1983 Extremaduran regional election
Election in the Spanish region of Extremadura
1983 Extremaduran regional election
8 May 1983
All 65 seats in the Assembly of Extremadura
33 seats needed for a majority
Registered786,200
Turnout565,244 (71.9%)
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader Juan Carlos Rodríguez Ibarra Adolfo Díaz-Ambrona Pedro Cañada
Party PSOE AP–PDP–PL EU
Leader since 20 December 1982 1976 10 December 1980
Leader's seat Badajoz Badajoz Cáceres
Seats won 35 20 6
Popular vote 296,939 168,606 47,504
Percentage 53.0% 30.1% 8.5%
  Fourth party
 
Leader Manuel Pareja
Party PCE
Leader since 1983
Leader's seat Badajoz
Seats won 4
Popular vote 36,294
Percentage 6.5%
Constituency results map for the Assembly of Extremadura
President before election

Juan Carlos Rodríguez Ibarra
PSOE

Elected President

Juan Carlos Rodríguez Ibarra
PSOE

A regional election was held in Extremadura on Sunday, 8 May 1983, to elect the 1st Assembly of the autonomous community. All 65 seats in the Assembly were up for election. It was held concurrently with regional elections in twelve other autonomous communities and local elections all throughout Spain.

The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE), under the leadership of pre-autonomic president Juan Carlos Rodríguez Ibarra, won a landslide victory by securing 53% of the share and 36 out of 65 seats. The People's Coalition, the electoral alliance of the People's Alliance (AP), the People's Democratic Party (PDP) and the Liberal Union (UL), emerged as the second largest political force with 30% of the vote and 20 seats, whereas United Extremadura (EU) and the Communist Party of Spain (PCE) entered the Assembly with 6 and 4 seats, respectively.[1]

Overview

Under the 1983 Statute of Autonomy, the Assembly of Extremadura was the unicameral legislature of the homonymous autonomous community, having legislative power in devolved matters, as well as the ability to vote confidence in or withdraw it from a regional president.[2]

Electoral system

Voting for the Assembly was on the basis of universal suffrage, which comprised all nationals over 18 years of age, registered in Extremadura and in full enjoyment of their political rights.[3][4]

The Assembly of Extremadura was entitled to 65 seats in its first election. All members were elected in two multi-member constituencies—corresponding to the provinces of Badajoz and Cáceres, with each being allocated a fixed number of seats—using the D'Hondt method and a closed list proportional voting system, with an electoral threshold of three percent of valid votes (which included blank ballots) being applied in each constituency.[3][5]

As a result of the aforementioned allocation, each Assembly constituency was entitled the following seats:[6]

Seats Constituencies
35 Badajoz
30 Cáceres

The law did not provide for by-elections to fill vacated seats; instead, any vacancies that occurred after the proclamation of candidates and into the legislative term were to be covered by the successive candidates in the list and, when required, by the designated substitutes.[5]

Election date

The Regional Government of Extremadura, in agreement with the Government of Spain, was required to call an election to the Assembly before 31 May 1983.[3] The Assembly of Extremadura could not be dissolved before the date of expiry of parliament, except in the event of an investiture process failing to elect a regional president within a two-month period from the first ballot.[2] In such a case, the Assembly was to be automatically dissolved and a snap election called, with elected deputies merely serving out what remained of their original four-year term.[7]

On 7 March 1983, it was confirmed that the first election to the Assembly of Extremadura would be held on Sunday, 8 May, together with regional elections for twelve other autonomous communities as well as the regularly scheduled nationwide local elections.[8][9][10]

The election to the Assembly of Extremadura was officially called on 10 March 1983 with the publication of the corresponding decree in the Official Journal of Extremadura (DOE), setting election day for 8 May.[6]

Provisional parliament

The regional Statute established a provisional composition for the Assembly of Extremadura—to remain in place until an election could be held—which was to be made up of all elected members in the Cortes Generales, as well as by 45 members designated by political parties which had obtained at least three percent of the valid votes cast at the regional level in the 1982 Spanish general election (in proportion to the number of votes obtained).[11] As a result, the composition of the provisional Assembly, upon its constitution in March 1983, was as indicated below:[12]

Parliamentary composition in March 1983
Parties % of
votes 		Seats
C S Dis. Total
PSOE 55.41 9 6 26 41
AP–PDP 23.80 3 2 11 16
UCD 10.06 0 0 5 5
EU 4.35 0 0 2 2
PCE 3.19 0 0 1 1
Total 12 8 45 65

Parties and candidates

The electoral law allowed for parties and federations registered in the interior ministry, alliances and groupings of electors to present lists of candidates. Parties and federations intending to form an alliance ahead of an election were required to inform the relevant electoral commission within fifteen days of the election call, whereas groupings of electors needed to secure the signature of at least one permille—and, in any case, 500 signatures—of the electorate in the constituencies for which they sought election, disallowing electors from signing for more than one list of candidates.[3][13]

Below is a list of the main parties and electoral alliances which contested the election:

Candidacy Parties and
alliances 		Candidate Ideology Gov. Ref.
PSOE
List
 Juan Carlos Rodríguez Ibarra Social democracy Yes [12]
[14]
AP–PDP–UL
List
 Adolfo Díaz-Ambrona Conservatism
Christian democracy 		No
EU
List
 Pedro Cañada Regionalism No
PCE
List
 Manuel Pareja Eurocommunism No

Results

Overall

Summary of the 8 May 1983 Assembly of Extremadura election results →
Parties and alliances Popular vote Seats
Votes % ±pp Total +/−
Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) 296,939 53.02 n/a 35 n/a
People's Coalition (AP–PDP–UL) 168,606 30.10 n/a 20 n/a
United Extremadura (EU) 47,504 8.48 n/a 6 n/a
Communist Party of Spain (PCE) 36,294 6.48 n/a 4 n/a
Democratic and Social Centre (CDS) 4,414 0.79 n/a 0 n/a
Extremaduran Popular Bloc (BPEx) 2,249 0.40 n/a 0 n/a
Spanish Communist Workers' Party–Unified Communist Party (PCOE–PCEU) 1,463 0.26 n/a 0 n/a
Blank ballots 2,622 0.47 n/a
Total 560,091 65 n/a
Valid votes 560,091 99.09 n/a
Invalid votes 5,153 0.91 n/a
Votes cast / turnout 565,244 71.90 n/a
Abstentions 220,956 28.10 n/a
Registered voters 786,200
Sources[15][16][17]
Popular vote
PSOE
 
 53.02%
AP–PDP–UL
 
 30.10%
EU
 
 8.48%
PCE
 
 6.48%
Others
 
 1.45%
Blank ballots
 
 0.47%
Seats
PSOE
 
 53.85%
AP–PDP–UL
 
 30.77%
EU
 
 9.23%
PCE
 
 6.15%

Distribution by constituency

Constituency PSOE CP EU PCE
% S % S % S % S
Badajoz 56.6 20 30.9 11 3.4 1 8.3 3
Cáceres 47.5 15 29.0 9 16.3 5 3.7 1
Total 53.0 35 30.1 20 8.5 6 6.5 4
Sources[15][16]

Aftermath

Government formation

Investiture
Nomination of Juan Carlos Rodríguez Ibarra (PSOE)
Ballot → 7 June 1983
Required majority → 33 out of 65 checkY
Yes
38 / 65
No
  • • EU (6)
6 / 65
Abstentions
0 / 65
Absentees
21 / 65
Sources[15]

1987 motion of no confidence

Motion of no confidence
Nomination of Adolfo Díaz-Ambrona (AP)
Ballot → 18 March 1987
Required majority → 33 out of 65 ☒N
Yes
17 / 65
No
36 / 65
Abstentions
1 / 65
Absentees
11 / 65
Sources[15][18]

References

  1. ^ "Rodriguez Ibarra conserva el cargo". El País (in Spanish). 10 May 1983. Retrieved 12 December 2019.
  2. ^ a b Statute (1983), art. 20.
  3. ^ a b c d Statute (1983), art. 22 & tran. prov. 1.
  4. ^ Royal Decree-Law 20/1977 (1977), art. 2.
  5. ^ a b Royal Decree-Law 20/1977 (1977), art. 20.
  6. ^ a b Decreto 5/1983, de 9 de marzo, por el que se convocan elecciones a la Asamblea de Extremadura (PDF) (Decree). Official Journal of Extremadura (in Spanish). 9 March 1983. Retrieved 1 January 2026.
  7. ^ Statute (1983), art. 34.
  8. ^ "Se confirma el 8 de mayo como la fecha de las elecciones locales". El País (in Spanish). 8 March 1983. Retrieved 1 January 2026.
  9. ^ "Hoy se hará oficial la convocatoria de elecciones locales para el 8 de mayo". El País (in Spanish). Madrid. 9 March 1983. Retrieved 1 January 2026.
  10. ^ "Convocadas las elecciones locales y autonómicas para el domingo 8 de mayo". El País (in Spanish). 10 March 1983. Retrieved 1 January 2026.
  11. ^ Statute (1983), tran. prov. 2.
  12. ^ a b "Juan Carlos Rodríguez y Pablo Castellano, al frente de los órganos autonómicos extremeños". El País (in Spanish). 6 March 1983. Retrieved 31 December 2025.
  13. ^ Royal Decree-Law 20/1977 (1977), arts. 30–31 & 34.
  14. ^ Clemente Simón, Jeremías (22 December 1982). "Los votos de dos centristas pemiten a un socialista presidir la Junta de Extremadura". El País (in Spanish). Cáceres. Retrieved 31 December 2025.
  15. ^ a b c d Lozano, Carles. "Elecciones a la Asamblea de Extremadura (desde 1983)". Historia Electoral.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 18 October 2025.
  16. ^ a b "Resolución de 12 de septiembre de 1983, de la Junta Electoral Central, por la que se ordena la publicación en el "Boletín Oficial del Estado" de las actas de escrutinio general de las elecciones a la Asamblea de Extremadura celebradas el 8 de mayo de 1983" (PDF). Official Journal of Extremadura (in Spanish) (18): 4–8. 15 November 1983. ISSN 2483-5188. Retrieved 1 January 2026.
  17. ^ "Elecciones a la Asamblea de Extremadura 1983". Datoselecciones.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 1 January 2026.
  18. ^ Jara, Pedro (20 March 1987). "AP se quedó sola en la moción de censura contra la Junta de Extremadura". El País (in Spanish). Cáceres. Retrieved 1 January 2026.

Bibliography

  • Real Decreto-ley 20/1977, de 18 de marzo, sobre Normas Electorales (Royal Decree-Law 20/1977). Official State Gazette (in Spanish). 18 March 1977. BOE-A-1977-7445. Retrieved 27 December 2016.
  • Ley Orgánica 1/1983, de 25 de febrero, de Estatuto de Autonomía de Extremadura (Organic Law 1/1983). Official State Gazette (in Spanish). 25 February 1983 [version as of 26 February 1983]. BOE-A-1983-6190. Retrieved 15 November 2025.
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