2015 Southern Syria offensive, Offensive, Offensive's second phase
The second phase of the offensive started 4 March, with the military and Hezbollah attacking Tal Al-Mal, Kafr Shams and Kafr Nasij at the same time. At Tal Al-Mal, they reportedly managed to break through rebel defenses, while the clashes at Kafr Shams left 17 rebels and 8 soldiers dead, according to a military source.


2015 Southern Syria offensive, Offensive, Offensive's second phase
On 11 March, the Syrian Air Force bombed the headquarters of the First Army in the southern countryside of Quneitra, killing a number of rebels including the First Army's commander. Four days later, Lebanese, Hezbollah-affiliated, television station Al-Manar reported that 120 Al-Nusra fighters, including three field commanders, were killed in another air-raid in Quneitra province.


2015 Southern Syria offensive, Offensive, Offensive's second phase
On 13 March, after almost two weeks of fighting, the military reportedly advanced towards the southwestern part of Kafr Nasij.


2015 Southern Syria offensive, Aftermath
On 6 April, rebels launched a counter-attack in the Kafr Shams area, advanced and captured a checkpoint. The same day, an ambush in Khan Arnaba, in Quneitra province, conducted by government troops left six rebels dead and many others missing. Between 6 and 8 April, at least 35 rebels were killed during the counter-attack, which resulted in the capture of several Army checkpoints and positions.


2015 Southern Syria offensive, Aftermath
On 20 April, the Syrian Army, backed by the NDF and the PLA, launched a new offensive near the town of Busra al-Harir and captured five villages, cutting the rebel supply line between Jordan and rebel positions in the Lajat area. An assault on Busra al-Harir itself was repelled. The next day, the Army reportedly retreated from around Busra al-Harir and the rebels re-established their supply route and liberated the five villages. 37 rebels and 28 soldiers were killed and five Army tanks were destroyed during the operation. A number of pro-government troops were also captured, including some foreign fighters. Over the next 24 hours, another 37 rebels and 11 soldiers were killed, according to a military source.


2015 Southern Syria offensive, Analysis
The offensive was seen as a strategic Axis of Resistance effort against Israel as well as an attempt to broaden the appeal of the Axis to groups such as Hamas,


2015 Southern Syria offensive, Analysis
Following the offensive, as part of the internal disputes in regard to the Iranians, Maj. Gen. Rustum Ghazaleh was severely attacked by Lt. Gen. Rafik Shehadeh's bodyguards for disagreeing with the role of foreign forces aiding government troops, and both were reportedly fired from their positions. News emerged two months later that Ghazaleh had died after complications from a severe head wound, after having been "clinically dead" for several weeks.


2015 Southern Syria offensive, Analysis
Jordan signaled as a result of the offensive that it was no longer willing to tolerate the Syrian government's increasing reliance upon Iranian and Hezbollah support, with a Jordanian official stating "We cannot allow Iran to come to our backyard. They have entertained too many ideas lately with Soleimani calling the shots". New weapons and logistical support also arrived from Saudi Arabia in reaction to the increased foreign support of the Syrian government. This increased support by Jordan and Saudi Arabia to opposition forces led to the rebel capture of Bosra in late March and the rebel takeover of the Nasib border crossing with Jordan at the beginning of April.


2015 Southern Syria offensive, Analysis
In the opinion of Jeffrey White from the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, the offensive "produced small gains with substantial regime casualties" and the intervention of government allies, due to its declining capabilities, could not change the outcome.


2015 Southern Utah Thunderbirds football team
The 2015 Southern Utah Thunderbirds football team represented Southern Utah University in the 2015 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by eighth-year head coach Ed Lamb and played their home games at Eccles Coliseum. This was their fourth year as a member of the Big Sky Conference. They finished the season 8–4, 7–1 in Big Sky play to be crowned Big Sky champion for the first time. They received the Big Sky's automatic bid to the FCS playoffs where they lost in the first round to Sam Houston State.


2015 Southern Utah Thunderbirds football team
On December 26, Lamb resigned to become the special teams coordinator and tight ends coach at BYU. He finished at Southern Utah with an eight year record of 45–47.


2015 Southland Conference Baseball Tournament
The 2015 Southland Conference Baseball Tournament was held from May 20–23. The top eight regular season finishers of the league's ten teams met in the double-elimination tournament held at Constellation Field in Sugar Land, Texas. The event returned to Sugar Land as part of a two season contract after one season on campus. The winner of the tournament, Houston Baptist, earns the conference's automatic bid to the 2015 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament. Abilene Christian and Incarnate Word are ineligible for postseason play as they transition from Division II.


2015 Southland Conference Baseball Tournament, Seeding and format
The top eight finishers from the regular season, not including Abilene Christian or Incarnate Word, were seeded one through eight. Seeding for the 2015 tournament was based on the order of finish in conference regular season play. No tie-breakers were needed, and teams ineligible for the 2015 tournament did not finish in the top eight. The teams played a two bracket, double–elimination tournament, with the winner of each bracket meeting in a single championship final.


2015 Southland Conference Men's Basketball Tournament
The 2015 Southland Conference Men's Basketball Tournament, a part of the 2014–15 NCAA Division I men's basketball season, took place March 11–14 at the Merrell Center in Katy, Texas. The winner of the tournament received the Southland Conference's automatic bid to the 2015 NCAA Tournament. Two programs in their second year of the transition from NCAA Division II to Division I, Abilene Christian and Incarnate Word, were ineligible for the tournament. Three programs were ineligible for the tournament for failure to meet enhanced NCAA Academic Performance Rating (APR) requirements. Those teams were Central Arkansas, Houston Baptist, and Lamar. The three teams are part of a group of nine NCAA teams ineligible for 2015 post season basketball play. With the departure of Oral Roberts to the Summit League, only eight conference teams remain eligible for the tournament.


2015 Southland Conference Men's Basketball Tournament, Seeds
Only the top eight teams advanced to the Southland Conference Tournament. If a team ineligible for the NCAA Tournament should finish in the top eight, its seed will fall to the next eligible team. Teams were seeded based on conference record and then a tie breaker system was used. The top two seeds received a double bye, and the third and fourth seeds received a single bye.


2015 Southland Conference Softball Tournament
The 2015 Southland Conference tournament was held at Lady Demon Diamond on the campus of Northwestern State University in Natchitoches, Louisiana from May 6 through May 8, 2015. The tournament winner, Central Arkansas earned the Southland Conference's automatic bid to the 2015 NCAA Division I Softball Tournament. The Championship game was broadcast on ESPN3 with the remainder of the tournament airing on the Southland Digital Network.


2015 Southland Conference Softball Tournament, Format
The top 6 teams qualify for the Southland Softball Tournament. Abilene Christian and Incarnate Word are currently ineligible due to their transition from D2 to D1. Had either of the two teams been in the top 6 spots, the seventh and if necessary eighth teams would have qualified for the tournament and would have taken their respective spots.


2015 Southland Conference Women's Basketball Tournament
The 2015 Southland Conference Women's Basketball Tournament, a part of the 2014–15 NCAA Division I women's basketball season, will take place March 11–14, 2015 at the Merrell Center in Katy, Texas. The winner of the tournament will receive the Southland Conference's automatic bid to the 2015 NCAA Tournament.


2015 Southland Conference Women's Basketball Tournament, Seeds & Regular Season Standings
Only the Top 8 teams advance to the Southland Conference Tournament. If a team ineligible for the NCAA Tourney should finish in the top 8, their seed will fall to the next eligible team. Abilene Christian and Incarnate Word are ineligible for post-season play as they are in the second year of a 4-year transition from D2 to D1. They won't be eligible for the Southland tourney until 2018. This chart shows all the teams records and standings and explains why teams advanced to the conference tourney or finished in certain tiebreaking positions.


2015 Southwestern Athletic Conference Baseball Tournament
The 2015 Southwestern Athletic Conference Baseball Tournament was held at Wesley Barrow Stadium in New Orleans, Louisiana from May 13 through May 17. Texas Southern won their third conference title, and first since 2008, to earn the conference's automatic bid to the 2015 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament.


2015 Southwestern Athletic Conference Baseball Tournament
The double elimination tournament featured four teams from each division. Mississippi Valley State, from the East Division was ineligible for the postseason due to Academic Progress Rate penalties. Southern, from the West Division, was originally ineligible for postseason play in all sports, including baseball, due to failing to supply usable data to the NCAA. However, the Jaguars were able to compete in the tournament in place of Arkansas–Pine Bluff.


2015 Southwestern Athletic Conference Baseball Tournament, Seeding and format
The four eligible teams in each division will be seeded one through four, with the top seed from each division facing the fourth seed from the opposite division in the first round, and so on. The teams then play a two bracket, double-elimination tournament with a one-game final between the winners of each bracket.


2015 Southwestern Athletic Conference Softball Tournament
The 2015 Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) Softball tournament will be held at Wilson Morgan Park in Decatur, Alabama from May 6 through May 9, 2015. The tournament winner will earn the Southwestern Athletic Conference's automatic bid to the 2015 NCAA Division I Softball Tournament. All games will have stats available, with many teams having a radio broadcast available. The championship game is the only game that will be televised. It will be done on ESPN3.


2015 Spanish Athletics Championships
The 2015 Spanish Athletics Championships was the 95th edition of the national championship in outdoor track and field for Spain. It was held on 1 and 2 August at the Pista Municipal Gaetá Huguet in Castellón de la Plana. It served as the selection meeting for Spain at the 2015 World Championships in Athletics.


2015 Spanish Athletics Championships
The club championships in relays and combined track and field events were contested separately from the main competition.


2015 Spanish Embassy attack in Kabul
On December 11, 2015, Taliban militants detonated a car bomb and stormed a guesthouse near the Spanish embassy in the Shirpour district of Kabul, Afghanistan—home to many foreign embassies and high-ranking government officials. Nine people died in the attack, including four Afghans, two Spanish military policemen and three Taliban fighters. Security forces, including Norwegian special forces, took more than ten hours to bring the area back under control.


2015 Spanish Embassy attack in Kabul
In October 2016, a member of the Norwegian Marinejegerkommandoen was awarded a medal for saving lives of Spanish diplomats during the incident. The soldier was shot three times during the incident. The medal was handed out at the Spanish embassy in Oslo, Norway by the Spanish ambassador to Norway.


2015 Spanish Grand Prix
The 2015 Spanish Grand Prix, formally titled the Formula 1 Gran Premio de España Pirelli 2015, was a Formula One motor race held on 10 May 2015 at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in Montmeló, Spain. The race was the fifth round of the 2015 season and marked the forty-fifth running of the Spanish Grand Prix as a round of the Formula One World Championship and the twenty-fifth running at Catalunya. Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg took his first win of the season, his first in Spain and the ninth of his career. His team-mate Lewis Hamilton finished second after a bad start, followed by Sebastian Vettel in third.


2015 Spanish Grand Prix, Report, Background
Mercedes were expected to be dominant in Barcelona, since it was at the circuit that their advantage per lap had been biggest in 2014 and they had shown strong form at the two pre-season tests at the circuit.


2015 Spanish Grand Prix, Report, Background
After problems with their engine in the first races, which saw Daniel Ricciardo down to his last power unit after just four outings, Renault introduced a new, modified engine for the Spanish Grand Prix, aiming to improve both reliability and drivability.


2015 Spanish Grand Prix, Report, Background
Ferrari brought new parts to Barcelona, but Kimi Räikkönen was unsatisfied with the handling of his car, switching back to the earlier setup for the third practice session. He later conceded that "maybe it would have been better with the new bits." McLaren arrived in Barcelona with a new dark grey livery in order to "improv[e] its visual impact [...] for the floodlights increasingly used in twilight and night races," a team representative said.


2015 Spanish Grand Prix, Report, Background, Tyres
On 22 April, Pirelli announced that the teams would be using the hard and medium tyres for this race, the same choice as the year before.


2015 Spanish Grand Prix, Report, Free practice
Per the regulations for the 2015 season, three practice sessions were held, two 1.5-hour sessions on Friday and another one-hour session before qualifying on Saturday. Nico Rosberg was fastest on Friday morning, outpacing his teammate Lewis Hamilton by 0.07 seconds. Rosberg raised the interest of the race stewards when he failed to stay to the left of the bollard at the pit lane entrance returning to pit lane after one of his runs. Mercedes lived up to the expectations by lapping almost a second quicker than the next fastest cars, the two Ferrari drivers.


2015 Spanish Grand Prix, Report, Free practice
Three test drivers took part in the session: Jolyon Palmer took the place of Romain Grosjean at the wheel of one of the Lotus cars as he had done in the two prior races; Raffaele Marciello returned for Sauber after he had already filled the role at the Malaysian Grand Prix; and making her debut for 2015 was Susie Wolff for Williams, finishing eight-tenths of a second behind regular driver Felipe Massa.


2015 Spanish Grand Prix, Report, Free practice
Lewis Hamilton was quickest in the second session on Friday afternoon. Track temperatures rose by more than 20 °C (36 °F) to almost 50 °C (122 °F) at the end of the session. The extreme heat was especially hard on the tyres, which led to many drivers complaining about a lack of grip on track. Sebastian Vettel split the two Mercedes cars and finished second fastest, four-tenths of a second slower than Hamilton, with Rosberg a further three tenths down.


2015 Spanish Grand Prix, Report, Free practice
Daniel Ricciardo struggled with his engine yet again, which needed to be changed mid-session, leaving him with only ten minutes of running. McLaren were yet to score in 2015, but with Jenson Button finishing seventh and Fernando Alonso in eleventh place, they proved to be closer to the point ranks than in previous races. Romain Grosjean suffered from technical problems on his Lotus, which ended in the engine cover of his car shattering on the start-finish straight, bringing out a red flag.


2015 Spanish Grand Prix, Report, Free practice
The third practice session, on Saturday morning, showed that Mercedes' advantage on the softer, medium tyres was less significant than on the hard compound, meaning Vettel was able to lap within two-tenths of a second of Rosberg, who was fastest. Hamilton spun in turn three, compromising his session. He finished third fastest, two-tenths down on his teammate. Kimi Räikkönen, who was fifth fastest, was once more unsatisfied with the setup of his car, as he could be heard on the radio telling his team "Excellent. How can we be in wrong settings?"


2015 Spanish Grand Prix, Report, Qualifying
Qualifying consisted of three parts, 18, 15 and 12 minutes in length respectively, with five drivers eliminated from competing after each of the first two sessions. During the first session (Q1), Mercedes was able to proceed into the next part without having to use the softer and faster tyre compound. The same applied for Sebastian Vettel, while his Ferrari teammate Kimi Räikkönen was once again unhappy with his setup and recorded his time on the softer medium tyres. McLaren's upward trend continued, as both cars progressed into Q2, the first time the team achieved this in 2015. The Manor Marussia drivers took their familiar place at the back of the grid, Will Stevens in 19th almost three seconds off the time of the next-slowest car. Both Force India cars as well as the Sauber of Marcus Ericsson did not make it into Q2 either.


2015 Spanish Grand Prix, Report, Qualifying
The second part of qualifying saw both Mercedes drivers and Valtteri Bottas make only one timed run, which proved sufficient to get into Q3 comfortably. The second Sauber of Felipe Nasr was eliminated as were both McLarens and both Lotus cars, meaning that the last five rows on the grid would each be taken by pairs of teammates.


2015 Spanish Grand Prix, Report, Qualifying
For the last session of qualifying, the top ten drivers had twelve minutes to set their times. Nico Rosberg recorded provisional pole on his first outing, a quarter of a second in front of teammate Lewis Hamilton. Unlike their teammates, both Felipe Massa in the Williams and Kimi Räikkönen did not have an extra set of fresh tyres, meaning they were caught out by the fast-running Toro Rosso drivers, who took the third row on the grid. Neither Rosberg nor Hamilton were able to improve on their times in their second running. For the first time in 2015, it was not Hamilton who would start the race first on the grid, as Rosberg recorded the 16th pole position of his career.


2015 Spanish Grand Prix, Report, Qualifying, Post-qualifying
Toro Rosso were delighted with their result, even though Carlos Sainz Jr. admitted he did not expect to fare as well in the race. Rosberg was satisfied with his first pole position of the season, commenting "of course I needed it sooner rather than later," referring to the 27-point gap in the championship to Hamilton. As pole position is statistically of crucial importance to winning the race, even more so than in Monaco, being first on the grid was considered to be a big advantage for Rosberg.


2015 Spanish Grand Prix, Report, Race
At the start of the race, Lewis Hamilton did not get away well, having to yield second place to Sebastian Vettel while also coming under pressure from Valtteri Bottas. Nico Rosberg remained in front while the rest of the field got through the first corners without incidents. Kimi Räikkönen had a good first lap and moved up to fifth. The Toro Rosso drivers were unable to capitalise on their good qualifying performances and steadily headed down the order. As Rosberg was developing a lead, Hamilton told his team that overtaking Vettel on track was "impossible."


2015 Spanish Grand Prix, Report, Race
Mercedes switched him to a three-stop strategy, starting on lap 14, but his first stop was marred by a problem with the wheel nut, not being able to get ahead of Rosberg who made a pit stop two laps later without problems. During the following laps, Hamilton tried to overtake Vettel on track, but to no avail. Unlike the top runners, Kimi Räikkönen did not take the medium tyres during his middle stint, but chose instead to run on the hard compound, meaning he would be a force to watch towards the end of the race.


2015 Spanish Grand Prix, Report, Race
Battles for position in midfield during the opening laps saw the two Lotus cars touch, damaging Pastor Maldonado's rear wing. When he came into the pit for his first stop, the entire right side plate of the wing was taken off, later forcing him to retire on lap 47. Fernando Alonso had previously become the first retirement of the race when his brake failed due to a torn-off visor lodging in his rear brake. When he came into the pit lane on lap 28, he overshot his pit box and hit a mechanic, and was unable to continue. Red Bull, who had a troublesome weekend, qualifying behind their sister team Toro Rosso, made up for lost ground and moved ahead to eventually finish seventh and tenth.


2015 Spanish Grand Prix, Report, Race
Up in front, Hamilton put his three-stop strategy to good use, consistently setting the fastest laps on track. On lap 46, Rosberg made a pit stop for the second and final time, emerging just a few seconds ahead of Hamilton, who quickly moved past him into the lead. Hamilton came in for his last stop on lap 51, easily retaining second place in front of Vettel's Ferrari. He subsequently tried to close the gap to Rosberg in front, but a 19-second lead proved impossible to overcome in the remaining 14 laps.


2015 Spanish Grand Prix, Report, Race
Räikkönen had closed in on Valtteri Bottas and tried to overtake him during the last laps of the race, but was eventually unable to do so, leaving him in fifth position, lamenting his poor qualifying performance. As the race drew to a close, Rosberg crossed the line for his first victory of the season and the ninth of his career. Rosberg's victory made him the ninth different winner of the Spanish Grand Prix in as many years.


2015 Spanish Grand Prix, Report, Post-race
Race winner Nico Rosberg said he had a "perfect weekend" during the podium interview conducted by Spanish TV presenter Maria Serrat. At the official post-race press conference, Lewis Hamilton conceded that it had "been a long time since I've had such a poor start" and went on to explain how difficult it is to overtake on the circuit. Sebastian Vettel admitted that had Hamilton's first stop not gone wrong, it would have been unlikely to stay ahead of him at that point.


2015 Spanish Grand Prix, Report, Post-race
Kimi Räikkönen, who had decided to drive with the old setup of the car, later stated that he had made a "sacrifice" for the team, saying "I think we learned a lot from going for two separate cars following yesterday and today so I'm more confident we can see things more balanced." He went on to point out that the characteristics of the circuit suited Mercedes more than Ferrari, as they had more downforce and raw speed, stating he was not too concerned with the "bigger than normal" gap, after Vettel had finished 45 seconds behind Rosberg.


2015 Spanish Grand Prix, Report, Post-race
Following another difficult weekend and constant problems with their underpowered Renault power units, Red Bull repeated their threats voiced earlier in the season to exit the sport. Their motorsport advisor Helmut Marko was quoted saying: "If we don't have a competitive engine in the near future, then either Audi is coming or we are out." Audi had just two weeks earlier stated that it had "no plans to enter Formula 1." Team principal Christian Horner had earlier declared the 2015 season a "write-off" based on their engine reliability issues.


2015 Spanish general election
The 2015 Spanish general election was held on Sunday, 20 December 2015, to elect the 11th Cortes Generales of the Kingdom of Spain. All 350 seats in the Congress of Deputies were up for election, as well as 208 of 266 seats in the Senate. At exactly four years and one month since the previous general election, this remains the longest timespan between two general elections since the Spanish transition to democracy, and the only time in Spain a general election has been held on the latest possible date allowed under law.


2015 Spanish general election
After a legislature plagued by the effects of an ongoing economic crisis, corruption scandals affecting the ruling party and social distrust with traditional parties, the election resulted in the most fragmented Spanish parliament in its history. While Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy's People's Party (PP) emerged as the largest party overall, it obtained its worst result since 1989. The party's net loss of 64 seats and 16 percentage points also marked the largest loss of support for a sitting government since 1982.


2015 Spanish general election
Opposition Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) obtained its worst result since the Spanish transition to democracy, losing 20 seats and nearly 7 points. Newcomer Podemos (Spanish for "We can") ranked third, winning over 5 million votes, some 20% of the share, 69 seats and coming closely behind PSOE. Up-and-coming Citizens (C's), a party based in Catalonia since 2006, entered the parliament for the first time with 40 seats, though considerably lower than what pre-election polls had suggested.


2015 Spanish general election
Smaller parties were decimated, with historic United Left (IU)—which ran in a common platform with other left-wing parties under the Popular Unity umbrella—obtaining the worst result in its history. Union, Progress and Democracy (UPyD), a newcomer which had made gains in both the 2008 and 2011 general elections, was obliterated, losing all of its seats and nearly 90% of its votes.


2015 Spanish general election
At the regional level, aside from a major breakthrough from Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC), the election saw all regional nationalist parties losing votes; the break up of Convergence and Union (CiU), support for the abertzale left EH Bildu coalition falling sharply, Canarian Coalition (CC) clinging on to a single seat and the expulsion of both Geroa Bai and the Galician Nationalist Bloc (BNG) from parliament; the latter of which had maintained an uninterrupted presence in the Congress of Deputies since 1996.


2015 Spanish general election
With the most-voted party obtaining just 123 seats—compared to the 156 of the previous worst result for a first party, in 1996—and a third party winning an unprecedented 69 seats—the previous record was 23 in 1979—the result marked the transition from a two-party system to a multi-party system. After months of inconclusive negotiations and a failed investiture, neither PP or PSOE were able to garner enough votes to secure a majority, leading to a fresh election in 2016.


2015 Spanish general election, Overview, Electoral system
The Spanish Cortes Generales were envisaged as an imperfect bicameral system. The Congress of Deputies had greater legislative power than the Senate, having the ability to vote confidence in or withdraw it from a prime minister and to override Senate vetoes by an absolute majority of votes. Nonetheless, the Senate possessed a few exclusive, yet limited in number functions—such as its role in constitutional amendment—which were not subject to the Congress' override. Voting for the Cortes Generales was on the basis of universal suffrage, which comprised all nationals over eighteen and in full enjoyment of their political rights. Additionally, Spaniards abroad were required to apply for voting before being permitted to vote, a system known as "begged" or expat vote (Spanish: Voto rogado).


2015 Spanish general election, Overview, Electoral system
For the Congress of Deputies, 348 seats were elected using the D'Hondt method and a closed list proportional representation, with an electoral threshold of three percent of valid votes—which included blank ballots—being applied in each constituency. Seats were allocated to constituencies, corresponding to the provinces of Spain, with each being allocated an initial minimum of two seats and the remaining 248 being distributed in proportion to their populations. Ceuta and Melilla were allocated the two remaining seats, which were elected using plurality voting. The use of the D'Hondt method might result in a higher effective threshold, depending on the district magnitude.


2015 Spanish general election, Overview, Electoral system
For the Senate, 208 seats were elected using an open list partial block voting, with electors voting for individual candidates instead of parties. In constituencies electing four seats, electors could vote for up to three candidates; in those with two or three seats, for up to two candidates; and for one candidate in single-member districts.


2015 Spanish general election, Overview, Electoral system
Each of the 47 peninsular provinces was allocated four seats, whereas for insular provinces, such as the Balearic and Canary Islands, districts were the islands themselves, with the larger—Majorca, Gran Canaria and Tenerife—being allocated three seats each, and the smaller—Menorca, Ibiza–Formentera, Fuerteventura, La Gomera, El Hierro, Lanzarote and La Palma—one each. Ceuta and Melilla elected two seats each. Additionally, autonomous communities could appoint at least one senator each and were entitled to one additional senator per each million inhabitants.


2015 Spanish general election, Overview, Election date
The term of each chamber of the Cortes Generales—the Congress and the Senate—expired four years from the date of their previous election, unless they were dissolved earlier. The election decree was required to be issued no later than the twenty-fifth day prior to the date of expiry of the Cortes in the event that the prime minister did not make use of his prerogative of early dissolution. The decree was to be published on the following day in the Official State Gazette (BOE), with election day taking place on the fifty-fourth day from publication.


2015 Spanish general election, Overview, Election date
The previous election was held on 20 November 2011, which meant that the legislature's term would expire on 20 November 2015. The election decree was required to be published in the BOE no later than 27 October 2015, with the election taking place on the fifty-fourth day from publication, setting the latest possible election date for the Cortes Generales on Sunday, 20 December 2015.


2015 Spanish general election, Overview, Election date
The prime minister had the prerogative to dissolve both chambers at any given time—either jointly or separately—and call a snap election, provided that no motion of no confidence was in process, no state of emergency was in force and that dissolution did not occur before one year had elapsed since the previous one. Additionally, both chambers were to be dissolved and a new election called if an investiture process failed to elect a prime minister within a two-month period from the first ballot. Barred this exception, there was no constitutional requirement for simultaneous elections for the Congress and the Senate. Still, as of 2021 there has been no precedent of separate elections taking place under the 1978 Constitution, with governments having long preferred that elections for the two chambers of the Cortes take place simultaneously.


2015 Spanish general election, Overview, Election date
In May 2014, the Spanish newspaper ABC disclosed that the government was considering whether it was possible for a general election to be upheld until early 2016, supported on an ambiguous legal interpretation on the date of expiry of the Cortes Generales. In September 2014, the Spanish media Voz Pópuli and El Plural further inquired on the possibility that the PP cabinet would be planning to delay the legislature's expiry by as much as possible, not holding a new election until February 2016.


2015 Spanish general election, Overview, Election date
However, legal reports commissioned by the government showed that the deadline for dissolving the Cortes and to call for a general election would be 26 October 2015, meaning that, with the election decree being published on the following day, an election could be held no later than 20 December. An opinion article published in Público on 8 December 2014 suggested then that the probable date for the election would then be either on 25 October or on a Sunday in November 2015, not counting All Saints' Day.


2015 Spanish general election, Overview, Election date
After the 2015 local and regional elections, it was suggested that the general election would presumably be held on either 22 or 29 November. However, once it was confirmed that the government intended for the approval of the 2016 budget before the election, it was strongly implied that polling day would have to be delayed until December to allow for completion of the budgetary parliamentary procedure, with either 13 or 20 December being regarded as the only legally possible dates for an election to be held.


2015 Spanish general election, Overview, Election date
Finally, during an interview on 1 October, Rajoy announced that the election would be held on 20 December, the latest possible date allowed under Spanish law. Being held 4 years and 1 month after the 2011 election, this was the longest time-span between two general elections since the Spanish transition to democracy.


2015 Spanish general election, Background
Mariano Rajoy won the 2011 general election in a landslide running on a platform that promised to bring a solution to the country's worsening economic situation, marked by soaring unemployment and an out-of-control public deficit. However, shortly after taking office, Rajoy's People's Party (PP) popularity in opinion polls began to erode after its U-turn on economic policy, which included the breaching of many election pledges.


2015 Spanish general election, Background
In its first months in power, Rajoy's government approved a series of tax rises, a harsh labour reform that allegedly cheapened dismissals—and which was met with widespread protests and two general strikes in March and November 2012—and an austere state budget for 2012. The crash of Bankia, one of the largest banks of Spain, in May 2012 resulted in a dramatic rise of the Spanish risk premium, and in June the country's banking system needed a bailout from the IMF.


2015 Spanish general election, Background
A major spending cut of €65 billion followed in July 2012, including a VAT rise from 18% to 21% which the PP itself had opposed during its time in opposition after the previous Socialist government had already raised VAT to 18%.


2015 Spanish general election, Background
Additional spending cuts and legal reforms followed throughout 2012 and 2013, including cuts in budget credit lines for the health care and education systems, the implementation of a pharmaceutical copayment, a reform of the pension system which stopped guaranteeing the increase of pensioners' purchasing power accordingly to the consumer price index, the suppression of the bonus for public employees, or the withdrawal of public subsidies to the dependent people care system.


2015 Spanish general election, Background
Other measures, such as a fiscal amnesty in 2012 allowing tax evaders to regularize their situation by paying a 10% tax—later reduced to 3%—and no criminal penalty, had been previously rejected by the PP during its time in opposition. Most of these measures were not included in the PP 2011 election manifesto and, inversely, many of the pledges included within were not fulfilled. Rajoy argued that "reality" prevented him from fulfilling his programme and that he had been forced to adapt to the new economic situation he found upon his accession to government.


2015 Spanish general election, Background
In the domestic field, the 2011–2015 period was dominated by a perceived regression in social and political rights. Spending cuts on the health care and education systems had fueled an increase in inequality among those without enough financial resources to afford those services. The government's authorization of the enforcement and increase of court fees, requiring the payment of between €50 and €750 to appeal to the courts, was dubbed as violating the rights of effective judicial protection and free legal assistance. The controversial fees would later be removed in early 2015.


2015 Spanish general election, Background
A new Education Law—the LOMCE—received heavy criticism from the Basque and Catalan regional governments, which dubbed it as a re-centralizer bill, as well as from social sectors which considered that it prompted segregation in primary schools. Another bill, the Citizen Security Law and dubbed the "gag law" by critics, was met with a global outcry because of it being seen as a cracking down on Spaniards' rights of freedom of assembly and expression, laying out strict guidelines on demonstrations—perceived to limit street protests—and steep fines to offenders.


2015 Spanish general election, Background
Through 2013 to 2014, an attempt to amend the existing abortion law by a much stricter regulation allowing abortion only in cases of rape and of health risk to the mother was thwarted due to public outrage and widespread criticism both from within and outside the PP itself, resulting in its proponent, Justice Minister Alberto Ruiz-Gallardón, tendering his resignation.


2015 Spanish general election, Background
Political corruption became one of the focus issues for Spaniards in the polls after the Bárcenas affair erupted in early 2013, amid revelations that former PP treasurer Luis Bárcenas had used a slush fund to pay out monthly amounts to leading members of the party, with further scandals rocking the PP for the remainder of its tenure. By late 2014, the sudden emergence of several episodes of corruption that had taken place over the previous years was compared to the Italian Tangentopoli in the 1990s.


2015 Spanish general election, Background
Among these were a massive expenses scandal involving former Caja Madrid senior executives and advisers—including members from the PP, PSOE and IU parties and from Spain's main trade unions, UGT and CCOO—, who were accused of using undeclared "black" credit cards for private expenditures; revelations that the PP could have spent as much as €1.7 million of undeclared money on works on its national headquarters in Madrid between 2006 and 2008; and the Punica case, a major scandal of public work contract kickbacks amounting at least €250 million and involving notable municipal and regional figures from both PSOE and PP, as well as a large number of politicians, councilors, officials and businessmen in the regions of Madrid, Murcia, Castile and León and Valencia.


2015 Spanish general election, Background
Ongoing investigations on the Gürtel scandal on the illegal financing of both the Madrilenian and Valencian branches of the People's Party brought down Health Minister Ana Mato, who was suspect from having benefited of some of the crimes allegedly committed by her former wife Jesús Sepúlveda, charged in the Gürtel case.


2015 Spanish general election, Background
The Monarchy had also come under public scrutiny as a result of a corruption scandal affecting Duke of Palma Iñaki Urdangarín, the Nóos case, and his spouse Cristina de Borbón, Infanta of Spain and daughter of King Juan Carlos I, for possible crimes of tax fraud and money laundering.


2015 Spanish general election, Background
These corruption allegations, coupled with other scandals—such as public anger at King Juan Carlos' elephant hunting trip to Botswana at the height of the economic crisis in 2012—as well as his own health problems, had severely eroded the Spanish Royal Family's popularity among Spaniards, and were said to have taken its toll on the monarch, who announced his abdication on his son Felipe—to become Felipe VI of Spain—in June 2014.


2015 Spanish general election, Background
The social response to the ongoing political and economic crisis was mixed. The 15-M Movement had resulted in an increase of street protests and demonstrations calling for a more democratic governmental system, a halt to spending cuts and tax increases and an overall rejection of Spain's two-party system formed by both PP and PSOE. Social mobilization channeled through various protest actions, such as "Surround the Congress" (Spanish for Rodea el Congreso), the so-called "Citizen Tides" (Mareas Ciudadanas) or the "Marches for Dignity" (Marchas de la Dignidad).


2015 Spanish general election, Background
In Catalonia, the PP's rise to power and its perceived rightist stance were said to have been the final trigger for the independence movement to fire up. A 1.5-million strong demonstration in Barcelona on 11 September 2012 finally convinced the regional ruling Convergence and Union (CiU) of Artur Mas to switch to independence support, with a snap election being held in November 2012 resulting in a huge rise for pro-independence ERC and the CUP and a meltdown for Socialist support in the region.


2015 Spanish general election, Background
Finally, the PP decline and the PSOE inability to recover lost support paved the way for the rise of new parties in the national landscape, such as Podemos and Citizens (C's), which began to rise dramatically in opinion polls after 2014 European Parliament election. PSOE leader Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba resigned the day after the European election, being succeeded by Pedro Sánchez after a party leadership election in July 2014.


2015 Spanish general election, Parliamentary composition
The Cortes Generales were officially dissolved on 27 October 2015, after the publication of the dissolution decree in the Official State Gazette. The tables below show the composition of the parliamentary groups in both chambers at the time of dissolution.


2015 Spanish general election, Parties and candidates
The electoral law allowed for parties and federations registered in the interior ministry, coalitions and groupings of electors to present lists of candidates. Parties and federations intending to form a coalition ahead of an election were required to inform the relevant Electoral Commission within ten days of the election call, whereas groupings of electors needed to secure the signature of at least one percent of the electorate in the constituencies for which they sought election, disallowing electors from signing for more than one list of candidates. Concurrently, parties, federations or coalitions that had not obtained a mandate in either chamber of the Cortes at the preceding election were required to secure the signature of at least 0.1 percent of electors in the aforementioned constituencies.


2015 Spanish general election, Parties and candidates
Below is a list of the main parties and electoral alliances which contested the election:


2015 Spanish general election, Parties and candidates
The People's Party (PP) chose to continue its electoral alliance with the Aragonese Party (PAR) under which it had already won the general election in Aragon in 2011. In Asturias, an alliance with Asturias Forum (FAC)—former PP member Francisco Álvarez Cascos's party—was reached. Hastened by FAC's vote collapsing in the 2015 Asturian regional election, this was the first time both parties contested an election together since Cascos's party split in 2011.


2015 Spanish general election, Parties and candidates
An agreement with Navarrese People's Union (UPN) was also reached, after a period of negotiations in which the regional party had considered to contest the general election on its own in Navarre. For the Senate, the PP also aligned itself with the Fuerteventura Municipal Assemblies (AMF) to contest the election in the Senate district of Fuerteventura.


2015 Spanish general election, Parties and candidates
Meanwhile, the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) and New Canaries (NCa) both announced they would contest the general election together in the Canary Islands. NCa had already contested the 2008 and 2011 elections before: in 2008 they stood alone and won no seats, while in 2011 they won 1 seat as a result of an alliance with Canarian Coalition (CCa), alliance which they chose not to continue in 2015. Extremaduran Coalition and United Extremadura broke up their coalitions with both PSOE and PP, respectively, and chose to contest the general together under a single joint list, Extremeños (Spanish for "Extremadurans").


2015 Spanish general election, Parties and candidates
In order to contest the general election, Podemos set up an extensive alliance system in several autonomous communities with other parties. After the negative results of the Catalunya Sí que es Pot alliance in the September Catalan election, Podemos, Initiative for Catalonia Greens (ICV) and United and Alternative Left (EUiA) reached an agreement with Barcelona en Comú—Barcelona Mayor Ada Colau's party—to form a joint list to contest the general election in Catalonia: En Comú Podem (Catalan for In Common We Can).


2015 Spanish general election, Parties and candidates
The coalition was aimed at mirroring Colau's success in the 2015 Barcelona City Council election at Catalan level; if successful, it was planned to be maintained permanently for future electoral contests. In Galicia, Podemos, Anova and United Left (EU) merged into the En Marea ticket (Galician for In Tide). Such a coalition, which represented a qualitative leap from the Galician Left Alternative (AGE) coalition in the 2012 Galician regional election, was aimed at channeling the results of the local "mareas" ("tides") that succeeded throughout Galicia's largest cities in the May local elections. The coalition also received support from those local alliances, such as Marea Atlántica, Compostela Aberta or Ferrol en Común.


2015 Spanish general election, Parties and candidates
For the Valencian Community, the És el moment alliance (Valencian for It is Time) was created as a result of the agreement between Podemos and Compromís, with a strong role from Valencian deputy premier Mònica Oltra. United Left of the Valencian Country (EUPV) had also entered talks to enter the alliance, but left after disagreements with both Podemos and Compromís during negotiations. Additionally, Podemos was to contest the general election in the province of Huesca alongside segments of Now in Common within the "Ahora Alto Aragón en Común" coalition (Spanish for Now Upper Aragon in Common). In Navarre, all four Podemos, Geroa Bai, EH Bildu and I-E coalesced under the Cambio-Aldaketa umbrella for the Senate, aiming at disputing first place regionally to the UPN–PP alliance. The agreement was not extended to the Congress election, where all four parties ran separately.


2015 Spanish general election, Parties and candidates
In Catalonia and Galicia, Popular Unity (IU–UPeC) did not contest the election as such. The respective regional United Left branches joined En Marea and En Comú Podem, which supported Podemos at the national level. While a nationwide coalition between Podemos and IU had been considered, Podemos did not wish to assume IU's internal issues, and United Left candidate Alberto Garzón had refused to leave IU to integrate Podemos' lists. On the other hand, environmentalist party Equo was successful at reaching an agreement with Podemos, accepting to renounce their label and integrating themselves within Podemos' lists.


2015 Spanish general election, Parties and candidates
After the dissolution of the Convergence and Union (CiU) federation in Catalonia, Democratic Convergence of Catalonia (CDC) joined Democrats of Catalonia and Reagrupament within the Democracy and Freedom alliance after the failure of talks with Republican Left of Catalonia to continue the Junts pel Sí coalition for the general election. CDC's former ally, Josep Antoni Duran i Lleida's Democratic Union of Catalonia (UDC), chose to contest the election alone despite losing its parliamentary presence in the Parliament of Catalonia after the 2015 regional election.


2015 Spanish general election, Timetable
The key dates are listed below (all times are CET. Note that the Canary Islands use WET (UTC+0) instead):


2015 Spanish general election, Campaign, Election debates
A total of four debates involving the leaders of at least two of the four parties topping opinion polls (PP, PSOE, Podemos and C's) were held throughout the pre-campaign and campaign periods.


2015 Spanish general election, Campaign, Election debates
The first debate was organized by the Demos Association and held in the Charles III University of Madrid on 27 November. The leaders of the four main parties were invited, but in the end only Pablo Iglesias and Albert Rivera attended. The debate was broadcast live on YouTube.


2015 Spanish general election, Campaign, Election debates
The second debate was held on 30 November. Organized by El País newspaper, it was broadcast live entirely through the websites of El País and Cinco Días, the Cadena SER radio station and on the 13 TV television channel. Pedro Sánchez, as well as Iglesias and Rivera, attended the debate. Mariano Rajoy (PP) was also invited to the debate but declined the offer. According to the organizer, PP proposed the presence of Deputy PM Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría instead but it was refused, as she "was not the PP candidate for PM". A poll conducted online immediately after the debate by El País to its readers showed Iglesias winning with 47.0%, followed by Rivera with 28.9% and Sánchez with 24.1%.


2015 Spanish general election, Campaign, Election debates
A third, televised debate was organized by Atresmedia, held on 7 December and broadcast live simultaneously on its Antena 3 and laSexta TV channels and on the Onda Cero radio station. Rajoy had also been invited to the debate, but the PP announced that Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría would attend in his place instead. The audience for the debate averaged 9.2 million, peaking at more than 10 million. Online polls conducted immediately after the debate by major newspapers coincided in showing Iglesias winning, while political pundits and journalists pointed on his strong performance.


2015 Spanish general election, Campaign, Election debates
A fourth, final debate, organized  by the TV Academy, was held on 14 December. The signal of the debate was offered to all interested media. Among others, nationwide TV channels La 1, Canal 24 Horas, Antena 3, laSexta and 13 TV broadcast the debate live. Iglesias and Rivera were not invited to the debate, with only Rajoy and Sánchez participating. The audience for the debate averaged 9.7 million. A poll conducted by Atresmedia immediately after the debate showed 34.5% saying that "None of them" won, followed by Sánchez with 33.7%, Rajoy with 28.8% and "Both" with 3.0%.


2015 Spanish general election, Campaign, Development
Opinion polls heading into the campaign had shown the PP firmly in first position, with both PSOE and C's tied for second place and Podemos trailing in fourth. However, as the campaign started and election day neared, Podemos numbers had begun to rebound while C's slipped. Podemos centered its campaign around the slogan of "remontada" (Spanish for "comeback"), trying to convey voters a message of illusion and optimism.


2015 Spanish general election, Campaign, Development
After the Atresmedia televised debate on 7 December—in which Iglesias was said to have outperformed all other three with his final address—and following a series of gaffes by C's leaders that had affected their party's campaign, Podemos experienced a surge in opinion polls. By Monday 14 December it had reached a statistical tie with C's, and kept growing and approaching the PSOE, vying for second place, in the polls conducted—but unpublished by Spanish media—after the legal ban on opinion polls during the last week of campaigning had entered into force.


2015 Spanish general election, Campaign, Development
On 18 December, the final day of campaigning, Podemos staged a massive rally in la Fonteta arena in Valencia, in support of the Compromís–Podemos– És el moment coalition and as the closing point of their campaign. With a capacity of over 9,000 people, 2,000 were left outside as the interior was entirely filled. It was noted by some media as a remarkable feat, as the PSOE had been unable to entirely fill the same place just a few days earlier on 13 December.


2015 Spanish general election, Campaign, Development
The most notable incident during the electoral campaign was an attack on Mariano Rajoy during a campaign event in Pontevedra on 16 December. At 18:50, while walking with Development Minister Ana Pastor in the vicinity of the Pilgrim Church, a 17-year-old approached him and punched him in the temple. The assailant was restrained by the Prime Minister's security guards and was subsequently transferred to the police station in the city. Rajoy, who was red-faced and stunned for a few seconds, continued to walk without his glasses, broken during the assault. The assailant turned out to be related to Rajoy's wife, as he was the son of a cousin of Elvira Fernández, and also a member of a family known for sympathizing with the People's Party.


2015 Spanish general election, Campaign, Development
The following day, Rajoy attended a European Council meeting in Brussels, where Angela Merkel and other European leaders approached him showing their support to him after the assault. During the meeting a camera recorded Rajoy, Merkel and other leaders discussing the electoral prospects of Spanish parties. Rajoy revealed to them that, according to PP internal opinion polls, Podemos was rising quickly and approaching the PSOE, to the point that there was the possibility of it becoming the second political force of the country. Merkel expressed concern about such an event.


2015 Spanish general election, Aftermath, Outcome
The election results produced the most fragmented parliament in recent Spanish history. As opinion polls had predicted, the People's Party (PP) was able to secure first place with a clear lead over its rivals, but it lost the absolute majority it had held since 2011 in the Congress of Deputies. Its 123 seat-count was the worst result ever obtained by a winning party in a Spanish general election—previously been 156 seats in 1996. Its result was also slightly below the party's expected goal of reaching 30% of the vote.


2015 Spanish general election, Aftermath, Outcome
The party's net loss of seats (64 fewer than in 2011) and vote share drop (minus 16 percentage points) was the PP's largest fall in popular support in its history, as well as the worst showing for a sitting government in Spain since 1982. Overall, it was also the worst result obtained by the PP in a general election since 1989, back to the party's refoundation from the People's Alliance.


2015 Spanish general election, Aftermath, Outcome
The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) obtained its worst election result in recent history, with just 22% of the total party vote and 90 seats, well below Pedro Sánchez's target of at least 100 seats. Losing 20 seats and nearly 7 percentage points to its already negative 2011 result, this was the first time since the Spanish transition to democracy that one of the two largest parties fell below the 100-seat mark.


2015 Spanish general election, Aftermath, Outcome
Overall, while able to hold on to its second place nationally in terms of votes and seats, it lost the second and first place to Podemos in 8 out of the 17 autonomous communities, and finished fourth in Madrid, the capital's district.


2015 Spanish general election, Aftermath, Outcome
It was able to narrowly win in Andalusia and Extremadura—which it had resoundingly lost to the PP in 2011—thanks to the PP vote collapse in those regions, but it lost in Barcelona for the first time ever in a general election, and its sister party, the Socialists' Party of Catalonia (PSC), was reduced to third party status in Catalonia after decades of political dominance.


2015 Spanish general election, Aftermath, Outcome
The combined results for the top two parties was also the worst for any general election held since 1977, gathering just 51% of the total party vote and 213 seats, just slightly above the required 3/5 majority for an ordinary constitutional reform. The result was regarded as a loss for bipartisanship in Spain as a whole, as the era of bipartisan politics was declared officially over by newcomers Podemos and Citizens, as well as by both national and international media.


2015 Spanish general election, Aftermath, Outcome
Podemos, which contested a general election for the first time after having been founded in January 2014, obtained an unprecedented 21% of the vote and 69 seats together with its regional alliances, the best result ever obtained by a third party in a Spanish election. Coming short by 340,000 votes of securing its campaign goal of becoming the main left-wing party in Spain, it managed to secure second place in 6 out of the 17 autonomous communities and came top in another two—the Basque Country and Catalonia.


2015 Spanish general election, Aftermath, Outcome
This result was ahead of what initial pre-campaign and campaign opinion polls had predicted, and was in line with a late-campaign surge in support for the party. Citizens (C's) also had a strong performance for a national party in Spain, but its fourth place, 14% of the share and 40 seats were considered a letdown for party leader Albert Rivera, mainly as a consequence of the high expectations that had been generated around his candidacy. Pre


2015 Spanish general election, Aftermath, Outcome
-election opinion polls had placed C's near or above 20% of the vote share, and many also suggested a strong possibility of C's disputing second place to PSOE. Finally, it only came ahead of either PSOE or PP in Madrid and Catalonia. The party also found itself in a weaker political position than predicted, as the "kingmaker" position that was thought to go to C's under opinion polling projections finally went to PSOE, with the Congress' fragmentation resulting from the election meaning that neither the PP–C's nor the PSOE–Podemos–IU blocs would be able to command a majority on their own.


2015 Spanish local elections
The 2015 Spanish local elections were held on Sunday, 24 May 2015, to elect all 67,515 councillors in the 8,122 municipalities of Spain and all 1,040 seats in 38 provincial deputations. The elections were held simultaneously with regional elections in thirteen autonomous communities, as well as local elections in the three foral deputations of the Basque Country and the eleven island councils in the Balearic and Canary Islands.


2015 Spanish local elections, Background
After Podemos' success in the European Parliament election of 2014, the party decided not to directly contest the local elections scheduled for May 2015, but instead to focus on the regional and general elections to be held throughout 2015. Instead, they opted for the Guanyem Barcelona formula, popular unity municipal candidacies comprising different parties and social movements. The model was reproduced in many cities under the name Ganemos (Let's Win).


2015 Spanish local elections, Background
United Left, the traditional left-wing third party of Spain, also started debating on joining these local coalitions. However, this option was not well received by some party sectors, particularly their Madrid branch, who feared that the party would lose its identity if it joined these coalitions. The first attempt at a joint candidacy that included Podemos and United Left, among others, succeeded in Barcelona with Guanyem Barcelona, later Barcelona en Comú, under activist Ada Colau's leadership.


2015 Spanish local elections, Background
Another national party that decided to participate in most of these unitary candidacies was Equo, as well as minoritary parties like PUM+J, Socialist Alternative, Republican Alternative, ANOVA, or Initiative for Catalonia Greens. The unitary lists also included individuals from social movements like the anti-eviction PAH, 15M, o the so-called mareas (Spanish for "tides") made up of workers from different service sectors like teachers, Public Health System workers or young people forced to migrate as a consequence of the 2008–15 Spanish financial crisis.


2015 Spanish local elections, Electoral system
Municipalities in Spain were local corporations with independent legal personality. They had a governing body, the municipal council or corporation, composed of the mayor, the government council and the elected plenary assembly. Elections to the local councils in Spain were fixed for the fourth Sunday of May every four years.


2015 Spanish local elections, Electoral system
Voting for the local assemblies was on the basis of universal suffrage, which comprised all nationals over eighteen, registered and residing in the corresponding municipality and in full enjoyment of their political rights, as well as resident non-national European citizens and those whose country of origin allowed Spanish nationals to vote in their own elections by virtue of a treaty. Local councillors were elected using the D'Hondt method and a closed list proportional representation, with an electoral threshold of five percent of valid votes—which included blank ballots—being applied in each local council. Parties not reaching the threshold were not taken into consideration for seat distribution. Councillors were allocated to municipal councils based on the following scale:


2015 Spanish local elections, Electoral system
Councillors of municipalities with populations below 250 inhabitants were elected under an open list partial block voting, with electors voting for individual candidates instead of parties: for up to four candidates in municipalities with populations between 100 and 250 inhabitants; and for up to two candidates in municipalities below 100.


2015 Spanish local elections, Electoral system
This did not apply to municipalities which, as a result of their geographical location or the convenience of a better management of municipal interests or other circumstances, made it advisable to be organized through the open council system (Spanish: régimen de concejo abierto), in which voters would directly elect the local major.


2015 Spanish local elections, Electoral system
The mayor was indirectly elected by the plenary assembly. A legal clause required that mayoral candidates earn the vote of an absolute majority of councillors, or else the candidate of the most-voted party in the assembly was to be automatically appointed to the post. In the event of a tie, a toss-up would determine the appointee.


2015 Spanish local elections, Electoral system
The electoral law allowed for parties and federations registered in the interior ministry, coalitions and groupings of electors to present lists of candidates. Parties and federations intending to form a coalition ahead of an election were required to inform the relevant Electoral Commission within ten days of the election call, whereas groupings of electors needed to secure the signature of a determined amount of the electors registered in the municipality for which they sought election:


2015 Spanish local elections, Electoral system
Electors were disallowed from signing for more than one list of candidates.


2015 Spanish local elections, Electoral system
Provincial deputations were the governing bodies of provinces in Spain, having an administration role of municipal activities and composed of a provincial president, an administrative body, and a plenary. Basque provinces had foral deputations instead—called Juntas Generales—, whereas deputations for single-province autonomous communities were abolished: their functions transferred to the corresponding regional parliaments. For insular provinces, such as the Balearic and Canary Islands, deputations were replaced by island councils in each of the islands or group of islands. For Majorca, Menorca, Ibiza and Formentera this figure was referred to in Spanish as consejo insular (Catalan: consell insular), whereas for Gran Canaria, Tenerife, Fuerteventura, La Gomera, El Hierro, Lanzarote and La Palma its name was cabildo insular.


2015 Spanish local elections, Electoral system
Most deputations were indirectly elected by local councillors from municipalities in each judicial district. Seats were allocated to provincial deputations based on the following scale:


2015 Spanish local elections, Electoral system
Island councils and foral deputations were elected directly by electors under their own, specific electoral regulations.


2015 Spanish local elections, Municipal elections, City control
The following table lists party control in provincial capitals, as well as in municipalities above or around 75,000. Gains for a party are highlighted in that party's colour.


2015 Spanish local elections, Provincial deputations, Deputation control
The following table lists party control in provincial deputations. Gains for a party are highlighted in that party's colour.


2015 Spanish motorcycle Grand Prix
The 2015 Spanish motorcycle Grand Prix was the fourth round of the 2015 Grand Prix motorcycle racing season. It was held at the Circuito de Jerez in Jerez de la Frontera on 3 May 2015.


2015 Spanish motorcycle Grand Prix
In the premier class, Jorge Lorenzo took his first pole position since the 2014 San Marino Grand Prix, and ultimately his first victory at Circuito de Jerez since 2011. Marc Márquez, despite riding with a fractured finger on his left hand after a dirt-track accident a week before the race, finished in second while Valentino Rossi recorded his eighth successive podium finish – and the 200th of his Grand Prix career – with third place. Further down the order, Ducati's Andrea Dovizioso started from eighth on the grid, but he went off track on the second lap. After he fell to the rear of the field, Dovizioso was able to finish ninth, just behind Bradley Smith. Dovizioso's teammate, Andrea Iannone, had a good start position, third on the grid, but he fell to sixth place.


2015 Spanish motorcycle Grand Prix, Championship standings after the race (MotoGP)
Below are the standings for the top six riders and constructors after round four has concluded.


2015 Spanish regional elections
The 2015 Spanish regional elections were held on Sunday, 24 May 2015, to elect the regional parliaments of thirteen of the seventeen autonomous communities—Aragon, Asturias, the Balearic Islands, the Canary Islands, Cantabria, Castile and León, Castilla–La Mancha, Extremadura, La Rioja, Madrid, Murcia, Navarre and the Valencian Community—, not including Andalusia, the Basque Country, Catalonia and Galicia, which had separate electoral cycles. 804 of 1,198 seats in the regional parliaments were up for election, as well as the 50 seats in the regional assemblies of Ceuta and Melilla. The elections were held simultaneously with local elections all throughout Spain.


2015 Spanish regional elections
The ruling People's Party (PP) suffered one of the harshest loss of votes for any party in the quadrennial regional elections, losing all of its absolute majorities and most of the regional administrations at stake, including notable PP strongholds such as the Valencian Community which it had held continuously since 1995. The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) was unable to capitalize on the PP backlash and kept losing votes from 2011. However, through post-election agreements with other left-wing parties it was able to recapture all of the regional governments it had lost four years previously, as well as gain the Valencian regional government.


2015 Spanish regional elections
The novelty of these elections was the irruption of two new parties: Podemos (Spanish: We can), a party founded in 2014 before the May European Parliament election, and Citizens (C's), a Catalan unionist party created in 2006 to run in Parliament of Catalonia elections. Podemos obtained a strong third place, close to the two main parties in several regions and entering in all regional parliaments—a first for any party aside from PP and PSOE—, while C's placed fourth in most regions, being left out from regional assemblies in the Canary Islands, Castilla–La Mancha and Navarre.


2015 Spanish regional elections, Election date
Determination of election day varied depending on the autonomous community, with each one having competency to establish its own regulations. Typically, thirteen out of the seventeen autonomous communities—all but Andalusia, the Basque Country, Catalonia and Galicia—had their elections fixed for the fourth Sunday of May every four years, to be held together with nationwide local elections.


2015 Spanish regional elections, Election date
In some cases, regional presidents had the prerogative to dissolve the regional parliament and call for extra elections at a different time, but newly elected assemblies were restricted to serving out what remained of their previous four year-terms without altering the period to their next ordinary election. In other cases—namely, Aragon, the Balearic Islands, Castile and León, Extremadura, Navarre and the Valencian Community—, the law granted presidents the power to call a snap election resulting in a fresh four year-parliamentary term. By the time of the 2015 regional elections, however, this prerogative had not yet been exercised by any of these communities.


2015 Spanish regional elections, Regional governments
The following table lists party control in autonomous communities and cities. Gains for a party are highlighted in that party's colour.


2015 Sparkassen ATP Challenger
The 2015 Sparkassen ATP Challenger was a professional tennis tournament played on indoor hard courts in Ortisei, Italy between 9 and 15 November 2015. It was the sixth edition of the tournament which was part of the 2015 ATP Challenger Tour.


2015 Sparkassen ATP Challenger, Singles main draw entrants, Other entrants
The following players received wildcards into the singles main draw:


2015 Sparkassen ATP Challenger – Doubles
Maximilian Neuchrist and Tristan-Samuel Weissborn won the title, defeating Nikola Mektić and Antonio Šančić in the final 7–6(9–7), 6–3 .


2015 Sparkassen ATP Challenger – Singles
Ričardas Berankis won the title, defeating Rajeev Ram in the final 7–6(7–3), 6–4 .


2015 Sparkassen Giro
The 2015 Sparkassen Giro featured as the seventh round of the 2015 UCI Women's Road World Cup. It was held on 2 August 2015, in Bochum, Germany. Barbara Guarischi (Velocio–SRAM) won, beating Lucinda Brand (Rabo–Liv) and Emilie Moberg (Team Hitec Products).


2015 Sparkassen Open
The 2015 Sparkassen Open was a professional tennis tournament played on clay courts. It was the 22nd edition of the tournament which was part of the 2015 ATP Challenger Tour. It took place in Braunschweig, Germany between 6 and 11 July 2015.


2015 Sparkassen Open, Singles main draw entrants, Other entrants
The following players received wildcards into the singles main draw:


2015 Sparkassen Open, Singles main draw entrants, Other entrants
The following players received entry as a special exempt into the singles main draw:


2015 Sparkassen Open, Singles main draw entrants, Other entrants
The following players received entry as an alternate into the singles main draw:


2015 Sparkassen Open, Doubles main draw entrants, Other entrants
The following pairs received wildcards into the doubles main draw:


2015 Sparkassen Open – Doubles
Andreas Siljeström and Igor Zelenay were the defending champions, but Siljeström played alongside Frank Moser and lost to Marcel Granollers and Pere Riba in the first round, while Zelenay teamed with Mateusz Kowalczyk and also lost in the first round to Julian Knowle and Philipp Oswald.


2015 Sparkassen Open – Doubles
Sergey Betov and Michail Elgin won the title, defeating Damir Džumhur and Franko Škugor in the final, 3–6, 6–1, [10–5].


2015 Sparkassen Open – Singles
Alexander Zverev was the defending champion, but he lost in the second round to Daniel Brands.


2015 Sparta Prague Open
The 2015 Sparta Prague Open was a professional tennis tournament played on clay courts. It was the 18th edition of the tournament which was part of the 2015 ATP Challenger Tour. It took place in Prague, Czech Republic between 8 and 13 June 2015.


2015 Sparta Prague Open, Singles main draw entrants, Other entrants
The following players received wildcards into the singles main draw:


2015 Sparta Prague Open, Doubles main draw entrants, Other entrants
The following pairs received wildcards into the doubles main draw:


2015 Sparta Prague Open – Doubles
Roman Jebavý and Jiří Veselý were the defending champions, but Veselý decided not to participate this year. Jebavý played alongside Adam Pavlásek, but they lost to Dino Marcan and Antonio Šančić in the quarterfinals.


2015 Sparta Prague Open – Doubles
Mateusz Kowalczyk and Igor Zelenay won the tournament, defeating Roberto Maytín and Miguel Ángel Reyes-Varela in the final, 6–2, 7–6(7–5).


2015 Sparta Prague Open – Singles
Lukáš Rosol was the defending champion but chose not to compete.


2015 Sparta Prague Open – Singles
Norbert Gombos won the tournament defeating Albert Montañés in the final, 7–6(7–5), 5–7, 7–6(7–2).


2015 Special Honours
As part of the British honours system, the Special Honours are issued at the Queen's pleasure at any given time. The Special Honours confer the award of the Order of the Garter, Order of the Thistle, Order of Merit, Royal Victorian Order and the Order of St John. Life Peers are at times also awarded as special honours.


2015 Special Olympics World Summer Games
The 2015 Special Olympics World Summer Games were a multi-sport event for athletes with intellectual disabilities  held in Los Angeles, United States from July 25 to August 2, 2015, in the tradition of the Special Olympics movement.


2015 Special Olympics World Summer Games
These Games, hosting around 6,500 athletes from 177 countries, marked the first time in sixteen years that the biennial Special Olympics World Summer Games have been hosted by the United States, and the second hosted by Los Angeles since 1972. The medal tally was led by the United States followed by China and India respectively.


2015 Special Olympics World Summer Games, Background
The 2015 Special Olympics World Summer Games were awarded to Los Angeles on September 15, 2011, beating a bid by South Africa. The city's bid was backed by Mayor of Los Angeles Antonio Villaraigosa, who had backed the city's failed bid for the 2016 Summer Olympics (awarded to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil).


2015 Special Olympics World Summer Games, Background
Patrick McClenahan, chief of the organizing committee, had encountered representatives of Special Olympics International at the Southern California Law Enforcement Torch Run, a local event benefitting Special Olympics Southern California. The group suggested that Los Angeles bid for the 2015 World Summer Games. The bid quickly garnered support, with his committee having grown to 20 members, including athletes and Mayor Villaraigosa, only two weeks later.


2015 Special Olympics World Summer Games, Background
Amongst other receptions held during a visit by the selection committee to Los Angeles, a group of Special Olympics athletes participating in the World Summer Games in Athens were honored between quarters at a Los Angeles Lakers basketball game that the committee were attending, resulting in an ovation from fans in attendance.


2015 Special Olympics World Summer Games, Background
Villaraigosa felt "prouder" that the city would host the Special Olympics World Summer Games instead of the 2016 Summer Olympics. Of the bid, McClenahan stated that "In a city full of movie stars and sports stars, the athletes are going to be the stars of the show. "L.A. will create the world stage where the athletes can perform, show their skills and courage and determination and sportsmanship and as a result of that people come in contact with them and their perceptions change that leads to an awareness that leads to more inclusion and acceptance into the community."


2015 Special Olympics World Summer Games, The Games, Venues
These Games were primarily held on the campuses of the University of Southern California and University of California, Los Angeles; USC hosted athletics (Cromwell Field and Loker Stadium), aquatics (Uytengsu Aquatics Center), and basketball (Galen Center) events, while UCLA hosted 5-a-side football (Intramural Fields) 11-a-side football (Drake Stadium and the North Athletic Field), badminton, gymnastics, judo, softball, tennis (Los Angeles Tennis Center) and volleyball (Pauley Pavilion).


2015 Special Olympics World Summer Games, The Games, Venues
Other venues in Los Angeles were used, such as the Los Angeles Convention Center, Los Angeles Equestrian Center, Lucky Strike Lanes for bowling, the Balboa Sports Center in Encino for 7-a-side football, the Los Angeles Municipal Courses, Griffith Park for golf. The city of Long Beach hosted competition in kayaking, the marathon, volleyball, and demonstration sports.


2015 Special Olympics World Summer Games, The Games, Venues
The use of USC and UCLA was based on their abilities to provide accommodations for the large number of athletes that participated in the Games, as well as their existing sports facilities. To minimize travel time and reduce the Games' impact on local traffic, a centralized athlete's village was not used. Athletes were instead assigned facilities at either UCLA or USC based on the sports they were to participate in.


2015 Special Olympics World Summer Games, The Games, Sports
Demonstration events in beach soccer, beach volleyball, open water swimming, and triathlon were also held.


2015 Special Olympics World Summer Games, The Games, Ceremonies
The opening ceremony of the Games were held on July 25, 2015 at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. The ceremony featured performances by J Balvin, Becky G, Siedah Garrett, Stevie Wonder, and Avril Lavigne. Nicole Scherzinger sung the American national anthem. A pre-recorded message by President Barack Obama was played, while First Lady Michelle Obama gave a speech in-person. The Flame of Hope was used by Special Olympian Destiny Sanchez, joined by Rafer Johnson, to light the stadium's Olympic cauldron (as Johnson had done in 1984).


2015 Speedway European Championship
The 2015 Speedway European Championship season was the third season of the Speedway European Championship (SEC) era, and the 15th UEM Individual Speedway European Championship. It was the third series under the promotion of One Sport Lts. of Poland.


2015 Speedway European Championship
The championship was won by Russia's Emil Sayfutdinov for the second season in succession. The Russian finished three points ahead of Danish rider Nicki Pedersen. Third place went to Antonio Lindbäck, who was another four points behind Pedersen. Janusz Kołodziej and Martin Vaculík secured the final two qualifying spots for the 2016 season by finishing fourth and fifth respectively.


2015 Speedway European Championship, Qualification
For the 2015 season, 15 permanent riders were joined at each SEC Final by one wild card and two track reserves.


2015 Speedway European Championship, Qualification
Defending champion, Emil Sayfutdinov from Russia was automatically invited to participate in all final events. Peter Kildemand, Nicki Pedersen, Martin Vaculík and Janusz Kołodziej secured their participation in all final events thanks to being in the top five of the general classification in the 2014 season.


2015 Speedway European Championship, Qualification
Tomasz Gollob,  Antonio Lindbäck and Martin Smolinski received and accepted a wild card to compete in the 2015 Speedway European Championships.


2015 Speedway European Championship, Calendar, Qualification
The calendar for qualification consisted of 3 Semifinal events and one SEC Challenge event.


2015 Speedway European Championship, Calendar, Championship Series
A four-event calendar was scheduled for the final series, with events in Poland, Germany and Sweden.


2015 Speedway Grand Prix
The 2015 Speedway Grand Prix season was the 70th edition of the official World Championship and the 21st season of the Speedway Grand Prix era, deciding the FIM Speedway World Championship. It was the fifteenth series under the promotion of Benfield Sports International, an IMG company. Greg Hancock was the defending champion from 2014.


2015 Speedway Grand Prix
Tai Woffinden won the world title, with Hancock second and Nicki Pedersen third. It was Woffinden's second title having also won in 2013.


2015 Speedway Grand Prix, Qualification
For the 2015 season there were 15 permanent riders, joined at each Grand Prix by one wild card and two track reserves.


2015 Speedway Grand Prix, Qualification
The top eight riders from the 2014 championship qualified automatically. Those riders were joined by the three riders who qualified via the Grand Prix Challenge. Since the winner of the Grand Prix Challenge, Matej Žagar, had already qualified following his fifth position in the 2014 championship, fourth-placed Maciej Janowski qualified.


2015 Speedway Grand Prix, Qualification
The final four riders were nominated by series promoters, Benfield Sports International, following the completion of the 2014 season.


2015 Speedway Grand Prix, Calendar
The 2015 season consisted of 12 events, just like 2014, although the first Grand Prix was cut short after 12 heats, and the Latvian Grand Prix was awarded after 20 heats.


2015 Speedway Grand Prix, Classification
The first Grand Prix was awarded after 12 heats because the riders deemed the track to be unsafe to race. The win went to Matej Žagar, with second place going to Chris Harris and third to Jarosław Hampel.


2015 Speedway Grand Prix, Classification
The fifth Grand Prix was awarded after 20 heats due to a waterlogged track. The win went to Maciej Jankowski, with second place going to Nicki Pedersen and third to Troy Batchelor.


2015 Speedway Grand Prix, Classification
In the twelfth Grand Prix, Australian Jason Doyle was injured in the final and was unable to partake in the rerun.


2015 Speedway Grand Prix Qualification
The 2015 Individual Speedway World Championship Grand Prix Qualification is a series of motorcycle speedway meetings used to determine the three riders who qualified for the 2015 Speedway Grand Prix. The top eight riders finishing the 2014 Grand Prix series automatically qualify for 2015. The final round of qualification – the Grand Prix Challenge – took place on 20 September 2014 in Lonigo, Italy.


2015 Speedway Grand Prix of Australia
The 2015 Don Smallgoods Australian FIM Speedway Grand Prix was the twelfth and final round of the 2015 Speedway Grand Prix season. It took place on 24 October at the Etihad Stadium in Melbourne, Australia.


2015 Speedway Grand Prix of Australia, Riders
Australian rider Sam Masters was given the wildcard for the event. Fellow Aussies Justin Sedgemen and three time reigning Australian Under-21 Champion Max Fricke were named as the reserves.


2015 Speedway Grand Prix of Australia, Riders
Masters was involved in a heated clash with triple World Champion Nicki Pedersen at the end of Heat 8. Unhappy that Pedersen had squeezed him close to the wall on the back straight, the two exchanged words at the pit gate. Then as Masters was walking back to his pit he was confronted by Pedersen's mechanic Marek Hu. More words were exchanged and Masters punched Hu before being led away. For his actions Masters was fined by the FIM.


2015 Speedway Grand Prix of Australia, Results
American Greg Hancock, who had won the only previous SGP of Australia in 2002, was unbeaten on the night to take his 20th Speedway Grand Prix win in his record 81st SGP Final. Danish star Niels-Kristian Iversen finished second with Poland's Maciej Janowski in third place. Reigning Australian Champion Jason Doyle qualified for the final but was outed in a crash in the first turn in which he suffered neck and chest injuries. A fully conscious Doyle was then transported to the Royal Melbourne Hospital for observation. Greg Hancock took control of the re-run from the start and was never headed. His win also saw him finish in second place in the World Championship standings.


2015 Speedway Grand Prix of Australia, Results
Going into the second semi-final, Denmark's Peter Kildemand needed 4 points to join Australia's 2012 World Champion Chris Holder on 95 points for the season and force a run-off for the last automatic qualifying spot in the 2016 series. Tai Woffinden won the start of the second semi, but down the back straight Kildemand flew past into the lead and looked set for a place in the final where he would only need to finish second to secure his place or third to force the run-off.


2015 Speedway Grand Prix of Australia, Results
Unfortunately however, Woffinden fell on lap two and the race was stopped and re-run with the 2015 World Champion excluded. Kildemand could not repeat his effort in the re-run and finished in third place behind Niels-Kristian Iversen and Maciej Janowski, missing his chance for automatic qualification. However, as there are 15 permanent riders in the SGP, Kildemand as the 9th-place finisher in 2015 received one of the wildcard spots for the season essentially giving him automatic qualification for 2016.


2015 Speedway Grand Prix of Australia, Results, Heat details
e: retired or mechanical failure • m: exclusion for exceeding two minute time allowance • t: exclusion for touching the tapes • x: other exclusion • f: fellns: non-starter • nc: non-classifySemi-finals: Heat 21: Riders placed 1st, 4th, 6th & 7th in the intermediate classification (after 20 heats)Heat 22: Riders placed 2nd, 3rd, 5th & 8th in the intermediate classification (after 20 heats)Big Final (heat 23): The first and second placed riders in each of the Semi-Finals


2015 Speedway Grand Prix of Czech Republic
The 2015 Czech Republic FIM Speedway Grand Prix was the third race of the 2015 Speedway Grand Prix season. It took place on May 23 at the Markéta Stadium in Prague, Czech Republic.


2015 Speedway Grand Prix of Czech Republic, Riders
The Speedway Grand Prix Commission nominated Václav Milík as the wild card, and Matěj Kůs and Josef Franc both as Track Reserves.


2015 Speedway Grand Prix of Czech Republic, Results
The Grand Prix was won by Tai Woffinden, who beat Jarosław Hampel, Maciej Janowski and Nicki Pedersen in the final. As a result, Woffinden extended his lead over Pedersen to six points in the race for the world title.


2015 Speedway Grand Prix of Czech Republic, Results, Heat details
e: retired or mechanical failure • m: exclusion for exceeding two minute time allowance • t: exclusion for touching the tapes • x: other exclusion • f: fellns: non-starter • nc: non-classifySemi-finals: Heat 21: Riders placed 1st, 4th, 6th & 7th in the intermediate classification (after 20 heats)Heat 22: Riders placed 2nd, 3rd, 5th & 8th in the intermediate classification (after 20 heats)Big Final (heat 23): The first and second placed riders in each of the Semi-Finals


2015 Speedway Grand Prix of Denmark
The 2015 Kjærgaard Danish FIM Speedway Grand Prix was the seventh race of the 2015 Speedway Grand Prix season. It took place on August 8 at the CASA Arena in Horsens, Denmark.


2015 Speedway Grand Prix of Denmark, Riders
First reserve Peter Kildemand replaced Jarosław Hampel, who had injured himself during the 2015 Speedway World Cup. The Speedway Grand Prix Commission also nominated Mikkel Michelsen as the wild card, and Nikolaj Busk Jakobsen and Anders Thomsen both as Track Reserves.


2015 Speedway Grand Prix of Denmark, Results
The Grand Prix was won by Peter Kildemand, who beat Matej Žagar, Michael Jepsen Jensen and Tai Woffinden in the final. Maciej Janowski had initially top scored with 12 points during the qualifying rides, however he was eliminated in the semi-finals. After finishing fourth, Woffinden extended his overall lead over Nicki Pedersen to 13 points in the race for the world title.


2015 Speedway Grand Prix of Denmark, Results, Heat details
e: retired or mechanical failure • m: exclusion for exceeding two minute time allowance • t: exclusion for touching the tapes • x: other exclusion • f: fellns: non-starter • nc: non-classifySemi-finals: Heat 21: Riders placed 1st, 4th, 6th & 7th in the intermediate classification (after 20 heats)Heat 22: Riders placed 2nd, 3rd, 5th & 8th in the intermediate classification (after 20 heats)Big Final (heat 23): The first and second placed riders in each of the Semi-Finals


2015 Speedway Grand Prix of Finland
The 2015 FIM Finnish Speedway Grand Prix was the second race of the 2015 Speedway Grand Prix season. It took place on May 16 at the Ratina Stadium in Tampere, Finland.


2015 Speedway Grand Prix of Finland, Riders
The Speedway Grand Prix Commission nominated Timo Lahti as the wild card, and Nike Lunna and Jiri Nieminen both as Track Reserves.


2015 Speedway Grand Prix of Finland, Results
The Grand Prix was won by Nicki Pedersen, who beat Tai Woffinden, Andreas Jonsson and Jarosław Hampel in the final. Despite finishing second, Woffinden top scored in the meeting and became the new world championship leader.


2015 Speedway Grand Prix of Finland, Results, Heat details
e: retired or mechanical failure • m: exclusion for exceeding two minute time allowance • t: exclusion for touching the tapes • x: other exclusion • f: fellns: non-starter • nc: non-classifySemi-finals: Heat 21: Riders placed 1st, 4th, 6th & 7th in the intermediate classification (after 20 heats)Heat 22: Riders placed 2nd, 3rd, 5th & 8th in the intermediate classification (after 20 heats)Big Final (heat 23): The first and second placed riders in each of the Semi-Finals


2015 Speedway Grand Prix of Great Britain
The 2015 Adrian Flux British FIM Speedway Grand Prix was the fourth race of the 2015 Speedway Grand Prix season. It took place on 4 July at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, Wales.


2015 Speedway Grand Prix of Great Britain, Riders
First reserve Peter Kildemand replaced Jarosław Hampel, who had injured himself during the 2015 Speedway World Cup. The Speedway Grand Prix Commission also nominated Craig Cook as the wild card, and Jason Garrity and Robert Lambert both as Track Reserves.


2015 Speedway Grand Prix of Great Britain, Results
The Grand Prix was won by Niels-Kristian Iversen, who beat Chris Holder, Peter Kildemand and Tai Woffinden in the final. Holder had initially top scored with 13 points during the qualifying rides, however Iversen passed him on the first bend of the final and stayed ahead to claim his first British Speedway Grand Prix victory. Despite finishing fourth, Woffinden extended his lead over Nicki Pedersen to 12 points in the race for the world title.


2015 Speedway Grand Prix of Great Britain, Results, Heat details
e: retired or mechanical failure • m: exclusion for exceeding two minute time allowance • t: exclusion for touching the tapes • x: other exclusion • f: fellns: non-starter • nc: non-classifySemi-finals: Heat 21: Riders placed 1st, 4th, 6th & 7th in the intermediate classification (after 20 heats)Heat 22: Riders placed 2nd, 3rd, 5th & 8th in the intermediate classification (after 20 heats)Big Final (heat 23): The first and second placed riders in each of the Semi-Finals


2015 Speedway Grand Prix of Latvia
The 2015 Rietumu Bank Latvian FIM Speedway Grand Prix was the fifth race of the 2015 Speedway Grand Prix season. It took place on July 18 at the Latvijas Spīdveja Centrs in Daugavpils, Latvia.


2015 Speedway Grand Prix of Latvia, Riders
First reserve Peter Kildemand replaced Jarosław Hampel, who had injured himself during the 2015 Speedway World Cup. The Speedway Grand Prix Commission nominated Kjasts Puodžuks as the wild card, and Andžejs Ļebedevs and Jevgeņijs Kostigovs both as Track Reserves.


2015 Speedway Grand Prix of Latvia, Results
The Grand Prix was won by Maciej Janowski, who beat Nicki Pedersen, Troy Batchelor and Chris Holder. After heavy rain, the meeting was abandoned after 20 heats, with each rider having ridden five times. The result stood, as per FIM rule 077.1.4.1., shown below. As a result, second placed Pedersen reduced the deficit to Tai Woffinden to just nine points in the race for the world title.


2015 Speedway Grand Prix of Latvia, Results
If a Grand Prix meeting is interrupted or suspended for any reason whatsoever,


2015 Speedway Grand Prix of Latvia, Results, Heat details
e: retired or mechanical failure • m: exclusion for exceeding two minute time allowance • t: exclusion for touching the tapes • x: other exclusion • f: fellns: non-starter • nc: non-classifySemi-finals: Heat 21: Riders placed 1st, 4th, 6th & 7th in the intermediate classification (after 20 heats)Heat 22: Riders placed 2nd, 3rd, 5th & 8th in the intermediate classification (after 20 heats)Big Final (heat 23): The first and second placed riders in each of the Semi-Finals


2015 Speedway Grand Prix of Poland
The 2015 Lotto FIM Grand Prix of Poland was the opening race of the 2015 Speedway Grand Prix season. It took place on April 18 at Stadion Narodowy in Warsaw, Poland.


2015 Speedway Grand Prix of Poland, Riders
The Speedway Grand Prix Commission nominated Tomasz Gollob as the wild card, and Bartosz Zmarzlik and Piotr Pawlicki Jr. both as Track Reserves.


2015 Speedway Grand Prix of Poland, Results
The Grand Prix was won by Matej Žagar, who beat Chris Harris, Jarosław Hampel and Niels-Kristian Iversen. After safety issues with the track, the meeting was abandoned after 12 heats, with each rider having ridden three times. The result stood, as per FIM rule 077.1.4.1., shown below.


2015 Speedway Grand Prix of Poland, Results
If a Grand Prix meeting is interrupted or suspended for any reason whatsoever,


2015 Speedway Grand Prix of Poland, Results, Heat details
e: retired or mechanical failure • m: exclusion for exceeding two minute time allowance • t: exclusion for touching the tapes • x: other exclusion • f: fellns: non-starter • nc: non-classifySemi-finals: Heat 21: Riders placed 1st, 4th, 6th & 7th in the intermediate classification (after 20 heats)Heat 22: Riders placed 2nd, 3rd, 5th & 8th in the intermediate classification (after 20 heats)Big Final (heat 23): The first and second placed riders in each of the Semi-Finals


2015 Speedway Grand Prix of Poland II
The 2015 Gorzów FIM Speedway Grand Prix of Poland was the eighth race of the 2015 Speedway Grand Prix season. It took place on August 30 at the Edward Jancarz Stadium in Gorzów, Poland.


2015 Speedway Grand Prix of Poland II, Riders
First reserve Peter Kildemand replaced Jarosław Hampel, who had injured himself during the 2015 Speedway World Cup. The Speedway Grand Prix Commission also nominated 2014 winner Bartosz Zmarzlik as the wild card, and Adrian Cyfer and Rafal Karczmarz both as Track Reserves.


2015 Speedway Grand Prix of Poland II, Results
The Grand Prix was won by Matej Žagar, who beat Greg Hancock, Tai Woffinden and wild card Bartosz Zmarzlik in the final. Woffinden had initially top scored with a maximum 15 points during the qualifying rides, however he was beaten by Zmarzlik in the semi-finals and then had to settle for third in the decider. He did eventually score 18 points though, and thus extended his overall lead over Nicki Pedersen to 24 points in the race for the world title.


2015 Speedway Grand Prix of Poland II, Results, Heat details
e: retired or mechanical failure • m: exclusion for exceeding two minute time allowance • t: exclusion for touching the tapes • x: other exclusion • f: fellns: non-starter • nc: non-classifySemi-finals: Heat 21: Riders placed 1st, 4th, 6th & 7th in the intermediate classification (after 20 heats)Heat 22: Riders placed 2nd, 3rd, 5th & 8th in the intermediate classification (after 20 heats)Big Final (heat 23): The first and second placed riders in each of the Semi-Finals


2015 Speedway Grand Prix of Poland III
The 2015 FST Grupa Brokerska Toruń FIM Speedway Grand Prix of Poland was the 11th race of the 2015 Speedway Grand Prix season. It took place on October 3 at the MotoArena in Toruń, Poland.


2015 Speedway Grand Prix of Poland III, Riders
First reserve Peter Kildemand replaced Jarosław Hampel, who had injured himself during the 2015 Speedway World Cup. The Speedway Grand Prix Commission also nominated Paweł Przedpełski as the wild card, and Piotr Pawlicki Jr. and Bartosz Zmarzlik both as Track Reserves. However, Przedepełski did not race with Pawlicki Jr. taking all five of his rides in the main event.


2015 Speedway Grand Prix of Poland III, Results
The Grand Prix was won by Nicki Pedersen, who beat Jason Doyle, Maciej Janowski and Niels-Kristian Iversen in the final. Doyle had initially top scored during the heats, beating Pedersen on countback after both riders had scored 13 points. However, Pedersen had the edge in the deciding race and claimed his third Grand Prix win of the season. Overall, Tai Woffinden was crowned world champion with one round remaining. He failed to reach the semi-finals, however Greg Hancock was eliminated in the semi-finals. This maintained Woffinden's now unassailable 25-point lead at the top of the standings.


2015 Speedway Grand Prix of Poland III, Results, Heat details
e: retired or mechanical failure • m: exclusion for exceeding two minute time allowance • t: exclusion for touching the tapes • x: other exclusion • f: fellns: non-starter • nc: non-classifySemi-finals: Heat 21: Riders placed 1st, 4th, 6th & 7th in the intermediate classification (after 20 heats)Heat 22: Riders placed 2nd, 3rd, 5th & 8th in the intermediate classification (after 20 heats)Big Final (heat 23): The first and second placed riders in each of the Semi-Finals


2015 Speedway Grand Prix of Scandinavia
The 2015 Tegera Stockholm FIM Speedway Grand Prix was the 10th race of the 2015 Speedway Grand Prix season. It took place on September 26 at the Friends Arena in Stockholm, Sweden.


2015 Speedway Grand Prix of Scandinavia, Riders
First reserve Peter Kildemand replaced Jarosław Hampel, who had injured himself during the 2015 Speedway World Cup. The Speedway Grand Prix Commission also nominated Antonio Lindbäck as the wild card, and Fredrik Lindgren and Kim Nilsson both as Track Reserves.


2015 Speedway Grand Prix of Scandinavia, Results
The Grand Prix was won by Tai Woffinden, who beat Greg Hancock, Niels-Kristian Iversen and Maciej Janowski in the final. Hancock had initially top scored during the heats, but was beaten into second place in the final. Both riders finished with 16 points though, meaning Woffinden maintained his 25-point lead in the world title race with just two rounds remaining.