Although Spain has been one of the European countries more badly hit by the economic crisis, only some minor institutional reforms have been adopted in the last five years. In 2008, a parliamentary commission was appointed to recommend keeping or changing the electoral system at the national level. The commission’s final decision, largely conditioned by the positions (and the parliamentary strength) of the two main parties, was not to reform the rules of the game. However, further deterioration of the economic situation and the emergence of the “15-M Movement”, one of its main demands is a profound change of the electoral system, brought back the issue to the political arena. Despite several proposals of electoral system (and more broadly, institutional) change during the last two years, including demands for more autonomy and even independence from Catalonia, the result has been so far “no modification” of the institutional framework. In this paper, we examine the causes and motivations of advocates of institutional reform in Spain, analyze the nature and extent of the proposed changes that are on the agenda, and evaluate their likelihood of being passed in the near future.
