Province Province of Barcelona Population 5,523,922 (2016) Created 1977 | Autonomous community Catalonia Electorate 4,131,319 (2016) | |
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Major settlements Barcelona, Hospitalet de Llobregat, Badalona, Terrassa, Sabadell, Mataró, Santa Coloma de Gramanet | ||
Barcelona is one of the 52 electoral districts (Spanish: circunscripciones) used for the Congress of Deputies—the lower chamber of the Spanish Parliament, the Cortes Generales. The electoral system uses the D'Hondt method and a closed-list proportional representation, with a minimum threshold of 3%.
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As of 2015 it is the second most populated of all the 52 districts. Due to its large seat apportionment, it is one of the few districts (aside from Madrid) where the 3% threshold is effectively applied. In most other districts, the application of the d'Hondt method introduces a de facto threshold at the constituency level.
The most-populated municipalities are Barcelona with over 1,500,000 inhabitants, Hospitalet de Llobregat, Badalona, Terrassa, and Sabadell with over 200,000, and Mataró and Santa Coloma de Gramanet with over 100,000.
Boundaries and electoral system
Under Article 68 of the Spanish constitution the boundaries must be the same as the province of Barcelona and under Article 140 this can only be altered with the approval of congress. Voting is on the basis of universal suffrage in a secret ballot. The electoral system used is closed list proportional representation with seats allocated using the D'Hondt method. Only lists which poll 3% or more of all valid votes cast, including votes "en blanco" i.e. for "none of the above" can be considered for seats. Under article 12 of the constitution, the minimum voting age is 18.
Eligibility
Article 67.3 of the Spanish Constitution prohibits dual membership of the Cortes and regional assemblies, meaning that candidates must resign from Regional Assemblies if elected. Article 70 also makes active judges, magistrates, public defenders, serving military personnel, active police officers and members of constitutional and electoral tribunals ineligible.
Number of members
In the general elections of 1977, 1979, 1982 and 1986 Barcelona returned 33 members. That figure was reduced to 32 members for the 1989 General Election. It lost a further seat in the 1990s and from the 1996 election onwards has elected 31 members.
Under Spanish electoral law, all provinces are entitled to a minimum of 2 seats with a remaining 248 seats apportioned according to population. These laws are laid out in detail in the 1985 electoral law. (Ley Orgánica del Régimen Electoral General) The practical effect of this law has been to overrepresent smaller provinces at the expense of larger provinces like Barcelona.
In 2004 for example Spain had 34,571,831 voters giving an average of 98,777 voters per deputy. In Barcelona however the number of voters per deputy was 129,269 - the highest ratio of all 52 constituencies. In contrast the ratio was only 38,714 and 26,177 respectively in the smaller provinces of Teruel and Soria.