politician who served as Prime Minister of Spain from 2011 to 2018, when a vote of no confidence ousted his government. On 5 June 2018, he announced his resignation as People's Party leader. He became Leader of
11968-470: The PSOE in the Basque and Galician regional elections held on 25 September 2016 unleashed a party crisis which led to Pedro Sánchez 's ouster as leader on 1 October. An interim party leadership was appointed, which chose to abstain to allow government formation and prevent a third general election. As a result, Mariano Rajoy was re-elected as prime minister for a second term in office on 29 October amid public outcry and protest at PSOE's U-turn , which
12144-437: The PSOE, under the leadership of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero , won the elections with a majority of 1,300,000 votes over the PP, and obtained 164 deputies, while the PP obtained 9,763,144 votes but 148 deputies, 35 less than they obtained in 2000. Rajoy was elected for the province of Madrid . On 1 December 2005, Rajoy survived a helicopter accident, along with Madrid Regional Government President Esperanza Aguirre ; he broke
12320-471: The PSOE—which suddenly found itself at the mercy of Iglesias' party—with prominent PSOE figures describing the proposal as an "insult" and "blackmail". The next day, Sánchez also declined to run for the investiture until Rajoy had clarified whether he would make his own attempt at government formation or step back definitely. Corruption scandals concerning the PP caused other parties to reject them and withdraw from negotiations with Rajoy. This situation lasted for
12496-402: The People's Party had been illegally financed for 20 years. The following day, the same newspaper published the originals of Barcenas' papers which reflected overpayments to Mariano Rajoy in 1997, 1998 and 1999, when he was a minister in the Aznar cabinet. These payments violated the Incompatibilities Act of 1995. On 14 July, El Mundo published several text messages between Rajoy and Bárcenas,
12672-471: The People's Party in 2004 and prime minister in 2011 following the People's Party landslide victory in that year's general election , becoming the sixth president of the Spanish Government. The party lost its majority in the 2015 general election , but after that election ended in deadlock, a second election in 2016 enabled Rajoy to be reelected prime minister as head of a minority government. Rajoy
12848-452: The People's Party, Luis Bárcenas. These documents state that both Bárcenas and his predecessor, Álvaro Lapuerta , managed cash donations from businessmen and private builders (three of whom are additionally accused in the Gürtel case), cited as sources of undeclared income of the PP. Expenditure included, apart from allocations for the effective functioning of the party, payments made to members of
13024-445: The Senate possessed a few exclusive (yet limited in number) functions—such as its role in constitutional amendment —which were not subject to the Congress' override. Voting for the Cortes Generales was on the basis of universal suffrage , which comprised all nationals over 18 years of age and in full enjoyment of their political rights. Additionally, Spaniards abroad were required to apply for voting before being permitted to vote,
13200-530: The Senate under the "Valencian Accord" label (In Valencian : Acord Valencià ), refused to acknowledge Sánchez's command, threatening a schism in PSOE ranks as the party's national leadership tried to override their regional counterpart. After several days of conflict, the PSPV acquiesced to Sánchez's demand on 13 May, reluctantly rejecting the alliance with Compromís-Podemos. Podemos aimed at enlarging its alliance system from December, seeking to conglomerate all forces to
13376-449: The Spanish people are paying the price for that". He promised he would shepherd Spain out of its crisis and recover the shaky confidence of international investors and reduce the government's ominously high borrowing costs. The debt crisis in Greece had raised concerns over the solvency of other weak economies like Spain. The PP campaign slogan called on voters to "Join the change!" and
13552-805: The United States declined sharply between 1930 and 1940 from a total of 110,000 to 85,000. Many immigrants moved either back to Spain or to another country. In the 2013 American Community Survey , 759,781 people that reported "Spaniard", 652,884 were native USA-born and 106,897 were foreign-born. 65.3% of the foreign-born were born in Europe, 25.1% were born in Latin America , 8.3% from Asia , 0.6% in Northern America , 0.5% in Africa and 0.1% in Oceania . The 2010 census
13728-590: The United States from Spain was minimal but steady during the first half of the nineteenth century, with an increase during the 1850s and 1860s resulting from the social disruption of the Carlist civil wars. Much larger numbers of Spanish immigrants entered the country in the first quarter of the twentieth century—27,000 in the first decade and 68,000 in the second—due to the same circumstances of rural poverty and urban congestion that led other Europeans to emigrate in that period, as well as unpopular wars. The Spanish presence in
13904-592: The architects of the Galician Statute of Autonomy (1936) ( Estatuto de autonomía de Galicia ), who was removed from university teaching by the Franco dictatorship in the early 1950s. He is the son of Olga Brey López and Mariano Rajoy Sobredo , a jurist, and president of the Provincial Court of Pontevedra , the city where he grew up. Later on, his father was transferred to León and the whole family moved there. He
14080-432: The association DRY, these representatives, who could be lodged at no cost to the public purse, were paid a monthly subsistence allowance valued at €1,823.36. Furthermore, if they had been elected by the constituency of Madrid and had a house in this city, they were allowed €870 a month to cover accommodation and food expenses resulting from the exercise of their functions that, with respect to Rajoy, were already covered – from
14256-462: The attacks, and on 13 March, Rajoy claimed to believe this because he was convinced of their will and capability for committing such crimes. The government was accused of attempting to blame ETA for the attacks in order to stay on track to win the elections (as they were favored to do), but then the Prisa center-left media company broke news that Al‑Qaida, rather than ETA, was responsible. On 14 March 2004
14432-581: The black population dropping to 12%, the mulatto population to 8%, and the quadroons to 31%. In present times the majority of the descendants of these Spaniards can be found in the North or Cibao Region of the Dominican Republic, representing a significant portion of the population in provinces such as Valverde , Espaillat , Hermanas Mirabal , La Vega and especially in Santiago de los Caballeros , but other places with important white minorities include Distrito Nacional, La Romana, Bonao, San Felipe de Puerto Plata, Punta Cana Village and Santa Cruz de Barahona. It
14608-550: The campaign trail in 2011, Rajoy published his autobiography, En Confianza ( In Confidence ). Earlier member of the Spanish National Union (UNE), Rajoy joined the right-wing party People's Alliance (AP), becoming a deputy in the inaugural legislature of the Galician Parliament in 1981. In 1982, he was appointed by Galician regional president, Xerardo Fernández Albor , as Minister of Institutional Relations of
14784-507: The campaign's length to 10 days and removing external advertising—namely that involving advertising through billboards and flags. The PSOE suggested reducing campaign spending by 30%, cutting mailing spending and removing external advertising. Podemos and C's proposed unifying party mailing, with C's being favourable to cutting party spending by 50%. Podemos went further and suggested limiting parties' spending to 3 million each. All three PSOE, Podemos and C's were against PP's proposal of making
14960-586: The city of Valencia—the third largest in Spain, which had seen 24 years of PP rule under Barberá's command—and rumours circulating of a reformation of the party in the region. On 11 February, the scandal spread to Madrid when the Civil Guard was sent to search PP's main headquarters as part of the ongoing investigation resulting from the Operation Punica scandal, uncovered in October 2014. Evidence suggested that
15136-533: The command of Pedro de Alvarado . After the conquest and the colonial era, more people came to the country, not as conquerors, but to do business or daily activities. The Spanish embassy in Guatemala City reports some 9,311 Spaniards living in Guatemala in 2014. Early European immigrants from Guatemala were Spaniards who conquered the indigenous Mayan population in 1524. They ruled for almost 300 years. Although
15312-624: The confidence of Congress, the King shall dissolve both chambers and call a new election, with the endorsement of the President of the Congress of Deputies ." A crisis developed within the PSOE after the December election result, with critics accusing Secretary-General Pedro Sánchez of lack of self-criticism ahead of PSOE's spring leadership election . While Sánchez favoured trying to reach an agreement with Podemos , regional party leaders refused to accept Podemos' negotiation terms and instead favoured allowing
15488-624: The control of the Atlantic, in which Castilian control of the Canary islands was recognized but which also confirmed Portuguese possession of the Azores, Madeira, the Cape Verde islands and gave them rights to lands discovered and to be discovered as well as any other island which might be found and conquered from the Canary islands beyond toward Guinea. The Castilians continued to dominate the islands, but due to
15664-400: The country's return to representative democracy in the 1970s, securing 186 out of the 350 seats in the lower house of Parliament. Voters turned to him in hopes of alleviating the pain of Europe's debt crisis . Following the general election held in 2011, Rajoy was elected prime minister by the Congress of Deputies on 20 December 2011. Rajoy, designated candidate for Prime Minister of
15840-481: The documents, one million people had signed a petition launched by the organization Change.org asking for the immediate resignation of Mariano Rajoy. On 8 July, the center-right newspaper El Mundo , usually a support of the Popular Party, published a four-hour interview with Luis Bárcenas, which had taken place a few days before he was put behind bars on 27 June, in which the former party treasurer revealed that
16016-470: The election predicted a growing polarisation between this alliance and the People's Party (PP), which would be fighting to maintain first place nationally. The Unidos Podemos alliance suffered a surprise decline in votes and vote share compared to the previous election, while the PP increased its number of votes and seats as well as its margin of victory. The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) clung to second place despite losing votes and seats, scoring
16192-400: The fact that a significant part of the late-19th century/early-20th century immigrants to Uruguay were Spaniards, the vast majority of Uruguayans are of mostly Spanish ancestry. However, this prevalence and the numerous shared cultural aspects between Uruguay and Spain (the Spanish language , Roman Catholicism , Criollo / Hispanic traditions), massive Immigration to Uruguay at the turn of
16368-411: The failed plans of the Spanish monarchy to expel the French colonists, the monarchy decided to actively encourage the mass settlement of Spanish families in its territory. Over the nineteenth century, the Spanish colony of Santo Domingo was the subject of a mass migration of Spaniards, most of whom came from the Canary Islands. Due to this migration, it decreased the amount of non-whites in the colony with
16544-561: The first Spanish settlement in Cuba, with orders from Spain to conquer the island. Most heritage comes from Canarians , Asturians , Galicians and Castilians . The native white population are nearly all descendants of the Spaniards. Other results show that between 1902 and 1931, 780,400 (60.8%) were from Spain, 197,600 (15.4%) from Haiti, 115,600 (9.0%) from Jamaica and 190,300 (14.8%) other countries. In 2020, there were 147,617 people in Cuba with Spanish citizenship. The presence of whites in
16720-472: The first weeks of May. Margarita Robles—a judge from the Spanish Supreme Court and former Interior State Secretary under Felipe González —and Josep Borrell —former Public Works Minister —were announced to be signing up for Sánchez's campaign; concurrently, Susana Díaz accepted to officially present Sánchez's proclamation as PSOE candidate, in a move seen as an act of apparent "reconciliation" between
16896-448: The format of 14 December debate—allegedly after a harsh confrontation with Sánchez following the latter referring to Rajoy as "indecent". The PSOE announced that Sánchez would not attend a debate with Iglesias and Rivera if Rajoy was not present as well. C's made Rivera's presence conditional on either Rajoy attending or having an empty lectern put in his place, but would not accept the PP sending another person instead. Podemos did not take
17072-426: The government in the 2004 general elections, he was chosen as future PP leader on 1 September 2003 and left the government two days later. On 30 August 2003, Aznar announced that he would retire from politics in the 2004 elections and proposed Rajoy as his successor. Rajoy was elected Secretary General of the party the following day, and led the party into the 2004 elections . However, the PP's large lead evaporated in
17248-472: The government of King Juan Carlos I , appeared before the Congress of Deputies on 19 December 2011. He stated that to achieve the objective of a deficit of 4.4% of GDP in 2012, an investment of €16,500,000,000 would be needed. He added that his only increased public spending would be the revaluation of pensions, beginning 1 January 2012, and that he would not create any new jobs in the public sector, except for security forces. He stated an intention "to reduce
17424-403: The group's intention to have a four-way debate, scheduled for 16 June, similar to the one held on 7 December. This time, Mariano Rajoy was willing to attend a four-way leaders' debate—unlike the previous election campaign, in which his party sent Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría instead. The PP was, however, unconvinced of holding another two-way debate with Pedro Sánchez , with Rajoy displeased with
17600-539: The immigration wave patterns made to the island, during the 19th century the greatest number of Spaniards that came to the island with their families were Catalans and Mallorcans from the nearby Mediterranean regions . The second most common Spanish region with the largest numbers were the Galicians and Asturians, and the third regions were Canary Islanders, Basques and Andalusians . The Catalans , Galicians , Majorcans and Asturians would come with whole families most of
17776-515: The imposition of direct rule in Catalonia. At 14 years and 146 days, Rajoy was the longest-serving Spanish politician in the Government of Spain since the Spanish transition to democracy , having held ministerial offices continuously from 1996 to 2004 and from 2011 to 2018. Born 27 March 1955 in Santiago de Compostela , A Coruña , Galicia, Rajoy is the grandson of Enrique Rajoy Leloup , one of
17952-487: The incoming campaign started after the Cortes' dissolution. As in the previous election, the first debate was organised by the Demos Association, to be held in the Charles III University of Madrid on 6 June. The leaders of the four main parties were invited, with Pablo Iglesias and Albert Rivera confirming their presence but making it conditional on Rajoy and Sánchez attending as well. Atresmedia also announced
18128-424: The independence of Latin American countries). Brazilian censuses do not research "ethnic origins" or ancestry, which makes it very difficult to give accurate numbers of Brazilians of Spanish descent. In a 1998 research, the scope of which, however, is limited (it covers only six metropolitan regions), Brazilians claiming Spanish descent were 4.4% of Brazil's population. The population of Canadians of Spanish descent
18304-506: The investiture on an agreement they described as "a farce". On the other hand, Podemos and other left-wing parties felt betrayed and broke off negotiations with PSOE, viewing the deal as an unholy alliance between the two formerly opposed parties. Other minor parties, such as the ERC , DL , PNV and EH Bildu , also announced their opposition. As a result, Pedro Sánchez's investiture was rejected on 4 March by an overwhelming majority of 219 to 131 in
18480-506: The island. Some countries were represented by only a few (51 Chinese individuals, for example). The country that still sent the most people was Spain. From the start of colonization, other groups from Catalonia , Asturias , Galicia , and Majorca had also immigrated, although the Canarian people formed the basis. Once the 19th century came, things changed drastically. According to Puerto Rican authors such as Cifre de Loubriel who researched
18656-628: The island. The first sighting of a Spanish boat approaching the island was on 28 October 1492, probably at Baracoa on the eastern point of the island. Christopher Columbus, on his first voyage to the Americas, sailed south from what is now the Bahamas to explore the northeast coast of Cuba and the northern coast of Hispaniola . Columbus found the island believing it to be a peninsula of the Asian mainland. In 1511, Diego Velázquez de Cuéllar set out with three ships and an army of 300 men from Santo Domingo to form
18832-410: The large 2015 deficit translate into "substantial fiscal tightening", blaming the deficit on the PP government's 2015 decision to cut taxes for the election year. On 16 April, the government lowered its economic growth forecast for 2016 from 3% to 2.7%. As a result, Finance Minister Cristóbal Montoro announced €2 billion of spending cuts in order to curb the public deficit, while also demanding that
19008-500: The late 1490s to the 1520s from mainland Europe, and immigrants included Galicians , Castilians , Portuguese , Italians , Catalans , Basques and Flemings . At subsequent judicial enquiries, Fernández de Lugo was accused of favoring Genoese and Portuguese immigrants over Castilians. Spanish emigrant settlements were established in Argentina in the period before Argentina's independence from Spain, and again in larger numbers during
19184-558: The late 19th and early 20th centuries. Between the 15th and 19th centuries, the Spanish Empire was the sole colonial power in the territories that became Argentina after the 1816 Argentine Declaration of Independence . Thus, before 1816, a large number of the European settlers in Argentina were from Spain, and they conducted Spanish colonial administration, including religious affairs, government, and commercial business. A substantial Spanish-descended Criollo population gradually built up in
19360-466: The latest dating from early 2013, after the discovery of Bárcenas' bank accounts in Switzerland and after some media had pointed to illegal payments within the PP. In those messages, Rajoy expressed his support to Bárcenas and asked him to keep quiet. In light of these new revelations, High Court judge Pablo Ruz summoned Bárcenas to appear before him on 15 July. In this new appearance, Bárcenas admitted
19536-624: The leadership of the party during those years with no explicitly stated purpose. Barcenas' accounts show yearly payments of 25,200 euros for 11 years to the President, in addition to smaller amounts for a total estimated at 33,207 with purposes such as "Mariano's suits", "Mariano's ties", or "M.R.'s suits". PP Secretary-General María Dolores de Cospedal appears in the papers of these payments, as well as other leaders, such as former ministers Javier Arenas , Jaime Mayor Oreja and Francisco Álvarez-Cascos . By 7 February, just one week after publication of
19712-425: The left of PSOE in a single, unitary alliance for the 2016 election. Both En Comú Podem and En Marea had already announced their intention to continue their successful coalitions, while Compromís ' leaders expressed their will to renew their alliance with Podemos but also seeking to include EUPV , which had been left out of the coalition for the previous election. Talks between Podemos and Més had also started in
19888-422: The main themes going into the June election was the economic cost that a new campaign would mean for the budget. During the final round of talks, King Felipe VI —anticipating a fresh election—had asked parties to run austere campaigns. The PP proposed that the party avoid large scale rallies, aiming at running a "simpler" campaign—with smaller events in medium-sized cities and towns—while also suggesting reducing
20064-517: The many commercial ships going to retrieve rubber in Peru to bring back to Europe. These immigrants arrived at the river port of Iquitos . Almost all of them stayed there. These immigrants numbered no more than a few thousand. Around 44% of Peruvians are mestizos (people of mixed white and native Peruvian descent), and more than 7% are mulattoes, making a total of 51% with mixed ancestry. Spanish immigration to Puerto Rico began in 1493 (continuing to 1898 as
20240-472: The most fragmented Congress of Deputies in recent times. This raised the possibility that, for the first time since the Spanish transition to democracy , parliamentary deadlock over the investiture of a prime minister would require a new election to be held. According to Article 99.5 of the Spanish Constitution , "if within a period of two months from the first investiture vote no candidate has obtained
20416-654: The move into national politics in Aznar's first government when he was appointed Minister of Public Administration on 6 May. His term was marked by the adoption, in 1997, of the Law on organization and operation of the general administration of the State (LOFAGE), which regulates the organization and functions of central government, and the Law on Government. He changed his portfolio on 20 January 1999 and replaced Esperanza Aguirre as Minister of Education and Culture . Just after his appointment, he
20592-481: The native Guanche population and the Guanches were initially enslaved and gradually absorbed by the Spanish colonizers. After subsequent settlement by Spaniards and other European peoples , mainly Portuguese , the remaining Guanches were gradually diluted by the settlers and their culture largely vanished. Alonso Fernández de Lugo , conqueror of Tenerife and La Palma, oversaw extensive immigration to these islands from
20768-489: The new cities, while some mixed with the indigenous populations ( Mestizos ), with the black slave population ( Mulattoes ), or with other European immigrants. Since a great part of the immigrants to Argentina before the mid-19th century were of Spanish descent, and the fact that a significant part of the late-19th century/early-20th century immigrants to Argentina were Spaniards, the vast majority of Argentinians are of mostly Spanish ancestry. However, this prevalence and
20944-532: The newly formed Podemos-IU alliance offered a nationwide alliance with PSOE to contest the Senate election, in an effort to prevent a new PP absolute majority in that chamber. Pedro Sánchez rejected such a possibility as negotiations were already underway in Aragon , Balearic Islands and the Valencian Community . However, the party's Valencian branch , which advocated for an alliance with Compromís and Podemos for
21120-820: The next day at the Zarzuela Palace , before the King and Queen, Zapatero, the outgoing prime minister, and the Presidents of the Cortes Generales, and others. Rajoy's government was formed on 21 December 2011 with thirteen ministers—the lowest number in Spanish democratic history. Soraya Saenz de Santamaria , Vice President of the Government, Minister of the Presidency, and government spokesperson, and Ana Pastor Julián , Minister of Equipment, were appointed. The Ministries of Culture, Science, and Territorial Policy were ended, and
21296-782: The next year, the Council of the Indies reasoned in favor of Pichardo and issued a pardon to the French. In 1720–1721, a revolt in Santiago against a new tax on beef exports to the Saint Domingue colony, arose Frenchification fears in the Santo Domingo elite; Captain-General Fernando Constanzo, governor of the Santo Domingo, accused the elite of the Cibao of seeking to annex their provinces to France. After
21472-425: The numerous shared cultural aspects between Argentina and Spain (the Spanish language , Roman Catholicism , Criollo/ Hispanic traditions), massive immigration to Argentina at the turn of the 20th century involved a majority of non-Spanish peoples from all over Europe. Bolivian people of European ancestry are predominantly descended from the people who emigrated from Spain beginning five hundred years ago. In
21648-610: The official census in 1900, people who self-identified as "Blanco" (white) composed 12.72% or 231,088 people in the total population. This was the last time data on race was collected. There were 529 Italians, 420 Spaniards, 295 Germans, 279 French, 177 Austrians, 141 English and 23 Belgians living in Bolivia. Spanish immigration was the third largest among immigrant groups in Brazil; about 750,000 immigrants entered Brazil from Spanish ports (a number smaller only than that of Argentina and Cuba after
21824-458: The opportunity to continue the DL alliance or to opt for alternative formulas to contest the election. Democrats of Catalonia and Reagrupament , CDC's allies within DL, suggested rebranding the alliance as "Together for Catalonia" (JxCat) and demanded it to be led by an independent . CDC leaders rejected this proposal and announced on 9 May that they were contesting the election on their own. On 10 May,
22000-399: The opposition for trying to "criminalize" him by believing the word of an "offender", stating that he wasn't resigning nor calling new elections. Rajoy also stated that Bárcenas was no longer a member of the PP when he, Rajoy, was appointed prime minister (in December 2011). However, on 11 August, El Mundo published a paysheet, dated May 2012, issued by the PP for the ex-treasurer, as well as
22176-575: The party manifesto stressed its commitment to cutting the country's budget deficit in line with EU requirements. It proposed tax breaks for savers and small firms who hired staff; benefits for those who took on young employees; more flexible labour contracts and wage negotiations and major cuts in red tape , to encourage entrepreneurs to set up businesses. At the same time, it pledged to protect public healthcare and education, saving money through efficiency and better management. In November 2011, Rajoy's right-wing People's Party won its biggest majority since
22352-411: The party, whereas Rajoy, Angel Acebes and Eduardo Zaplana are widely accepted as representing a more conservative wing of the party, closer to Aznar . Rajoy's final decision was to leave Gallardón out of the list for those elections, an action which provoked concern about the alienation of potential PP voters. Some experts and newspapers even argued that it could cost Rajoy the elections . In any case,
22528-494: The payment of 50,000 euros in 2010 to Rajoy and Dolores de Cospedal. As a result of the scandal, all the opposition parties urged Rajoy to give an explanation to parliament, with the opposition Spanish Socialist Workers' Party threatening him with a censure motion should he refuse to come out and explain himself, and demanding his immediate resignation. In his appearance before Congress, on 1 August, Rajoy admitted that he had made "a mistake" in trusting Bárcenas and criticised
22704-527: The population. In 1718 a royal decree ordered the expulsion of the French from the colony of Santo Domingo. The Grand Mayor of Santiago, Antonio Pichardo Vinuesta, refused to obey the decree arguing that most of the Frenchmen had married local Spanish women and therefore, their expulsion would damage the economy of the Cibao Region . The Grand Mayor Pichardo was tried and imprisoned in the city of Santo Domingo, but
22880-527: The ports of Cádiz or Seville and arrived in the ports of Callao , Mollendo and Pimentel . Many of these immigrants made a stopover in a Caribbean port before arriving in Peru. Before the development of the Panama Canal , ships went around Cape Horn to reach Peruvian ports. Although not many, a few travelers made their way from Europe to Peru via the Amazon River . These immigrants would seek passage on
23056-425: The possibility of forming a joint list for a likely fresh election. By 30 April, as the new election was confirmed, both parties acknowledged that talks had formally started and that an agreement was expected to be reached throughout the next week. On 9 May, Pablo Iglesias (Podemos) and Alberto Garzón (IU) officially announced that a formal alliance had been reached and that their parties would be running together in
23232-456: The power struggle for succession created a tense situation for him and for the party. On 30 January 2008, Rajoy received the support of Germany's Angela Merkel and France's Nicolas Sarkozy for the March 2008 general election. The PP was defeated in the general election, however, it gained votes and seats, and Rajoy continued to lead his party in opposition. The 2011 general election campaign
23408-577: The present day. The first Spanish settlement was established in February 1519, as a result of the landing of Hernán Cortés in the Yucatán Peninsula , accompanied by about 11 ships, 500 men, 13 horses and a small number of cannons. In March 1519, Cortés formally claimed the land for the Spanish crown , and the conquest of the Aztec Empire , a key event in the Spanish conquest of the region in general,
23584-439: The public employment service for at least twelve months out of the previous eighteen and whose income amounts were less than three quarters of the net minimum wage. A 4% value-added tax was expanded to include new home purchases. On 4 January 2013 the association Democracia Real Ya (DRY), created after the 15 May 2011 protest movement, brought charges against Mariano Rajoy and another 62 deputies (including four ministers) before
23760-402: The relevant Electoral Commission within ten days of the election call, whereas groupings of electors needed to secure the signature of at least one percent of the electorate in the constituencies for which they sought election, disallowing electors from signing for more than one list of candidates. Concurrently, parties, federations or coalitions that had not obtained a mandate in either chamber of
23936-418: The remaining 248 being distributed in proportion to their populations. Ceuta and Melilla were allocated the two remaining seats, which were elected using plurality voting . The use of the electoral method resulted in an effective threshold based on the district magnitude and the distribution of votes among candidacies. As a result of the aforementioned allocation, each Congress multi-member constituency
24112-520: The resignation of Xosé Luis Barreiro and the rest of the ministers. He occupied this latter position until the end of September 1987. In May 1988 he was elected General Secretary of the AP in Galicia during an extraordinary congress of the regional party. When in 1989 the AP merged with other parties to form the People's Party (PP), with Manuel Fraga as its president, Rajoy was named a member of its National Executive Committee and delegate for Pontevedra. He
24288-421: The same day last year". However, most of them are naturalized citizens returning to their countries of origin or remigrating elsewhere; only about 855,000 natural born Spaniards (about 2% of the population) live overseas. Castile , under the reign of Henry III , began the colonization of the Canary Islands in 1402, authorizing under feudal agreement to Norman noblemen Jean de Béthencourt . The conquest of
24464-460: The same posts. On 30 December 2011, the Council of Ministers approved a cuts plan (called an austerity plan) amounting to €8,900,000,000 in savings and €6,200,000,000 in new revenues. Salaries of public workers were frozen, the workweek in public administration was reduced to 37.5 hours, and recruitment of new public employees was halted, except in the areas of security, health and education. A programme which provided rent assistance for young people
24640-435: The same year, leaving Casa Blanca to his young son Luis Ponce de León . The original structure did not last long; two years after its construction, a hurricane destroyed it, and it was rebuilt by Ponce de León's son-in-law Juan Garcia Troche. The southern city of Ponce is named after Juan Ponce de León y Loayza , the great-grandson of Juan Ponce de León. Immigration to the island caused the population to grow rapidly during
24816-504: The scandal but "assuming [her] political responsibility" both as party leader and former regional premier. In April, an urban planning corruption scandal was revealed to involve Granada 's mayor and his government, all from PP. Meanwhile, the Spanish Treasury fined former prime minister José María Aznar for evading tax payments through a society. On 15 April, caretaker Industry Minister José Manuel Soria stepped down from his post as
24992-430: The scandal; her arrest or indictment was only prevented due to the fact she had legal immunity as an incumbent senator. A few days later, on 1 February, all PP city councillors in the city of Valencia , including new local party leader Alfonso Novo, were charged with a possible money laundering offence, along with most members of Barberá's previous government. The party found itself at risk of losing its municipal group in
25168-424: The size of the public sector" and also wanted to reform public holidays so as to avoid encouragement of popular four-day weekends. This would be accomplished by incorporating the use of the nearest Monday for most public holidays. He also announced his desire to end the practice of early retirement. Rajoy was chosen by Parliament two days later with 187 votes in favor, 149 votes against and 14 abstentions, receiving
25344-484: The spectrum. Andalusian President Susana Díaz said of it that it was "the reunion of the Communist Youth"; the PP described it as "the old-fashioned communists but with another name". C's leader Albert Rivera commented that his party offered itself "without sickles, hammers nor corruption", in reference both to UP and the PP. After the success of election debates in the 2015 election, the organizing of new debates for
25520-493: The state budget – in the Moncloa Palace. DRY therefore accused them of diversion of public funds and misappropriation. Additionally, DRY demanded that they return all the money that didn't belong to them, particularly bearing in mind that "the cuts are making most Spaniards' life a misery". On 24 April 2013, having found no irregularity in the existing regulation and discarding the existence of constituents elements of offense,
25696-463: The streets". On 15 May, thousands gathered at Puerta del Sol to commemorate the 15-M anniversary; the crowd shouting some of the Movement's most featured slogans, such as the "Yes we can!" warcry—which had also served as Podemos' party slogan ever since its inception. As UP struggled to gain momentum, PP, PSOE and C's turned their attacks on the newborn alliance, trying to corner it to the far-left side of
25872-639: The support of the Citizens party and the abstention of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party . Rajoy's second term was marked by economic recovery and a drop in unemployment and the challenge of stagnating salaries. Rajoy also oversaw the 2017–18 Spanish constitutional crisis marked by the Catalan independence referendum of 2017 and the Catalan unilateral declaration of independence on 27 October 2017 that led to
26048-656: The support of the People's Party, the Forum of Asturias (FAC) and the Navarrese People's Union (UPN), with Spanish Socialist Workers Party (PSOE), Convergence and Union (CiU), the United Left (IU) and Union, Progress and Democracy (UPyD) dissenting. The Basque Nationalist Party (PNV), the coalition Amaiur and the Canary Coalition (CC) abstained. He was appointed a few hours later as prime minister by Juan Carlos I and sworn in
26224-450: The time of independence had abandoned national affiliation with Spain. Spanish emigration to Colombia began in the early 16th century and continues to the present day. About 500,000 Spaniards emigrated to Colombia during the colonial period. There are currently over 27,000 Spanish immigrants in Colombia. Spanish immigration to Cuba began in 1492, when Christopher Columbus first landed on
26400-521: The time. There were regions of the island that attracted some immigrants more than others which was mainly for political or economic reasons. The Spanish are one of the longest-established European-American groups with a continuous presence in Florida since 1565 and are the eighth-largest (choosing the term "Spaniard") Hispanic group in the United States of America. In addition, a substantial proportion of Americans are also of Spanish descent indirectly via
26576-411: The topography and the resistance of the native Guanches , complete pacification was not achieved until 1495, when Tenerife and La Palma were finally subdued by Alonso Fernández de Lugo . After that, the Canaries were incorporated into the Kingdom of Castile . The islands were conquered by mostly Andalusians and some Castilians at the beginnings of the 15th century. In 1402, they began to subdue
26752-409: The two leaders ahead of the election. Sánchez was also expected to announce his "shadow cabinet" on 15 May, and tried to appeal to centrist voters that a vote for him would be a "vote for change". Pablo Iglesias blamed the PSOE for the failure in negotiations and commented that Podemos' aim in the June election would be to directly face the PP as equals, in what he referred to as a "second round" of
26928-404: The upcoming election campaign, the PP faced the fresh election looking back at the corruption scandals under judicial investigation in which the party was involved. Some of such scandals, involving senior party members such as Rita Barberá , stirred up debate as to whether it was best to maintain these people within party ranks or force their withdrawal. C's , on its part, discarded its pact with
27104-618: The upcoming general election. Equo , which had already supported the continuation of its coalition with Podemos, announced it would also participate in the newly formed alliance. The Podemos-IU national accord paved the way for United Left to join the És el moment alliance in the Valencian Community as well. On 13 May, it was announced that the alliance name for the election would be "Unidos Podemos" (Spanish for United We Can ). The key dates are listed below (all times are CET . The Canary Islands used WET ( UTC+0 ) instead): One of
27280-556: The vice-royalties of New Spain and Peru in the Americas. Between 1846 and 1932 nearly five million Spaniards went to the Americas, mostly to South America in general and to Argentina and Brazil in particular. Unprecedented waves of emigrants left Spain during the sixties and the seventies for other European countries. However, shortly after signing the Treaty of Adherence to join the European Community in 1985, Spain went from being
27456-486: The wake of the 11-M bombings , and the PP was heavily defeated by the PSOE. However, Rajoy was not held responsible for the defeat, and was elected party president at the PP's 14th congress in October 2004. On 11 March 2004, three days before the 2004 general elections , Madrid was struck by terrorist attacks , which the government initially blamed on the armed Basque separatist organisation, ETA . Aznar's government and government party leaders insisted on accusing ETA of
27632-467: The youngest-ever property registrar . He was assigned to Padrón (A Coruña), Villafranca del Bierzo ( León ) and Santa Pola ( Alicante ), a position he still holds. In that year, Rajoy sustained facial injuries in a traffic accident. Since then, he has always worn a beard to cover the scars from these injuries. Rajoy married Elvira "Viri" Fernández Balboa on 28 December 1996, on La Toja Island (Pontevedra). The couple have two children. While on
27808-562: Was a minister under the José María Aznar administration, occupying different leading roles in different ministries between 1996 and 2003, and he also was the deputy prime minister between 2000 and 2003. He was the Leader of the Opposition between 2004 and 2011 under José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero 's government. Rajoy's first term was heavily marked by the Spanish financial crisis and oversaw
27984-434: Was abolished, and the minimum wage was frozen—something that had not happened since 1966. The income tax and tax on real estate was also increased for 2012 and 2013. Pensions were adjusted up 1%, however, and the tax deduction for the purchase of homes was reinstated. The premium of €400 for the long-term unemployed (due to a lack of industry) at the end of law was maintained but only for those registered as jobseekers with
28160-635: Was allocated four seats, whereas for insular provinces, such as the Balearic and Canary Islands , districts were the islands themselves, with the larger— Majorca , Gran Canaria and Tenerife —being allocated three seats each, and the smaller— Menorca , Ibiza – Formentera , Fuerteventura , La Gomera , El Hierro , Lanzarote and La Palma —one each. Ceuta and Melilla elected two seats each. Additionally, autonomous communities could appoint at least one senator each and were entitled to one additional senator per each million inhabitants. The term of each chamber of
28336-402: Was also met with opposition from within the party—15 MPs eventually not complying with the party's directive and voting against Rajoy nonetheless. Rajoy's government would only last for 20 months until 2018, as public outcry at the emergence of new corruption scandals and judicial blows to the ruling party would prompt Sánchez—who would secure re-election as PSOE leader in June 2017 —to bring down
28512-501: Was announced to be held on 13 June to be organised by the TV Academy. All four main parties confirmed their presence, with the novelty that Rajoy accepted an invitation to attend as well. Unlike the previous campaign, the PP rejected a two-way debate between Rajoy and Sánchez, on grounds that, according to opinion polls, if a two-way debate was held "it was doubtful which party was to face Rajoy"—in reference to Unidos Podemos having overtaken
28688-596: Was appointed deputy secretary general of the party. He was re-elected in Pontevedra in the election on 6 June 1993. On 3 March 1996, the PP won the early parliamentary elections and formed a government with the support of the Basque Nationalist Party (EAJ-PNV), Convergence and Union (CiU) and the Canarian Coalition (CC). Rajoy, a long-time associate of newly elected prime minister José María Aznar, made
28864-411: Was appointed spokesman of the government. In his new role, he faced two very difficult times of Aznar's second term: the Prestige oil tanker disaster off the coast of Galicia , and the participation of Spain in the Iraq War , at the request of George W. Bush . Approached, with Rodrigo Rato and Jaime Mayor Oreja, to succeed José Maria Aznar at the direction of the PP and as presidential candidate of
29040-456: Was completed in 1521. In the 16th century, following the military conquest of most of the new continent , perhaps 240,000 Spaniards entered American ports. They were joined by 450,000 in the next century. Since the conquest of Mexico, this region became the principal destination of Spanish colonial settlers in the 16th century. The first Spaniards who arrived in Mexico were soldiers and sailors from Extremadura , Andalusia and La Mancha after
29216-462: Was declared 'persona non grata' of Pontevedra , his adopted city, because of his cabinet's decision to extend the operating license of a controversial cellulose factory by 60 years (see List of people declared persona non grata). Spanish diaspora The Spanish diaspora consists of Spanish people and their descendants who emigrated from Spain . In the Americas , the term most often refers to residents with Spanish nationality; this
29392-662: Was dominated by economic issues. "Election campaign begins, crushed by the economic situation", was the headline in El País on 2 September 2011; the same day, El Mundo claimed that "the unemployment election campaign [had begun]". The high rate of unemployment was a major issue in the campaign. Close to 5 million people were out of work at the time of the election, and 1.5 million households had no wage earners. Rajoy slammed Spain's unemployment rate as "unbearable and unacceptable" as data showed 4,350 people per day losing their jobs in October 2011. The Socialists, he said, "did not know how to manage Spain's economy , and now
29568-413: Was duly enrolled, together with his brothers Luis and Enrique, and spent ten years there before moving to the Jesuit school in Vigo . After finishing secondary school he started university, enrolling in the Law Faculty in Santiago de Compostela. Rajoy graduated from the University of Santiago de Compostela and passed the competitive examination required in Spain to enter into the civil service, becoming
29744-426: Was entitled the following seats: For the Senate, 208 seats were elected using an open list partial block voting system , with electors voting for individual candidates instead of parties. In constituencies electing four seats, electors could vote for up to three candidates; in those with two or three seats, for up to two candidates; and for one candidate in single-member districts. Each of the 47 peninsular provinces
29920-489: Was held on 20 December 2015, which meant that the legislature's term would expire on 20 December 2019. The election decree was required to be published in the BOE no later than 26 November 2019, with the election taking place on the fifty-fourth day from publication, setting the latest possible election date for the Cortes Generales on Sunday, 19 January 2020. The prime minister had the prerogative to dissolve both chambers at any given time—either jointly or separately—and call
30096-459: Was no constitutional requirement for simultaneous elections for the Congress and the Senate. Still, as of 2024 there has been no precedent of separate elections taking place under the 1978 Constitution. The Cortes Generales were officially dissolved on 3 May 2016 after the publication of the dissolution decree in the BOE, setting the election date for 26 June and scheduling for both chambers to reconvene on 19 July. The 2015 election resulted in
30272-455: Was not as much gold, jewelry and silver as in other countries. They began to find another source for the economy, with including indigo, cocoa and livestock. With little manpower, the Spanish leaders of El Salvador sent for families from Galicia and Asturias to repopulate areas. After independence and due to coffee and free immigration laws, Spaniards began to arrive in the country en masse. The vast majority came from Galicia and Asturias, and to
30448-400: Was reelected to parliament in 1993. Before the PP's triumph in the 1996 elections, he was a PP-designated member of the Commission of Parliamentary Control of the RTVE . In April, the former president of Castile and León and presidential candidate of the government general elections in 1989, José María Aznar , was elected president of the PP. Confirmed in the National Executive, Mariano Rajoy
30624-424: Was reelected vice-secretary general of the PP during its thirteenth national conference. In 2000 he led the People's Party election campaign for the elections on 12 March, in which they won absolute majority. On 28 April 2000, Rajoy was appointed Senior Vice President of Government and Minister of the Presidency. Less than a year later, on 28 February 2001, he replaced Jaime Mayor Oreja , candidate for President of
30800-411: Was said to potentially be able to harm them going into the campaign. On 30 April, Sánchez tried to stir up morale among party members and asked for "unity and trust" around him ahead of the new election. Susana Díaz , Sánchez's rival for the party's leadership, warned him that she would only accept "a PSOE win". Once the hegemonic party of the Spanish left, the PSOE had been pushed out of the left and into
30976-399: Was that the People's Party remained the most voted-for party, but it lost 64 of its 187 seats and thus its majority. The election produced a fragmented parliament and an uncertain political situation that led to another election in 2016, as neither Rajoy nor the left-wing opposition could form a coalition government . During the electoral campaign, on 16 December, he was punched in the face by
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