Formentera elects its own senator: the LOREG adapts to the new article 69.3 of the Constitution

Ley Orgánica 2/2026, de 30 de junio (Organic Law 2/2026 of 30 June), published in the BOE on 2 July 2026 (BOE-A-2026-14329), amends Ley Orgánica 5/1985, de 19 de junio, del Régimen Electoral General (the General Electoral Regime Act, LOREG) to adapt it to the reform of paragraph 3 of article 69 of the Constitution. It is a brief norm, with a single article, and one very specific effect: Formentera stops sharing a Senate constituency with Ibiza and now elects its own senator. It entered into force on 3 July 2026, the day after its publication, and imposes no obligations or adaptation periods on anyone: not on political parties, not on administrations, not on companies.

What changes

The single article gives a new wording to two provisions of the LOREG:

• Article 161.2: the list of islands constituting a constituency for the purposes of Senate elections becomes Mallorca, Menorca, Ibiza, Formentera, Gran Canaria, Fuerteventura, Lanzarote, Tenerife, El Hierro, La Gomera and La Palma. The novelty is the incorporation of Formentera as a constituency of its own.
• Article 165.2: the distribution of senators by island constituency becomes: three senators in Gran Canaria, Mallorca and Tenerife; one in Ibiza, Formentera, Menorca, Fuerteventura, La Gomera, El Hierro, Lanzarote and La Palma.

There is no further operative content: the law consists of that single article and a single final provision on entry into force. It creates no new procedures, confers no powers on the regional administrations and sets no transitional or adaptation period whatsoever.

Context

The reform of article 69.3 of the Constitution, processed under the reform procedure of article 167, recognized the full institutional and administrative separation of Ibiza and Formentera, effective since Ley Orgánica 1/2007, de 28 de febrero, reforming the Statute of Autonomy of the Balearic Islands, created the Consejo Insular de Formentera. Until then both islands formed a single Senate constituency, following the structure of the 1978 constitutional text. According to the preamble, the new configuration responds to criteria of democratic proximity, territorial balance and recognition of island specificities, and reinforces both the principle of territorial representation that inspires the composition of the Upper House and the effectiveness of citizens' right to participate in public affairs through representatives, recognized in article 23 of the Constitution.

Once the Constitution had assigned the election of a senator of its own to each island, the LOREG, as the norm articulating the procedure for electing the members of the Senate, had to reflect faithfully the new delimitation of constituencies and seats in order to safeguard the internal coherence of the legal order, legal certainty and the regularity of future electoral processes. The preamble insists that the reform is confined to that adaptation, without altering the principles governing the electoral system.

Who is affected and how

• Citizens of Ibiza and Formentera: they are the real addressees of the change. At the next general election each island will vote for its own senator, instead of sharing one.
• Political parties: they receive no mandate from the norm. The only practical effect, deriving from the new delimitation and not from a legal obligation, is that in future elections they will present Senate candidacies in one more constituency in the Balearic Islands.
• Electoral administration: the electoral boards and the electoral organization will apply the new delimitation in the elections that are called, without the law entrusting them with any preparatory action.
• Companies and individuals in the rest of Spain: no impact. The norm has no tax, employment, commercial or general administrative content.

What to do and when

Nothing. This organic law generates no obligations, burdens or deadlines for any private party or for political parties, so this section is purely informational:

• From 3 July 2026: the new delimitation of Senate constituencies is in force and will apply automatically in the electoral processes called from that date.
• At the next general election: Senate candidacies in the Balearic Islands will already be presented with Ibiza and Formentera as separate constituencies, each with one seat.
• No pending formality: there is no three-month adaptation period and no duty to update statutes or internal rules; any reference to deadlines of that kind has no basis in the published text.

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