The Congress approves the reform and Formentera will have its own senator

PalmaThe plenary session of Congress approved this Thursday the reform of the Organic Law of the General Electoral Regime (LOREG) that adapts the regulations to the recent constitutional modification that recognizes Formentera as its own electoral constituency to elect a senator. The text now goes to the Senate for final approval.

The reform, promoted by the PSOE and processed through a fast track, modifies the LOREG to separate the constituencies of Ibiza and Formentera, so that each island has its own representative in the Upper House in the next general elections. This culminates the legal adaptation after the constitutional change that decoupled Formentera from the system shared with Ibiza.

With this modification, Formentera will cease to be part of the traditional electoral “tandem” with Ibiza and will have its own senator, which represents a relevant change in the territorial representation of the Balearic Islands in the General Courts. The change is presented as a response to the island reality and the need to adjust political representation to the uniqueness of the smaller islands.

The reform has had broad parliamentary support, with the exception of Vox, which had already opposed the constitutional amendment. The rest of the groups have agreed on the need to adapt electoral regulations to the new framework to guarantee the differentiated representation of Formentera and Ibiza in the Senate.

The PSOE has argued that the measure corrects a “historical anomaly” and responds to the reality of Formentera’s triple insularity, while Sumar has highlighted the island’s role in managing tourist pressure and protecting the territory. The PP, for its part, has argued that the measure strengthens the defense of the interests of both islands before the state government.

Once the process in the Senate is completed, the forecast is that the reform will be published in the BOE before the end of the month and will come into effect in time for future electoral calls, in which Formentera will elect its own senator for the first time.