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Motions of no confidence in Spain facts for kids

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Mariano Rajoy felicita al nuevo presidente del Gobierno Pedro Sánchez (2018-06-01)
The outgoing Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy (right) congratulates the incoming Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez (left) upon losing the no confidence vote on 1 June 2018.

Motions of no confidence in Spain are a parliamentary procedure that allows the Congress of Deputies or a parliament of an autonomous community to withdraw its trust from the president of the Government of Spain or the president of the autonomous community, respectively, and force their resignation.

In Spain, the motion of no confidence is constructive (as the authors of the motion need to propose a new Prime Minister) and continuist (as it doesn't lead to snap elections).

The motion of no confidence against the President of the Government of Spain is established in article 113 of the Spanish Constitution of 1978. There have been a total of six motions of no confidence in the Congress of Deputies against the presidents Suárez (1980), González (1987), Rajoy (2017 and 2018), Sánchez (2020, 2023). Only one of them was successful: the second motion of no confidence against Rajoy was approved on June 1, 2018 and the candidate Pedro Sánchez was invested as President of the Government.

The motion of no confidence against the regional presidents is established in the respective autonomy statutes of the autonomous communities. A total of 31 motions of no confidence have been presented in the autonomous parliaments or in the autonomous cities, of which 9 were approved.

Procedure

Felipe González durante la moción de censura presentada por el presidente de Alianza Popular
Prime Minister Felipe González during the motion of no confidence led by Antonio Hernández Mancha in 1987

Article 113 of the Spanish Constitution of 1978 and the Regulations of the Congress of Deputies establish the mode of operation of the motion of no confidence against the Prime Minister of Spain. It must be proposed by at least one-tenth of the members of the Congress of Deputies (currently 35), and it must include a candidate for the presidency of the Government of Spain.

After the presentation of the motion of no confidence, the Board of Congress must meet to qualify the motion, within a maximum period of 7 days from the presentation of the motion. Once qualified, a period of two days is opened to present alternative motions, which must also be signed by 35 deputies and include a candidate for the presidency of the Government. The debate on the motion or motions of no confidence in this case cannot begin until after said period has elapsed.

Next, the presidency of Congress calls the session of the motion of no confidence, within a maximum period of 20 days, unless the General State Budgets are being processed simultaneously, in which case said maximum period begins to count at the end of its processing. In the vote of the motion of no confidence, which cannot be held in any case until five days after its presentation, it is necessary to obtain an absolute majority of affirmative votes in the Congress of Deputies in order to succeed. If the motion of no confidence is adopted, the Government must present its resignation to the King of Spain within 24 hours of its adoption. When the motion of censure is approved, it is understood that confidence has been granted to the proposed candidate and the king must appoint them President of the Government within 15 days of its adoption, provided that the censured Government has already resigned, although it is customary to do so immediately. In the event that the motion of no confidence is not approved, those who have proposed it cannot present another within the same period of sessions.

In Spain, the motion of no confidence is constructive: the group that raises the motion of censure in turn proposes a new Prime Minister; and continuist: it does not imply the advancement of the elections but rather the electoral calendar continues unaltered. While the motion of no confidence is pending, the Prime Minister cannot dissolve the Congress of Deputies and call elections, in order to prevent the Prime Minister from avoiding their parliamentary responsibility by calling the polls. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Prime Minister may waive the motion of censure by resigning. In this case, the Prime Minister may continue as acting Prime Minister in office, without any possibility of being censured, but Congress is empowered to appoint a successor by simple majority at any time.

Motions of no confidence

To date, five motions of no confidence have been held at the national level and another twenty-four at the autonomous level, which are listed below:

Congress of Deputies

Date Prime Minister Candidate Result
(required to win)
Ref.
30 May 1980 Adolfo Suárez 1980 (cropped).jpg Adolfo Suárez (UCD) Felipe González 1976 (cropped).jpg Felipe González (PSOE) 152–166
(176)
Rejected
30 Mar 1987 Felipe González 1986f (cropped).jpg Felipe González (PSOE) Portrait placeholder.svg Antonio Hernández Mancha (AP) 67–194
(176)
Rejected
14 Jun 2017 Mariano Rajoy 2017c (cropped).jpg Mariano Rajoy (PP) Pablo Iglesias 2016b (cropped).jpg Pablo Iglesias (Podemos) 82–170
(176)
Rejected
1 Jun 2018 Mariano Rajoy 2018b (cropped).jpg Mariano Rajoy (PP) Pedro Sánchez 2018b (cropped).jpg Pedro Sánchez (PSOE) 180–169
(176)
Approved
22 Oct 2020 Pedro Sánchez 2021b (cropped).jpg Pedro Sánchez (PSOE) Santiago Abascal 2018d (cropped).jpg Santiago Abascal (Vox) 52–298
(176)
Rejected
22 Mar 2023 Pedro Sánchez 2022c (cropped).jpg Pedro Sánchez (PSOE) Ramón Tamames 2023 (cropped).jpg Ramón Tamames (INDEP)
Proposed by Vox
53–201
(175)
Rejected

Autonomous parliaments

The Balearic Islands and Andalusia are the only Autonomous communities where a motion of no confidence has never been proposed.

Date Autonomous
community
Regional president Candidate Result
(required to win)
Ref.
1 Oct 1982 Catalonia Jordi Pujol 1978 (cropped).jpg Jordi Pujol (CDC) Portrait placeholder.svg Josep Benet (PSUC) 21–56
(68)
Rejected
23 Sep 1987 Galicia Xerardo Fernández Albor 2013 (cropped).jpg Gerardo Fernández Albor (AP) Portrait placeholder.svg Fernando González Laxe (PSdG) 40–29
(36)
Approved
21 Jun 1989 Community of Madrid (Leguina) Felipe González recibe al presidente de la Comunidad de Madrid (cropped) (cropped).jpeg Joaquín Leguina (PSOE) Ruiz Gallardón 2005.jpg Alberto Ruiz-Gallardón (PP) 48–40
(49)
Rejected
8 Jan 1990 La Rioja Portrait placeholder.svg Joaquín Espert (PP) José Ignacio Pérez Sáenz (cropped).jpeg José Ignacio Pérez Sáenz (PSOE) 17–13
(17)
Approved
5 Dec 1990 Cantabria Portrait placeholder.svg Juan Hormaechea (UPCA) Jaime Blanco, presidente del Gobierno de Cantabria, recibido en La Moncloa por Felipe González (cropped).jpg Jaime Blanco (PSOE) 26–12
(20)
Approved
31 Mar 1993 Canary Islands Jerónimo Saavedra 1983 (cropped).jpg Jerónimo Saavedra (PSOE) Portrait placeholder.svg Manuel Hermoso (CC) 31–23
(31)
Approved
1 Jul 1993 Cantabria Portrait placeholder.svg Juan Hormaechea (UPCA) Jaime Blanco, presidente del Gobierno de Cantabria, recibido en La Moncloa por Felipe González (cropped).jpg Jaime Blanco (PSOE) 18–21
(20)
Rejected
15 Sep 1993 Aragon Emilio Eiroa 1991 (cropped).jpg Emilio Eiroa (PAR) Portrait placeholder.svg José Marco (PSOE) 34–33
(34)
Approved
5 Jan 1994 Cantabria Portrait placeholder.svg Juan Hormaechea (UPCA) Jaime Blanco, presidente del Gobierno de Cantabria, recibido en La Moncloa por Felipe González (cropped).jpg Jaime Blanco (PSOE) 18–17
(20)
Rejected
21 Dec 1994 Aragon Portrait placeholder.svg José Marco (PSOE) Emilio Eiroa 1991 (cropped).jpg Emilio Eiroa (PAR) 32–30
(34)
Rejected
10 Mar 1999 Asturias Sergio Marques (cropped).jpg Sergio Marqués (URAS) Portrait placeholder.svg Ovidio Sánchez (PP) 16–6
(23)
Rejected
5 Oct 2000 Basque Country Juan José Ibarretxe 2007 (cropped).jpg Juan José Ibarretxe (PNV) Portrait placeholder.svg Nicolás Redondo (PSE–EE) 32–29
(38)
Rejected
Carlos Iturgaiz en un mitin del PP en Las Arenas (cropped - b).jpg Carlos Iturgaiz (PP) 32–29
(38)
Rejected
29 Jan 2001 Galicia Manuel Fraga 1996 (cropped).jpg Manuel Fraga (PP) Xosé Manuel Beiras 2012 (cropped).jpg Xosé Manuel Beiras (BNG) 18–41
(38)
Rejected
18 Oct 2001 Catalonia Jordi Pujol 1996 (cropped).jpg Jordi Pujol (CDC) Pasqual Maragall 2004 (cropped).jpg Pasqual Maragall (PSC) 55–68
(68)
Rejected
7 Nov 2001 Canary Islands Román Rodriguez 2001 (cropped).jpg Román Rodríguez (CC) Portrait placeholder.svg Juan Carlos Alemán (PSOE) 19–39
(31)
Rejected
12 Dec 2002 Galicia Manuel Fraga 1996 (cropped).jpg Manuel Fraga (PP) Emilio Pérez Touriño 2006 (cropped).jpg Emilio Pérez Touriño (PSdeG) 34–41
(38)
Rejected
Xosé Manuel Beiras 2012 (cropped).jpg Xosé Manuel Beiras (BNG) 34–41
(38)
Rejected
Withdrawn
11 Mar 2005
Catalonia Pasqual Maragall 2004 (cropped).jpg Pasqual Maragall (PSC) Josep Piqué 2008 (cropped).jpg Josep Piqué (PP) N/A Withdrawn
4 Oct 2006 Valencian Community Francisco Camps (2009) (Recortada).jpg Francisco Camps (PP) El exsecretario general del PSPV Joan Ignasi Pla (cropped).jpg Joan Ignasi Pla (PSPV) 35–47
(45)
Rejected
18 Apr 2013 Navarre Yolanda Barcina 2012 (cropped).jpg Yolanda Barcina (UPN) Portrait placeholder.svg Juan Carlos Longás (Aralar–NaBai) 18–23
(26)
Rejected
14 May 2014 Extremadura José Antonio Monago 2012b (cropped).jpg José Antonio Monago (PP) Guillermo Fernández Vara 2011 (cropped).jpg Guillermo Fernández Vara (PSOE) 30–32
(33)
Rejected
Withdrawn
4 Apr 2017
Region of Murcia Pedro Antonio Sánchez 2017 (cropped).jpg Pedro Antonio Sánchez (PP) Rafael González Tovar (cropped).jpg Rafael González Tovar (PSOE) N/A Resigned
8 Jun 2017 Community of Madrid Cristina Cifuentes 2018c (cropped).jpg Cristina Cifuentes (PP) Lorena Ruiz-Huerta 2016 (cropped).jpg Lorena Ruiz-Huerta (Podemos) 27–64
(65)
Rejected
Withdrawn
25 Apr 2018
Community of Madrid Cristina Cifuentes 2018c (cropped).jpg Cristina Cifuentes (PP) (Ángel Gabilondo) Pregón de "La Noche de los Teatros" (46785085594) (cropped).jpg Ángel Gabilondo (PSOE) N/A Resigned
7 Oct 2019 Catalonia Quim Torra 2018b (cropped).jpg Quim Torra (JuntsxCat) Lorena Roldán BCN 2019 (cropped).jpg Lorena Roldán (Cs) 40–76
(68)
Rejected
Dismissed
11 Mar 2021
Community of Madrid Isabel Díaz Ayuso 2019c (cropped).jpg Isabel Díaz Ayuso (PP) Mónica García 2021 (cropped).jpg Mónica García (Más Madrid) N/A Dismissed
(Ángel Gabilondo) Pregón de "La Noche de los Teatros" (46785085594) (cropped).jpg Ángel Gabilondo (PSOE) N/A Dismissed
18 Mar 2021 Region of Murcia Fernando López Miras 2019 (cropped).jpg Fernando López Miras (PP) Ana Martinez Vidal.jpg Ana Martínez Vidal (Cs) 21–23
(23)
Rejected
22 Mar 2021 Castile and León Alfonso Fernández Mañueco 2020 (cropped).jpg Alfonso Fernández Mañueco (PP) Luis Tudanca 2019 (cropped).jpg Luis Tudanca (PSOE) 37–41
(41)
Rejected

Autonomous cities

Year Autonomous city Mayor-president Candidate Result Ref.
1998 Melilla Unknown-person.gif Ignacio Velázquez Rivera (PP) Unknown-person.gif Alberto Paz Martínez (PSOE) Rejected
Unknown-person.gif Enrique Palacios Hernández (PIM) Approved
1999 Ceuta Unknown-person.gif Jesús Cayetano Fortes Ramos (PP) Unknown-person.gif Antonio Sampietro (GIL) Approved
2000 Melilla Unknown-person.gif Mustafa Aberchán (CpM) Juan José Imbroda 2016b (cropped).jpg Juan José Imbroda (UPM-PP) Approved
2001 Ceuta Unknown-person.gif Antonio Sampietro (GIL) Juan Jesús Vivas 2011 (cropped).jpg Juan Jesús Vivas (PP) Approved

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Moción de censura (España) para niños

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