1979 Barcelona municipal election

1979 Barcelona municipal election

← 1934 3 April 1979 1983  →
All 43 seats in the City Council of Barcelona 22 seats needed for a majority
Registered	1,480,453
Turnout	803,419 (54.3%)
First party Second party Third party   Leader Narcís Serra Josep Miquel Abad Xavier Millet Party PSC–PSOE PSUC CiU Leader since 5 February 1979 1979 5 February 1979 Seats won 16 9 8 Popular vote 272,512 151,288 148,806 Percentage 34.0% 18.9% 18.6%   Fourth party Fifth party   Leader Carlos Güell de Sentmenat Joan Hortalà Party CC–UCD ERC Leader since 1979 1979 Seats won 8 2 Popular vote 133,885 41,845 Percentage 16.7% 5.2%
Mayor before election Manuel Font (acting) Independent Elected Mayor Narcís Serra PSC

A municipal election was held in Barcelona on Tuesday, 3 April 1979, to elect the 1st City Council of the municipality. All 43 seats in the City Council were up for election. It was held concurrently with local elections all across Spain.

Overview

Under the 1978 Constitution, the governance of municipalities in Spain—part of the country's local government system—was centered on the figure of city councils (Spanish : ayuntamientos), local corporations with independent legal personality composed of a mayor, a government council and an elected legislative assembly. ^{[1] [2]} In the case of Barcelona, the top-tier administrative and governing body was the City Council of Barcelona. ^{[3] [4]}

Electoral system

Voting for local assemblies was on the basis of universal suffrage, which comprised all nationals over 18 years of age, registered and residing in the municipality of Barcelona and in full enjoyment of their civil and political rights. ^[5]

Local councillors were elected using the D'Hondt method and a closed list proportional voting system, with an electoral threshold of five percent of valid votes (which included blank ballots) being applied in each municipality. Each municipality constituted a multi-member constituency, entitled a number of seats based on the following scale: ^[6]

Population	Councillors
<250	5
251–1,000	7
1,001–2,000	9
2,001–5,000	11
5,001–10,000	13
10,001–20,000	17
20,001–50,000	21
50,001–100,000	25
>100,001	+1 per each 100,000 inhabitants or fraction +1 if total is an even number

The law did not provide for by-elections to fill vacated seats; instead, any vacancies that occurred after the proclamation of candidates and into the legislative term were to be covered by the successive candidates in the list and, when required, by the designated substitutes. ^[6]

The mayor was indirectly elected by the local assembly. A legal clause required candidates to earn the vote of an absolute majority of councillors, or else the candidate of the most-voted party was to be automatically appointed to the post. In the event of a tie, the appointee was to be determined by lot. ^[7]

Election date

The term of city councils in Spain expired four years after the date of their previous election. The election decree was required to be issued no later than the day after the date of expiry of the city councils, with election day taking place on the sixty-fifth day from publication. ^[8]

Elections to local councils were officially called on 27 January 1979 with the publication of the corresponding decree in the BOE, setting election day for 3 April. ^[9]

Parties and candidates

The electoral law allowed for parties and federations registered in the interior ministry, alliances and groupings of electors to present lists of candidates. Parties and federations intending to form an alliance 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, disallowing electors from signing for more than one list of candidates. In the case of Barcelona, as its population was over 1,000,001, at least 5,000 signatures were required. ^[10]

Below is a list of the main parties and electoral alliances which contested the election:

Candidacy		Parties and alliances	Leading candidate		Ideology	Gov.	Ref.
	PSC–PSOE	List Socialists' Party of Catalonia (PSC–PSOE)		Narcís Serra	Social democracy		[11] [12] [13]
	CC–UCD	List Centrists of Catalonia (CC–UCD)		Carlos Güell de Sentmenat	Centrism
	CiU	List Democratic Convergence of Catalonia (CDC) Democratic Union of Catalonia (UDC)		Xavier Millet	Catalan nationalism Centrism		[13]
	PSUC	List Unified Socialist Party of Catalonia (PSUC)		Josep Miquel Abad	Communism Catalanism
	ERC	List Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC)		Joan Hortalà	Catalan nationalism Left-wing nationalism Social democracy

Results

Summary of the 3 April 1979 City Council of Barcelona election results →

Parties and alliances		Popular vote			Seats
		Votes	%	±pp	Total	+/−
	Socialists' Party of Catalonia (PSC–PSOE)	272,512	34.05	n/a	16	n/a
	Unified Socialist Party of Catalonia (PSUC)	151,288	18.90	n/a	9	n/a
	Convergence and Union (CiU)	148,806	18.59	n/a	8	n/a
	Centrists of Catalonia (CC–UCD)	133,885	16.73	n/a	8	n/a
	Republican Left of Catalonia–National Front of Catalonia (ERC–FNC)	41,845	5.23	n/a	2	n/a
	Democratic Coalition (CD)	24,039	3.00	n/a	0	n/a
	Workers' Party of Catalonia–Communist Unity (PTC–UC)	8,832	1.10	n/a	0	n/a
	Communist Movement–Organization of Communist Left (MC–OEC)	4,259	0.53	n/a	0	n/a
	Socialist Party of National Liberation (PSAN)	3,123	0.39	n/a	0	n/a
	Social Christian Democracy of Catalonia (DSCC)	2,950	0.37	n/a	0	n/a
	Revolutionary Communist League (LCR)	1,939	0.24	n/a	0	n/a
	Catalan Left Bloc (BEC)	0	0.00	n/a	0	n/a
	Democratic Municipal Action (AMD)	0	0.00	n/a	0	n/a
	New Force (FN)	0	0.00	n/a	0	n/a
	Republican Left (IR)	0	0.00	n/a	0	n/a
	List for Workers' Courts (LCO)	0	0.00	n/a	0	n/a
	Workers' Revolutionary Organization (ORT)	0	0.00	n/a	0	n/a
Blank ballots		2,547	0.32	n/a
Total		800,428			43	n/a
Valid votes		800,428	99.63	n/a
Invalid votes		2,991	0.37	n/a
Votes cast / turnout		803,419	54.27	n/a
Abstentions		677,034	45.73	n/a
Registered voters		1,480,453
Sources [14] [15] [16]

Popular vote

PSC–PSOE			34.05%
PSUC			18.90%
CiU			18.59%
CC–UCD			16.73%
ERC–FNC			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%
ERC–FNC			4.65%

Aftermath

Government formation

Investiture
Ballot →		19 April 1979
Required majority →		22 out of 43
	Narcís Serra (PSC) • PSC (16) • PSUC (9) • CiU (8) • ERC (2)	35 / 43	Y
	Carlos Güell de Sentmenat (CC–UCD) • CC–UCD (8)	8 / 43	N
	Abstentions/Blank ballots	0 / 43
	Absentees	0 / 43
Sources [14] [17]

1982 investiture

Investiture
Ballot →		2 December 1982
Required majority →		22 out of 43
	Pasqual Maragall (PSC) • PSC (16) • PSUC (9)	25 / 43	Y
	Abstentions/Blank ballots • CiU (8) • CC–UCD (5) • ERC (2)	15 / 43
	Absentees • CC–UCD (3)	3 / 43
Sources [14] [18]

References

1. Constitution (1978) , art. 140.
2. LBERL (1975) , basis 1.
3. LBERL (1975) , final prov. 1.
4. Decree 1166 of 23 May (1960) , art. 2.
5. LEL (1978) , art. 6.
6. LEL (1978) , arts. 5 & 10–11.
7. LEL (1978) , art. 28.
8. LEL (1978) , art. 3 & tran. prov. 2.
9. Real Decreto 117/1979, de 26 de enero, de convocatoria de Elecciones Locales (PDF) (Royal Decree 117/1979). Official State Gazette (in Spanish). 26 January 1979. Retrieved 2 January 2026.
10. LEL (1978) , arts. 14–15.
11. Quinta, Alfons (7 December 1978). "El PSC también piensa en Narcís Serra como candidato a la alcaldía de Barcelona". El País (in Spanish). Barcelona. Retrieved 4 January 2026.
12. Quinta, Alfons (2 February 1979). "Narcis Serra se resiste a ser el candidato socialista a la alcaldía de Barcelona". El País (in Spanish). Barcelona. Retrieved 4 January 2026.
13. "Narcis Serra (PSC) y Xavier Millet (CDC), candidatos a la alcaldía de Barcelona". El País (in Spanish). 6 February 1979. Retrieved 4 January 2026.
14. Lozano, Carles. "Eleccions municipals a Barcelona (des de 1979)". Historia Electoral.com (in Catalan). Retrieved 4 November 2025.
15. "Resultats electorals. Eleccions Municipals 1979. Barcelona (Municipi)" (in Catalan). Government of Catalonia . Retrieved 6 November 2025.
16. "Elecciones celebradas. Resultados electorales" (in Spanish). Ministry of the Interior . Retrieved 5 November 2025.
17. Quinta, Alfons (20 April 1979). "Narcis Serra, primer alcalde socialista en la historia, de Barcelona". El País. Barcelona. Retrieved 4 January 2026.
18. "El nuevo alcalde de Barcelona anuncia que seguirá los pasos de Narcís Serra". El País. Barcelona. 3 December 1982. Retrieved 4 January 2026.

Bibliography

• Constitución Española (Constitution). Official State Gazette (in Spanish). 27 December 1978 [version as of 29 December 1978]. BOE-A-1978-31229. Retrieved 27 December 2016.
• Decreto 1166/1960, de 23 de mayo, por el que se establece un régimen especial para el Municipio de Barcelona, conforme a lo autorizado por el artículo 94 de la vigente Ley de Régimen Local (PDF) (Decree 1166/1960). Official State Gazette (in Spanish). 23 May 1960. BOE-A-1960-9155. Retrieved 18 December 2025.
• Ley 41/1975, de 19 de noviembre, de Bases del Estatuto de Régimen Local (Law 41/1975). Official State Gazette (in Spanish). 19 November 1975. BOE-A-1975-23920. Retrieved 18 December 2025.
• Ley 39/1978, de 17 de julio, de elecciones locales (Law 39/1978). Official State Gazette (in Spanish). 17 July 1978. BOE-A-1978-18636. Retrieved 17 December 2025.