1979 Valencia municipal election

1979 Valencia municipal election

3 April 1979 1983  →
All 33 seats in the City Council of Valencia 17 seats needed for a majority
Registered	552,034
Turnout	344,145 (62.3%)
First party Second party Third party   Leader Miguel Pastor Fernando Martínez Castellano Pedro Zamora Party UCD PSOE PCPV Leader since 1979 1979 1979 Seats won 13 13 6 Popular vote 124,683 122,482 54,124 Percentage 36.8% 36.1% 16.0%
Mayor before election Miguel Ramón Izquierdo Independent Elected mayor Fernando Martínez Castellano PSOE

A municipal election was held in Valencia on Tuesday, 3 April 1979, to elect the 1st City Council of the municipality. All 33 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 Valencia, the top-tier administrative and governing body was the City Council of Valencia.

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 Valencia and in full enjoyment of their civil and political rights. ^[3]

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: ^[4]

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. ^[4]

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. ^[5]

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. ^[6]

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. ^[7]

Results

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

Parties and alliances		Popular vote			Seats
		Votes	%	±pp	Total	+/−
	Union of the Democratic Centre (UCD)	124,683	36.76	n/a	13	n/a
	Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE)	122,482	36.11	n/a	13	n/a
	Communist Party of the Valencian Country (PCPV)	54,124	15.96	n/a	6	n/a
	Valencian Regional Union (URV)	17,342	5.11	n/a	1	n/a
	Communist Movement of the Valencian Country (MCPV)	4,131	1.22	n/a	0	n/a
	Nationalist Party of the Valencian Country (PNPV)	4,010	1.18	n/a	0	n/a
	Workers' Revolutionary Organization (ORT)	2,838	0.84	n/a	0	n/a
	Workers' Communist Party (PCT)	1,820	0.54	n/a	0	n/a
	Communist Unification of Spain (UCE)	1,656	0.49	n/a	0	n/a
	Valencian Front Socialist–Republican Alliance (ARSFV)	1,394	0.41	n/a	0	n/a
	Republican Left (IR)	1,313	0.39	n/a	0	n/a
	Left Bloc for National Liberation of the Valencian Country (BEANPV)	1,181	0.35	n/a	0	n/a
	Liberal Party (PL)	618	0.18	n/a	0	n/a
	Revolutionary Communist League (LCR)	508	0.15	n/a	0	n/a
Blank ballots		1,102	0.32	n/a
Total		339,202			33	n/a
Valid votes		339,202	98.56	n/a
Invalid votes		4,943	1.44	n/a
Votes cast / turnout		344,145	62.34	n/a
Abstentions		207,889	37.66	n/a
Registered voters		552,034
Sources [8] [9] [10]

Popular vote

UCD			36.76%
PSOE			36.11%
PCPV			15.96%
URV			5.11%
MCPV			1.22%
PNPV			1.18%
Others			3.34%
Blank ballots			0.32%

Seats

UCD			39.39%
PSOE			39.39%
PCPV			18.18%
URV			3.03%

References

1. Constitution (1978) , art. 140.
2. LBERL (1975) , basis 1.
3. LEL (1978) , art. 6.
4. LEL (1978) , arts. 5 & 10–11.
5. LEL (1978) , art. 28.
6. LEL (1978) , art. 3 & tran. prov. 2.
7. 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.
8. "Municipal Elections. Valencia" (PDF). www.valencia.es (in Spanish). City Council of Valencia. Retrieved 5 December 2017.
9. "Electoral Results Consultation. Municipal. April 1979. Valencia Municipality". Ministry of the Interior (in Spanish). Retrieved 12 November 2017.
10. "Eleccions municipals a València (1979 - 2015)". Historia Electoral.com (in Catalan). Retrieved 30 September 2017.

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.
• 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.