A general election was held in Spain on 28 October 1982 to elect the members of the 2nd Cortes Generales under the Spanish Constitution of 1978. All 350 seats in the Congress of Deputies were up for election, as well as 208 of 254 seats in the Senate.
The election was called several months ahead of schedule by Prime Minister Leopoldo Calvo-Sotelo, amid poor polling ratings and severe infighting within the ruling Union of the Democratic Centre (UCD) party, which had seen the splits of former prime minister Adolfo Suárez's Democratic and Social Centre (CDS), Óscar Alzaga's People's Democratic Party (PDP), and the Democratic Action Party (PAD) of former justice minister Francisco Fernández Ordóñez. Government instability, the effects of an economic downturn resulting from the 1979 oil crisis and spiralling violence from terrorist attacks had characterized the legislative term. Suárez himself had resigned as prime minister in January 1981, two coup attempts were thwarted—one during Calvo-Sotelo's investiture on 23 February 1981, and another one on election eve—and the administrative set up of the so-called "state of autonomies" saw the UCD becoming increasingly isolated, particularly following its failure in opposing Andalusia's bid to attain autonomy through the "fast-track" route envisaged in the Constitution. A toxic oil syndrome outbreak in 1981, whose origin was traced to the illegal marketing of contaminated rapeseed oil, further undermined the UCD's position. Calvo-Sotelo himself had chosen not to seek re-election, being replaced as party nominee by the president of the Congress of Deputies, Landelino Lavilla.
The opposition Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) led by Felipe González was able to present itself as a viable government alternative in the years going into the election, having renounced Marxism as an ideology in a party congress held in 1979, and achieving a political stunt through the tabling of a motion of no confidence in May 1980 that allowed González to broadcast his political programme live. The People's Alliance (AP) of former Francoist minister Manuel Fraga pursued a "natural majority" strategy, aimed at uniting the Spanish right-of-centre electorate around his party by taking advantage of the UCD decline. Meanwhile, the Communist Party of Spain (PCE) under Santiago Carrillo underwent an internal crisis over both ideological and personal reasons that led to the expulsion of a number of relevant members.
Amid the highest voter turnout recorded in a general election in Spain as of 2026, the PSOE won the largest landslide victory since the Spanish transition to democracy—with an overall majority of 202 out of 350 seats in the Congress and over ten million votes—by running a mainstream modern social democratic campaign and appealing to political change. The UCD was decimated, losing 93% of its previous seats and roughly 80% of its vote, in the worst defeat for a sitting government in Spain and one of the worst defeats ever suffered by a governing party in the Western world. AP benefitted from the UCD collapse and became the main opposition party to the Socialists with 107 seats. Adolfo Suárez's CDS had a modest performance with two Congress seats, while the PCE plummeted as it suffered from tactical voting to the PSOE. González took office on 2 December, heading the first government in 43 years in which none of its members had served under Franco.
The victory of the Union of the Democratic Centre (UCD) in the 1979 general election allowed Prime Minister Adolfo Suárez to form a new cabinet, whose main goal was to develop the "state of autonomies" envisaged in the newly approved Spanish Constitution of 1978. Subsequently, in April 1979, the first democratic local elections since the Second Spanish Republic saw the UCD emerging as the largest party overall, but losing control of the main urban centers to left-wing administrations formed by the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) and the Communist Party of Spain (PCE).
The economic situation had worsened as a result of the 1979 oil crisis and an increase in oil barrel prices, with inflation remaining steady at 15%, public deficit soaring to 6% of GDP, a sharp increase in unemployment, and the country's current account registering a net deficit of $5 billion by 1980. This period also saw increased terror activity from various groups, such as ETA, ETA(pm), the GRAPO and far-right gangs such as the Triple A or the Spanish Basque Battalion, seeing the California 47 bombing, the July 1979 Madrid bombings, the Ispaster attack or the Zarautz attack, among others. Concurrently, the end of the political consensus of the Transition period saw the opposition PSOE under Felipe González moving away from Marxism and embraced a market economy in a party congress in September 1979, as well as the launch of a tough opposition campaign which saw a motion of no confidence being tabled against the government in May 1980. While arithmetically unsuccessful, the motion's outcome was regarded as a political victory for González as it allowed him to broadcast his programme live while highlighting Suárez's parliamentary isolation, strengthening the PSOE's role as a credible government alternative.
The process for the establishment of the autonomous communities saw the provisional government of Andalusia under Rafael Escuredo request the "fast-track route" for autonomy access which, while allowing for immediate assumption of regional powers, was initially envisaged only for the three "historical nationalities" of Catalonia, the Basque Country and Galicia. A referendum on the autonomy initiative in February 1980 saw the "Yes" choice reaching the required threshold in all Andalusian provinces but Almería, causing a political deadlock of several months until an inter-party agreement was reached. Such agreement provided for Andalusia to be allowed autonomy access under the "fast-track" route, on the condition that all other regions—except for Navarre, the Canary Islands and the Valencian Community, which followed their own specific procedures—submitted themselves to the "slow-track" procedure; in exchange, all future autonomous communities would be allowed a parliamentary system with all institutions of self-government. The Spanish government's opposition to Andalusia "fast-tracking" to autonomy destroyed the UCD's popularity in the region, the most populous in Spain, never to recover.
Growing divisions within the UCD—a result of the complex amalgamation of forces of very varying ideologies (social democrats, conservatives, liberals and christian democrats) into a party of power—gradually undermined Suárez's standing. Falling approval ratings and political differences plunged the party into an internal decomposition process which could be seen in legislative issues such as divorce; this, coupled with the loss of internal support and a deteriorating relationship with King Juan Carlos I, ultimately led to Suárez tendering his resignation as both prime minister and UCD leader on 29 January 1981. The investiture of his successor—the then second deputy prime minister and economy minister, Leopoldo Calvo-Sotelo—was disrupted by a coup attempt on 23 February from rogue military elements under Antonio Tejero, Jaime Milans del Bosch and Alfonso Armada, which failed due to a lack of support from the King and the Spanish Armed Forces at large. Calvo-Sotelo was ultimately elected two days later in the second ballot of investiture.
The tenure of Calvo-Sotelo's government was plagued by several events which further undermined the UCD's position: the toxic oil syndrome outbreak of 1981, affecting over 20,000 people and traced to the illegal marketing of contaminated rapeseed oil; the final approval of the divorce law amid criticisms from the Catholic Church and conservative party elements; the split of the newly-formed Democratic Action Party (PAD) under former justice minister Francisco Fernández Ordóñez; and Spain's entry into NATO being met with the staunch opposition of the parliamentary left, headed by González's PSOE. The opposition People's Alliance (AP), under former Francoist minister Manuel Fraga, advocated a union of the centre-right—the "natural majority" strategy—which, following the UCD's surprise defeat in the 1981 Galician regional election, turned into a bid to take over the entire right-of-centre electorate.