1981 Andalusian Statute of Autonomy referendum facts for kids

"Do you approve of the Statute of Autonomy of Andalusia Bill?"
Date	20 October 1981 (1981-10-20)
Quick facts for kids Results Votes  % Y Yes 2,172,577 92.74% N No 170,190 7.26% Valid votes 2,342,767 96.39% Invalid or blank votes 87,836 3.61% Total votes 2,430,603 100.00% Registered voters/turnout 4,543,836 53.49%

A referendum on the approval of the Andalusian Statute of Autonomy was held in Andalusia on Tuesday, October 20, 1981. A referendum is like a big vote where everyone in a region or country gets to say "yes" or "no" to an important new law or idea. In this case, people in Andalusia were asked if they agreed with a new law called the Statute of Autonomy of Andalusia. This law would organize the eight provinces of Almería, Cádiz, Córdoba, Granada, Huelva, Jaén, Málaga, and Seville into an autonomous community. An autonomous community is a part of Spain that has its own government and can make some of its own laws, but is still part of the country.

The final version of this law was approved by the Andalusian Assembly of Parliamentarians (like their regional parliament) on March 1, 1981. But to become official, it needed to be approved by the people in a referendum. After that, it also needed to be approved by the Spanish national parliament, called the Cortes Generales. This was all set out in Article 151 of the Spanish Constitution of 1978. The referendum in Andalusia happened on the same day as a regional election in Galicia, another part of Spain.

The referendum showed strong support for the new law, with 92.7% of people voting "yes." About 53.5% of eligible voters participated. Once the people approved it, the law went to the Cortes Generales. The Congress of Deputies (one part of the parliament) approved it on December 17, 1981, and the Spanish Senate (the other part) approved it on December 23. Finally, the King of Spain officially signed it on December 30, and it was published in the Official State Gazette (the official government newspaper) on January 11, 1982.

What is a Statute of Autonomy?

A Statute of Autonomy is a special law that gives a region in Spain, like Andalusia, the power to govern itself in many areas. It's like a mini-constitution for that region. For a region to get this special status under Article 151 of the Spanish Constitution of 1978, the proposed law needed to be approved by the people in a referendum.

The rules for this referendum said that a majority of the people who voted had to say "yes." If a province didn't have enough "yes" votes, it could still join the autonomous community later if most of its elected officials in the national parliament agreed. Also, if the "no" votes won in most or all provinces, a new Statute couldn't be proposed for five years.

Everyone over 18 who lived in the eight Andalusian provinces and had their full civil rights could vote. This is called universal suffrage. The question they were asked was simple: "Do you approve of the Statute of Autonomy of Andalusia Bill?"

Why This Referendum Happened

This referendum was important because of what happened in a previous vote. In 1980, there was another referendum to start the process of making Andalusia an autonomous community. In that vote, seven out of the eight provinces voted "yes" with enough support. But in Almería, the "yes" vote didn't reach the required 50% of all eligible voters.

This created a problem, but a solution was found in October 1980. The law was changed to allow provinces like Almería to join the autonomous community even if they didn't meet the 50% rule, as long as their elected representatives in the national parliament asked for it. This change helped move the process forward for Andalusia.

After these legal changes, the final talks about the new law began. On March 1, 1981, the Andalusian Assembly of Parliamentarians approved the text with a large majority (70 votes for, 6 against). Most major political parties, like the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE), the Union of the Democratic Centre (UCD), and the Communist Party of Spain (PCE), agreed on the law. Only the Socialist Party of Andalusia (PSA) was against it.

The next step was for a special committee in the national parliament to approve the law, which happened on June 30. Then, it was time for the referendum. The vote was originally planned for June or September 1981, but delays pushed it to October. It was decided that the referendum would happen on the same day as the regional election in Galicia. The official announcement for the referendum was made on August 26, 1981, setting the date for Tuesday, October 20, 1981.

The Campaign

The campaign for this referendum was not as intense as the one in 1980. This time, almost all the main political parties supported the new law. President Rafael Escuredo, the leader of the regional government, even said the campaign felt "cold." He asked all parties to work harder to encourage people to vote "yes."

There wasn't much activity in towns and cities, and fewer events were organized compared to a typical election. Only in the last few days did some national leaders, like Prime Minister Leopoldo Calvo-Sotelo and opposition leader Felipe González, come to Andalusia. Many people thought that fewer voters would turn out compared to the 1980 referendum.

Party policies

Position	Parties		Ref.
Y Yes		Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE)
		Union of the Democratic Centre (UCD)
		Communist Party of Spain (PCE)
		Socialist Party of Andalusia–Andalusian Party (PSA–PA)
		Andalusian Unity (UA)
N No		Party of Labour of Spain (PTE)

Opinion Polls

Before the referendum, groups conducted surveys to guess how people would vote. The table below shows these predictions, with the most recent ones listed first. The "Yes" column shows the percentage of people who said they would vote "yes."

Polling firm/Commissioner	Fieldwork date	Sample size	Total							Considering only Yes/No totals
			Yes	No	Invalid/ Blank	N	?	Lead		Yes	No	Lead
1981 referendum	20 Oct 1981	N/A	47.8	3.7	1.9	46.5	–	44.1		92.7	7.3	85.4
ECO/CIS	9–12 Oct 1981	6,462	60.6	1.5	1.4	4.3	32.2	59.1		97.5	2.5	95.0
Regional Government	9 Oct 1981	2,400	43.0	4.0	–	18.0	35.0	39.0		91.0	9.0	82.0
Regional Government	9 Jun 1981	4,000	49.0	4.0	–	12.0	35.0	45.0		92.0	8.0	84.0

Results of the Vote

The referendum asked people: "Do you approve of the Statute of Autonomy of Andalusia Bill?"

Results by Province

The results showed strong support for the new law across all eight provinces of Andalusia.

What Happened Next

The referendum showed huge support for the new law, even though fewer people voted compared to the 1980 referendum (53.5% vs. 64.2%). Political parties were happy with the results, as they had worried that too few people would vote.

Some reasons for the lower turnout included:

• The political parties didn't campaign as strongly.
• The referendum happened at the same time as the Galician regional election, which drew attention away.
• State media didn't cover this referendum as much as earlier ones in other regions like the Basque Country and Catalonia.
• Many people thought the "yes" vote was guaranteed to win, so they didn't feel as much need to vote.

With the law approved by the people, it was sent to the Cortes Generales for final approval. The Congress of Deputies approved it on December 17, and the Senate on December 23. The King officially signed it on December 30, and it became law on January 11, 1982. The first regional election for Andalusia was then set for May 23, 1982.

See also

In Spanish: Referéndum sobre el Estatuto de Autonomía de Andalucía para niños

• 1980 Andalusian autonomy initiative referendum
• 1980 Galician Statute of Autonomy referendum
• 1982 Andalusian regional election
• 2007 Andalusian Statute of Autonomy referendum