1979 Barcelona City Council election

Last updated
1979 Barcelona City Council election
Bandera de Barcelona de 2 barres.svg
  1934 3 April 1979 1983  

All 43 seats in the City Council of Barcelona
22 seats needed for a majority
Registered1,480,453
Turnout803,419 (54.3%)
 First partySecond partyThird party
  Narcis Serra 1987 (cropped).jpg Portrait placeholder.svg Portrait placeholder.svg
Leader Narcís Serra Josep Miquel Abad Xavier Millet
Party PSC–PSOE PSUC CiU
Leader since197919791979
Seats won1698
Popular vote272,512151,288148,806
Percentage34.0%18.9%18.6%

 Fourth partyFifth party
  Portrait placeholder.svg Joan Hortala 2012 (cropped).jpg
Leader Carlos Güell de Sentmenat Joan Hortalà
Party UCD ERC
Leader since19791979
Seats won82
Popular vote133,88541,845
Percentage16.7%5.2%

Mayor before election

Manuel Font
Independent

Elected Mayor

Narcís Serra
PSC

An election was held on Tuesday, 3 April 1979, to elect the 1st City Council of the municipality of Barcelona. All 43 seats in the City Council were up for election. The election was held simultaneously with local elections all throughout Spain.

Contents

Electoral system

The City Council of Barcelona (Catalan : Ajuntament de Barcelona, Spanish : Ayuntamiento de Barcelona) was the top-tier administrative and governing body of the municipality of Barcelona, composed of the mayor, the government council and the elected plenary assembly. [1] [2] Voting for the local assembly was on the basis of universal suffrage, which comprised all nationals over 18 years of age, registered in the municipality of Barcelona and in full enjoyment of their civil and political rights.

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. [1] [2] Councillors were allocated to municipal councils based on the following scale:

PopulationCouncillors
<2505
251–1,0007
1,001–2,0009
2,001–5,00011
5,001–10,00013
10,001–20,00017
20,001–50,00021
50,001–100,00025
>100,001+1 per each 100,000 inhabitants or fraction
+1 if total is an even number

The mayor was indirectly elected by the plenary assembly. A legal clause required that mayoral candidates earned 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, the eldest one would be elected. [1]

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 fifteen days of the election call, whereas groupings of electors needed to secure the signature of at least one-thousandth of the electorate in the constituencies for which they sought election—with a compulsory minimum of 500 signatures—disallowing electors from signing for more than one list of candidates. [2]

Results

Summary of the 3 April 1979 City Council of Barcelona election results
BarcelonaCouncilDiagram1979.svg
Parties and alliancesPopular voteSeats
Votes %±pp Total+/−
Socialists' Party of Catalonia (PSC–PSOE)272,51234.05 n/a 16n/a
Unified Socialist Party of Catalonia (PSUC)151,28818.90n/a9n/a
Convergence and Union (CiU)148,80618.59n/a8n/a
Centrists of Catalonia (CC–UCD)133,88516.73n/a8n/a
Republican Left of CataloniaNational Front of Catalonia (ERC–FNC)41,8455.23n/a2n/a
Democratic Coalition (CD)24,0393.00n/a0n/a
Workers' Party of Catalonia–Communist Unity (PTC–UC)8,8321.10n/a0n/a
Communist MovementOrganization of Communist Left (MC–OEC)4,2590.53n/a0n/a
Socialist Party of National Liberation (PSAN)3,1230.39n/a0n/a
Social Christian Democracy of Catalonia (DSCC)2,9500.37n/a0n/a
Revolutionary Communist League (LCR)1,9390.24n/a0n/a
Catalan Left Bloc (BEC)00.00n/a0n/a
Democratic Municipal Action (AMD)00.00n/a0n/a
New Force (FN)00.00n/a0n/a
Republican Left (IR)00.00n/a0n/a
List for Workers' Courts (LCO)00.00n/a0n/a
Workers' Revolutionary Organization (ORT)00.00n/a0n/a
Blank ballots2,5470.32n/a
Total800,42843n/a
Valid votes800,42899.63n/a
Invalid votes2,9910.37n/a
Votes cast / turnout803,41954.27n/a
Abstentions677,03445.73n/a
Registered voters1,480,453
Sources [3] [4] [5]
Popular vote
PSC–PSOE
34.05%
PSUC
18.90%
CiU
18.59%
CC–UCD
16.73%
ERCFNC
5.23%
CD
3.00%
PTC–UC
1.10%
Others
1.53%
Blank ballots
0.32%
Seats
PSC–PSOE
37.21%
PSUC
20.93%
CiU
18.60%
CC–UCD
18.60%
ERCFNC
4.65%

References

  1. 1 2 3 Ley 39/1978, de 17 de julio, de elecciones locales (Law 39) (in Spanish). 17 July 1978. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
  2. 1 2 3 Real Decreto-ley 20/1977, de 18 de marzo, sobre Normas Electorales (Royal Decree-Law 20) (in Spanish). 18 March 1977. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
  3. "Election Results. Municipal Elections 1979. Barcelona". Government of Catalonia (in Catalan). Retrieved 12 November 2017.
  4. "Electoral Results Consultation. Municipal. April 1979. Barcelona Municipality". Ministry of the Interior (in Spanish). Retrieved 12 November 2017.
  5. "Eleccions municipals a Barcelona (1979 - 2015)". Historia Electoral.com (in Catalan). Retrieved 30 September 2017.