Motions of no confidence in Spain

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.

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.

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

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.

In Spain, following the German model, the motion of no confidence is constructive. The group that raises the motion of censure in turn proposes a new Prime Minister.^[1] It is also 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,^[2] 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.

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 the Congress has granted confidence 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.

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 (UCD)			Felipe González (PSOE)	152–166 (176)	Rejected	[3]
30 Mar 1987			Felipe González (PSOE)			Antonio Hernández Mancha (AP)	67–194 (176)	Rejected	[4]
14 Jun 2017			Mariano Rajoy (PP)			Pablo Iglesias (Podemos)	82–170 (176)	Rejected	[5]
1 Jun 2018			Mariano Rajoy (PP)			Pedro Sánchez (PSOE)	180–169 (176)	Approved	[6]
22 Oct 2020			Pedro Sánchez (PSOE)			Santiago Abascal (Vox)	52–298 (176)	Rejected	[7]
22 Mar 2023			Pedro Sánchez (PSOE)			Ramón Tamames (INDEP) Proposed by Vox	53–201 (175)[a]	Rejected	[8]

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 (CDC)			Josep Benet (PSUC)	21–56 (68)	Rejected	[9]
23 Sep 1987	Galicia			Gerardo Fernández Albor (AP)			Fernando González Laxe (PSdG)	40–29 (36)	Approved	[10]
21 Jun 1989	Community of Madrid			Joaquín Leguina (PSOE)			Alberto Ruiz-Gallardón (PP)	48–40 (49)	Rejected	[11]
8 Jan 1990	La Rioja			Joaquín Espert (PP)			José Ignacio Pérez Sáenz (PSOE)	17–13 (17)	Approved	[12]
5 Dec 1990	Cantabria			Juan Hormaechea (UPCA)			Jaime Blanco (PSOE)	26–12 (20)	Approved	[13]
31 Mar 1993	Canary Islands			Jerónimo Saavedra (PSOE)			Manuel Hermoso (CC)	31–23 (31)	Approved	[14]
1 Jul 1993	Cantabria			Juan Hormaechea (UPCA)			Jaime Blanco (PSOE)	18–21 (20)	Rejected	[15]
15 Sep 1993	Aragon			Emilio Eiroa (PAR)			José Marco (PSOE)	34–33 (34)	Approved	[16] [17]
5 Jan 1994	Cantabria			Juan Hormaechea (UPCA)			Jaime Blanco (PSOE)	18–17 (20)	Rejected	[18]
21 Dec 1994	Aragon			José Marco (PSOE)			Emilio Eiroa (PAR)	32–30 (34)	Rejected	[19]
10 Mar 1999	Asturias			Sergio Marqués (URAS)			Ovidio Sánchez (PP)	16–6 (23)	Rejected	[20]
5 Oct 2000	Basque Country			Juan José Ibarretxe (PNV)			Nicolás Redondo (PSE–EE)	32–29 (38)	Rejected	[21]
							Carlos Iturgaiz (PP)	32–29 (38)	Rejected
29 Jan 2001	Galicia			Manuel Fraga (PP)			Xosé Manuel Beiras (BNG)	18–41 (38)	Rejected	[22]
18 Oct 2001	Catalonia			Jordi Pujol (CDC)			Pasqual Maragall (PSC)	55–68 (68)	Rejected	[23]
7 Nov 2001	Canary Islands			Román Rodríguez (CC)			Juan Carlos Alemán (PSOE)	19–39 (31)	Rejected	[24]
12 Dec 2002	Galicia			Manuel Fraga (PP)			Emilio Pérez Touriño (PSdeG)	34–41 (38)	Rejected	[25]
							Xosé Manuel Beiras (BNG)	34–41 (38)	Rejected
Withdrawn 11 Mar 2005	Catalonia			Pasqual Maragall (PSC)			Josep Piqué (PP)	—	Withdrawn	[26]
4 Oct 2006	Valencian Community			Francisco Camps (PP)			Joan Ignasi Pla (PSPV)	35–47 (45)	Rejected	[27]
18 Apr 2013	Navarre			Yolanda Barcina (UPN)			Juan Carlos Longás (Aralar–NaBai)	18–23 (26)	Rejected	[28]
14 May 2014	Extremadura			José Antonio Monago (PP)			Guillermo Fernández Vara (PSOE)	30–32 (33)	Rejected	[29]
Withdrawn 4 Apr 2017	Region of Murcia			Pedro Antonio Sánchez (PP)			Rafael González Tovar (PSOE)	—	Resigned	[30]
8 Jun 2017	Community of Madrid			Cristina Cifuentes (PP)			Lorena Ruiz-Huerta (Podemos)	27–64 (65)	Rejected	[31]
Withdrawn 25 Apr 2018	Community of Madrid			Cristina Cifuentes (PP)			Ángel Gabilondo (PSOE)	—	Resigned	[32]
7 Oct 2019	Catalonia			Quim Torra (JuntsxCat)			Lorena Roldán (Cs)	40–76 (68)	Rejected	[33]
Dismissed 11 Mar 2021	Community of Madrid			Isabel Díaz Ayuso (PP)			Mónica García (Más Madrid)	—	Dismissed	[34] [35]
							Ángel Gabilondo (PSOE)	—	Dismissed
18 Mar 2021	Region of Murcia			Fernando López Miras (PP)			Ana Martínez Vidal (Cs)	21–23 (23)	Rejected	[36]
22 Mar 2021	Castile and León			Alfonso Fernández Mañueco (PP)			Luis Tudanca (PSOE)	37–41 (41)	Rejected	[37]

Autonomous cities

Year	Autonomous city		Mayor-president			Candidate		Result	Ref.
1998	Melilla			Ignacio Velázquez Rivera (PP)			Alberto Paz Martínez (PSOE)	Rejected	[38]
							Enrique Palacios Hernández (PIM)	Approved	[39]
1999	Ceuta			Jesús Cayetano Fortes Ramos (PP)			Antonio Sampietro (GIL)	Approved	[40]
2000	Melilla			Mustafa Aberchán (CpM)			Juan José Imbroda (UPM-PP)	Approved	[41]
2001	Ceuta			Antonio Sampietro (GIL)			Juan Jesús Vivas (PP)	Approved	[42]

See also

• Motion of no confidence

Notes

1. Due to a vacant seat in Parliament, the working majority was reduced from 176 to 175.

References

1. "Sinopsis artículo 113 - Constitución Española". app.congreso.es. Retrieved 2021-03-24.
2. "Sinopsis artículo 115 - Constitución Española". app.congreso.es. Retrieved 2021-03-24.
3. "El Gobierno sólo contó con sus votos para superar la moción de censura socialista". El País (in Spanish). Madrid. 31 May 1980. Retrieved 24 March 2021.
4. "Antonio Hernández Mancha fue descalificado por la oposición sin necesidad de que interviniera el Gobierno". El País (in Spanish). Madrid. 27 March 1987. Retrieved 24 March 2021.
5. Garea, Fernando (14 June 2017). "El 76% del Congreso rechaza que Iglesias sea presidente del Gobierno". El País (in Spanish). Madrid. Retrieved 24 March 2021.
6. Alberola, Miquel (1 June 2018). "Pedro Sánchez, presidente del Gobierno tras ganar la moción de censura a Rajoy". El País (in Spanish). Madrid. Retrieved 24 March 2021.
7. Hermida, Xosé; Casqueiro, Javier (22 October 2020). "La moción de censura de Vox es derrotada con el menor apoyo de la democracia". El País (in Spanish). Madrid. Retrieved 24 March 2021.
8. Riveiro, Aitor; Ortiz, Alberto (22 March 2023). "Vox y Tamames fracasan en la moción de censura con la abstención del PP". elDiario.es (in Spanish). Retrieved 22 March 2023.
9. Antich, José (2 October 1982). "El Parlamento catalán rechazó la moción de censura contra el presidente de la moción de la Generalitat". El País (in Spanish). Barcelona. Retrieved 24 March 2021.
10. Hermida, Xosé (24 September 1987). "Fernando González Laxe, nuevo presidente de la Xunta al prosperar la moción de censura de los socialistas". El País (in Spanish). Santiago de Compostela. Retrieved 24 March 2021.
11. Sanz, Juan Carlos; Fresneda, Carlos (22 June 1989). "Leguina continúa al frente de la Comunidad de Madrid en una situación muy precaria para gobernar". El País (in Spanish). Madrid. Retrieved 24 March 2021.
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17. "La mancha del tránsfuga". El País (in Spanish). 17 September 1993. Retrieved 24 March 2021.
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19. Torrontegui, Javier (22 December 1994). "Marco supera la censura pero abre la puerta de la sucesión". El País (in Spanish). Zaragoza. Retrieved 24 March 2021.
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22. "Beiras pide a Fraga que dimita para redimirse de la "miseria moral" de su Gobierno". El Mundo (in Spanish). Santiago de Compostela. EFE. 30 January 2001. Retrieved 24 March 2021.
23. 324cat (19 October 2001). "Pujol supera la moció de censura i Maragall es queda a 13 vots de ser investit" (in Catalan). CCMA. Retrieved 24 March 2021.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
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25. "El Partido Popular rechaza las dos mociones de censura contra Fraga". Última Hora (in Spanish). Santiago de Compostela. EFE. 13 December 2002. Retrieved 10 October 2021.
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28. Doria, Javier (19 April 2013). "Barcina supera la primera moción de censura de la historia de Navarra". El País (in Spanish). Pamplona. Retrieved 10 October 2021.
29. Fernández, María (14 May 2014). "La censura contra Monago fracasa con los votos del PP y la abstención de IU". El País (in Spanish). Mérida. Retrieved 24 March 2021.
30. "El PSOE retira la moción de censura en Murcia tras la dimisión de Sánchez". Público (in Spanish). Murcia / Madrid. Agencias. 4 April 2017. Retrieved 10 October 2021.
31. Bécares, Roberto; Carvajal, A´lvaro (9 June 2017). "Podemos se estrella con su moción". El Mundo (in Spanish). Madrid. Retrieved 10 October 2021.
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33. Pi, Jaume (7 October 2019). "Fracasa la moción de censura de Cs a Torra con 76 votos en contra, 17 abstenciones y 40 apoyos". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). Retrieved 10 October 2021.
34. Pérez Mendoza, Sofía; Caballero, Fátima (10 March 2021). "La Mesa de la Asamblea de Madrid tramita las mociones de censura contra Ayuso y el PP acusa a su presidente de prevaricar". elDiario.es (in Spanish). Retrieved 25 March 2021.
35. "La Mesa de la Asamblea de Madrid acepta su disolución pero recurrirá el adelanto electoral". Expansión (in Spanish). 11 March 2021. Retrieved 10 October 2021.
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37. Hernández, Marisol (22 March 2021). "El PSOE presenta una moción de censura en Castilla y León". El Mundo (in Spanish). Madrid. Retrieved 10 October 2021.
38. "El Gobierno del PP de Melilla, pendiente de los juzgados". www.elmundo.es. Retrieved 2021-03-24.
39. "El Gobierno del PP de Melilla, pendiente de los juzgados". www.elmundo.es. Retrieved 2021-03-24.
40. "Sampietro, presidente de Ceuta al prosperar la moción de censura del GIL y Bermúdez". www.elmundo.es. Retrieved 2021-03-24.
41. Ramos, Toñy (2000-07-20). "Imbroda recibe el apoyo del Gobierno en su toma de posesión en Melilla". El País (in Spanish). ISSN 1134-6582. Retrieved 2021-03-24.
42. Abad, Rocío (2001-02-11). "Juan Vivas pone fin a la presidencia del GIL en Ceuta ante Arenas y Posada". El País (in Spanish). ISSN 1134-6582. Retrieved 2021-03-24.