Melilla (Senate constituency)

For the Congress of Deputies constituency, see Melilla (Congress of Deputies constituency).

Melilla is one of the 59 constituencies (Spanish: circunscripciones) represented in the Senate of Spain, the upper chamber of the Spanish parliament, the Cortes Generales. The constituency elects two senators. Its boundaries correspond to those of the Spanish autonomous city of Melilla. The electoral system uses an open list partial block voting, with electors voting for individual candidates instead of parties. Electors can vote for up to two candidates.

Melilla
Senate of Spain Electoral constituency
Location of Melilla within Spain
Province	Málaga (1977–1995) None (1995–present)
Autonomous community	Andalusia (1977–1995) None (1995–present)
Population	85,811 (2024)[1]
Electorate	61,118 (2023)
Major settlements	Melilla
Current constituency
Created	1977
Seats	2
Member(s)	PP (2)

Electoral system

The constituency was created as per the Political Reform Act 1977 and was first contested in the 1977 general election. The Act provided for the provinces of Spain to be established as multi-member districts in the Senate of Spain,^[2] with this regulation being maintained under the Spanish Constitution of 1978.^[3] Additionally, the Constitution requires for any modification of the provincial limits to be approved under an organic law, needing an absolute majority in the Cortes Generales.^[4]

Voting is on the basis of universal suffrage, which comprises all nationals over 18 years of age and in full enjoyment of their political rights.^[5] The only exception was in 1977, when this was limited to nationals over 21 years of age and in full enjoyment of their political and civil rights.^[6][7] Amendments to the electoral law in 2011 required for Spaniards abroad to apply for voting before being permitted to vote, a system known as "begged" or expat vote (Spanish: Voto rogado),^[8][9] which was abolished in 2022.^[10] 208 seats are elected using an open list partial block voting system, with electors voting for individual candidates instead of parties. In constituencies electing four seats, electors can 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 is allocated four seats, whereas for insular provinces, such as the Balearic and Canary Islands, districts are the islands themselves, with the larger—Mallorca, Gran Canaria and Tenerife—being allocated three seats each, and the smaller—Menorca, Ibiza–Formentera, Fuerteventura, La Gomera and El Hierro (which comprised a single constituency only for the 1977 election), Lanzarote and La Palma—one each. Ceuta and Melilla elect two seats each.^{[2][3][11][12]} Until 1985, the law also provided for by-elections to fill Senate seats vacated up to two years into the legislature.^[13]

The electoral law allows 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 are required to inform the relevant Electoral Commission within ten days of the election call—fifteen before 1985—whereas groupings of electors need to secure the signature of at least one percent of the electorate in the constituencies for which they seek election—one permille of the electorate, with a compulsory minimum of 500 signatures, until 1985—disallowing electors from signing for more than one list of candidates. Also since 2011, parties, federations or coalitions that have not obtained a mandate in either chamber of the Cortes at the preceding election are required to secure the signature of at least 0.1 percent of electors in the aforementioned constituencies.^[14][15]

Senators

Senators for Melilla 1977–
Key to parties   PSOE   UCD   PP   CP   AP
Legislature	Election	Distribution
Constituent	1977	2
1st	1979	2
2nd	1982	2
3rd	1986	2
4th	1989	1 1
	1990	2
5th	1993	1 1
6th	1996	2
7th	2000	2
8th	2004	2
9th	2008	2
10th	2011	2
11th	2015	2
12th	2016	2
13th	2019 (Apr)	2
14th	2019 (Nov)	2
15th	2023	2

Elections

2023 general election

Summary of the 23 July 2023 Senate of Spain election results

Candidates	Parties and coalitions		Popular vote
			Votes	%
Y Fernando Adolfo Gutiérrez Díaz de Otazu		PP	13,417	49.90
Y Isabel María Moreno Mohamed		PP	12,817	47.66
• Riduan Moh Abdelkader		PSOE	5,967	22.19
• Concepción López Carrillo		PSOE	5,953	22.14
• Rafael Ginel Pascual		Vox	3,973	14.77
• Sendy Nanwani Ramchand Ghanshandas		Vox	3,926	14.60
• Rachid Bussian Mohamed		CpM	1,386	5.15
• María Cecilia González Casas		CpM	1,229	4.57
• Juan Manuel Quiñoy Salvador		Sumar	805	2.99
• María Josefa Ruiz Hodar		Sumar	775	2.88
• Natalia Sáez Aguilar		PACMA	285	1.05
• Amador María Villar Riu		PUM+J	64	0.23
• Sixto Miguel Casino		Recortes Cero	38	0.14
Blank ballots			406	1.51
Total			51041
Valid votes			26,887	97.30
Invalid votes			745	2.69
Votes cast / turnout			27,632	50.09
Abstentions			27,523	49.90
Registered voters			55155
Sources[16]

November 2019 general election

Summary of the 10 November 2019 Senate of Spain election results in Melilla

Candidates	Parties and coalitions		Popular vote
			Votes	%
Y Juan José Imbroda Ortiz		PP	10,163	33.44
Y Sofía Acedo Reyes		PP	9,080	29.87
• Dunia Al-Mansouri Umpierrez		CpM	8,953	29.46
• Emilio Guerra Muñoz		CpM	8,474	27.88
• Cristina Irurre Contreras		Vox	5,345	17.59
• Cristina Morales del Pino		PSOE	4,862	16.00
• Miguel Luis Aparicio Montilla		PSOE	4,464	14.69
• Justo Sancho-Miñano Belmonte		Cs	1,494	4.92
• Julia Teresa Juan Montoya		Cs	956	3.15
• José Antonio Castillo Romero		Podemos–IU	724	2.38
• María Teresa Thomasoro Vázquez		Podemos–IU	696	2.29
• Nourdine Ahmed Hassan		Verdes	98	0.32
• Karima Abdelkader Abdelah		Verdes	71	0.23
• María Lucía Caso de los Cobos Martín		PUM+J	55	0.18
• Mohamed Amine El Ouariachi El Ouariachi		Recortes Cero–GV	32	0.11
Blank ballots			334	1.10
Total			30,395
Valid votes			30,395	97.54
Invalid votes			768	2.46
Votes cast / turnout			31,163	52.38
Abstentions			28,334	47.62
Registered voters			59,497
Sources[17]

April 2019 general election

2016 general election

2015 general election

2011 general election

2008 general election

2004 general election

2000 general election

1996 general election

1993 general election

1990 by-election

1989 general election

1986 general election

1982 general election

1979 general election

1977 general election

References

1. "Real Decreto 1210/2024, de 28 de noviembre, por el que se declaran oficiales las cifras de población resultantes de la revisión del Padrón municipal referidas al 1 de enero de 2024". Boletín Oficial del Estado (in Spanish). Retrieved 23 December 2024.
2. Law 1/1977 (1977), trans. prov. 1.
3. Const. Esp. (1978), tit. III, ch. I, art. 69.
4. Const. Esp. (1978), tit. VIII, ch. II, art. 141.
5. LOREG (1985), tit. I, ch. I, art. 2.
6. RDL 20/1977 (1977), tit. I, art. 2.
7. Carreras de Odriozola & Tafunell Sambola 2005, p. 1077.
8. LOREG (1985), tit. I, ch. VI, art. 75.
9. Reig Pellicer, Naiara (16 December 2015). "Spanish elections: Begging for the right to vote". cafebabel.co.uk. Retrieved 17 July 2017.
10. Araque Conde, Pilar (8 June 2022). "El Congreso acaba con el voto rogado: diez años de trabas burocráticas para los residentes en el extranjero". Público (in Spanish). Madrid. Retrieved 31 July 2022.
11. RDL 20/1977 (1977), tit. II, ch. II, art. 19 & 21.
12. LOREG (1985), tit. II, ch. III, art. 162 & 165–166.
13. RDL 20/1977 (1977), tit. III, art. 29.
14. RDL 20/1977 (1977), tit. IV, art. 30–31 & 34.
15. LOREG (1985), tit. I, ch. VI, art. 44 & tit. II, ch. V, art. 169.
16. "Electoral Results Consultation. Senate. 2023". Ministry of the Interior (in Spanish). Retrieved 29 August 2023.
17. "Electoral Results Consultation. Senate. November 2019. Melilla". Ministry of the Interior (in Spanish). Retrieved 13 August 2020.

Bibliography

• Ley 1/1977, de 4 de enero, para la Reforma Política (Law 1/1977). Boletín Oficial del Estado (in Spanish). Vol. 4. 4 January 1977. ISSN 0212-033X. BOE-A-1977-165. Retrieved 27 December 2016.
• Real Decreto-ley 20/1977, de 18 de marzo, sobre Normas Electorales (Royal Decree-Law 20/1977). Boletín Oficial del Estado (in Spanish). Vol. 70. 18 March 1977. ISSN 0212-033X. BOE-A-1977-7445. Retrieved 27 December 2016.
• Constitución Española (Spanish Constitution). Boletín Oficial del Estado (in Spanish). Vol. 311. 29 December 1978 [latest version]. ISSN 0212-033X. BOE-A-1978-31229. Retrieved 24 December 2024.
• Ley Orgánica 5/1985, de 19 de junio, del Régimen Electoral General (Organic Law 5/1985). Boletín Oficial del Estado (in Spanish). Vol. 147. 19 June 1985 [latest version]. ISSN 0212-033X. BOE-A-1985-11672. Retrieved 24 December 2024.
• Carreras de Odriozola, Albert; Tafunell Sambola, Xavier (2005) [1989]. Estadísticas históricas de España, siglos XIX-XX (PDF) (in Spanish). Vol. 1 (II ed.). Bilbao: Fundación BBVA. pp. 1072–1097. ISBN 84-96515-00-1. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 September 2015.

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