Chamber:
	Congreso de los Diputados
Dates of elections / renewal (from/to):
	12 March 2000
Purpose of elections:
	Elections were held for all the seats of the Congress on the normal expiry of the members' term of office.
Background and outcome of elections:
	On 17 January 2000, the Prime Minister, Mr. José María Aznar, dissolved the two Chambers of the Cortes and announced that legislative elections would be held on 12 March. The electoral campaign, which began on 26 February, was marked by acts of violence committed by the separatist organisation Euzkadi Ta Azkatasuna (ETA) which, less than one week before the election, set off a car bomb wounding seven, including two members of the Armed Forces. It was the third bombing by the armed Basque separatist organisation since the truce broke down on 3 December 1999. On election day, 70 per cent of the registered voters turned out to choose the 350 deputies and 208 senators elected by direct vote. Some 773 candidates were vying for seats in the Congress of Deputies, as compared with 752 for the Senate. The leader of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE), Mr. Joaquin Almunia, resigned on the day of the elections, following the official announcement of the results giving an absolute majority to the People's Party (PP), in power since 1996. With 183 seats in Congress (27 more than in 1996), the PP no longer needs the votes of the Catalan or Basque nationalists to govern. As for the PSOE, it won 125 seats losing 16. The Catalan Nationalist Party of Mr. Jordi Pujol, Convergency and Union (CiU), emerged as the third largest political movement with 15 deputies (one less than four years ago). As for the communist coalition, United Left (IU), which ran within the framework of an alliance concluded with the Socialist Party, it won only 8 deputies, i.e. 13 less than four years earlier. On 5 April 2000, the House of Deputies held its first sitting and elected Mrs Fernanda Rudi as its new Speaker.

STATISTICS

Round no 1 (12 March 2000): Elections results
Number of registered electors	33 045 318
Voters	23 339 490 (71 %)
Blank or invalid ballot papers	525 023
Valid votes	22 814 467

Round no 1: Distribution of votes
Political Group	Votes	%
People's Party (PP)	10 321 178	45.24
Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE)	7 918 752	34.71
Convergence and Union (CiU)	970 421	4.25
United Left (IU)	1 263 043	5.54
Basque Nationalist Party (PNV)	353 953	1.55
Galician Nationalist Party (BNG)	306 268	1.34
Canarian Coalition	248 261	1.09
Others	696 358	3.05

Round no 1: Distribution of seats
Political Group	Total
People's Party (PP)	183
Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE)	125
Convergence and Union (CiU)	15
United Left (IU)	8
Basque Nationalist Party (PNV)	7
Galician Nationalist Party (BNG)	3
Canarian Coalition	4
Others	5

Distribution of seats according to sex:
Men:	251
Women:	99
Percent of women:	28.29 %