1987 Seville municipal election

1987 Seville municipal election

←  1983 10 June 1987 1991  →
All 31 seats in the City Council of Seville 16 seats needed for a majority
Opinion polls
Registered	478,952 5.3%
Turnout	293,559 (61.3%) 1.0 pp
First party Second party Third party   Leader Manuel del Valle Soledad Becerril Alejandro Rojas-Marcos Party PSOE–A AP PA Leader since 1983 24 March 1987 29 August 1986 Last election 19 seats, 56.2% 6 seats (CP) [a] 0 seats, 3.0% Seats won 13 8 7 Seat change 6 2 7 Popular vote 112,388 71,287 60,479 Percentage 38.7% 24.6% 20.9% Swing 17.5 pp n/a 17.9 pp   Fourth party Fifth party   Leader Adolfo Cuéllar Javier Arenas Party IU–CA PDP Leader since 1987 1987 Last election 2 seats, 8.9% [b] 4 seats (CP) [a] Seats won 3 0 Seat change 1 4 Popular vote 26,562 2,602 Percentage 9.2% 0.9% Swing 0.3 pp n/a
Mayor before election Manuel del Valle PSOE Elected mayor Manuel del Valle PSOE

A municipal election was held in Seville on Wednesday, 10 June 1987, to elect the 3rd City Council of the municipality. All 31 seats in the City Council were up for election. It was held concurrently with regional elections in thirteen autonomous communities and local elections all across Spain, as well as the 1987 European Parliament election.

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. ^{[2] [3]} In the case of Seville, the top-tier administrative and governing body was the City Council of Seville. ^[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 Seville and in full enjoyment of their political rights (provided that they were not sentenced—by a final court ruling—to deprivation of the right to vote, nor being legally incapacitated), as well as resident non-nationals whose country of origin allowed Spanish nationals to vote in their own elections by virtue of a treaty. ^{[3] [5] [6]}

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. ^[7] Each municipality constituted a multi-member constituency, entitled a number of seats based on the following scale: ^[8]

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. ^[9]

The mayor was indirectly elected by the local assembly. ^[3] 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. ^[10]

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 twenty-fifth day prior to the date of expiry of the city councils and published on the following day in the Official State Gazette (BOE), with election day taking place between the fifty-fourth and the sixtieth day from publication. ^[11] The previous local elections were held on 8 May 1983, which meant that the city councils' terms would have expired on 8 May 1987. The election decree was required to be published in the BOE no later than 14 April 1987, with the election taking place up to the sixtieth day from publication, setting the latest possible date for election day on Saturday, 13 June 1987.

Local councils could not be dissolved before the expiry of their term, except in cases of mismanagement that seriously harmed the public interest and implied a breach of constitutional obligations, in which case the Council of Ministers could—optionally—agree to call a by-election. ^[12]

Elections to local councils were officially called on 14 April 1987 with the publication of the corresponding decree in the BOE, setting election day for 10 June. ^[13]

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 Seville, as its population was between 300,001 and 1,000,000, at least 5,000 signatures were required. ^[14]

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

Candidacy		Parties and alliances	Leading candidate		Ideology	Previous result		Gov.	Ref.
						Vote %	Seats
	PSOE–A	List Spanish Socialist Workers' Party of Andalusia (PSOE–A)		Manuel del Valle	Social democracy	56.2%	19		[15] [16]
	AP	List People's Alliance (AP)		Soledad Becerril	Conservatism National conservatism	29.6% [c]	10		[1]
	PDP	List People's Democratic Party (PDP)		Javier Arenas	Christian democracy				[1] [17]
	IU–CA	List Communist Party of Andalusia (PCA) Socialist Action Party (PASOC) Communist Party of the Peoples of Spain (PCPE) Progressive Federation (FP) Republican Left (IR) Collectives for the Unity of Workers (CUT)		Adolfo Cuéllar	Socialism Communism	8.9% [b]	2
	PA	List Andalusian Party (PA)		Alejandro Rojas-Marcos	Andalusian nationalism Social democracy	3.0%	0
	CDS	List Democratic and Social Centre (CDS)		Rosario Muela	Centrism Liberalism	1.2%	0		[18]

Opinion polls

The tables below list opinion polling results in reverse chronological order, showing the most recent first and using the dates when the survey fieldwork was done, as opposed to the date of publication. Where the fieldwork dates are unknown, the date of publication is given instead. The highest percentage figure in each polling survey is displayed with its background shaded in the leading party's colour. If a tie ensues, this is applied to the figures with the highest percentages. The "Lead" column on the right shows the percentage-point difference between the parties with the highest percentages in a poll.

Voting intention estimates

The table below lists weighted voting intention estimates. Refusals are generally excluded from the party vote percentages, while question wording and the treatment of "don't know" responses and those not intending to vote may vary between polling organisations. When available, seat projections determined by the polling organisations are displayed below (or in place of) the percentages in a smaller font; 16 seats were required for an absolute majority in the City Council of Seville.

Polling firm/Commissioner	Fieldwork date	Sample size	Turnout								Lead
1987 municipal election	10 Jun 1987	—	61.3	38.7 13	–	9.2 3	20.9 7	2.4 0	24.6 8	0.9 0	14.1
DYM/Cambio 16	4 Jun 1987	?	?	? 15	–	? 3	? 4	–	? 9	–	?
Demoscopia/El País [p 1]	22–26 May 1987	?	70	41.4 14/15	–	10.6 3	20.0 5/6	5.1 1	21.9 7	1.0 0	19.5
Edis/PSOE [p 2]	11 May 1987	?	?	? 16	–	? 3	? 2/3	? 0/1	? 8/9	–	?
CIM/PDP [d] [p 3]	19 Mar 1987	?	?	43.8 13/14	–	10.0 3/4	14.9 4/5	–	16.9 5/6	14.4 4	26.9
PSOE [p 4] [p 5]	3 Mar 1987	1,200	?	? 12	–	? 5	? 6	–	? 8	–	?
Metra Seis/PA [p 6]	11 Jan 1987	?	?	32.7	–	15.4	25.8	3.2	14.0	–	6.9
1986 regional election	22 Jun 1986	—	69.8	40.8 (14)	25.5 (8)	16.8 (5)	11.8 (4)	1.6 (0)	[e]	[e]	15.3
1986 general election	22 Jun 1986	—	71.8	51.3 (19)	27.4 (10)	6.7 (2)	4.8 (0)	4.4 (0)	[e]	[e]	23.9
1983 municipal election	8 May 1983	—	69.9	56.2 19	29.6 10	8.8 [b] 3	3.0 0	1.2 0	[e]	[e]	26.6

Results

← Summary of the 10 June 1987 City Council of Seville election results →

Parties and alliances		Popular vote			Seats
		Votes	%	±pp	Total	+/−
	Spanish Socialist Workers' Party of Andalusia (PSOE–A)	112,388	38.75	−17.47	13	−6
	People's Alliance (AP)1	71,287	24.58	n/a	8	+2
	Andalusian Party (PA)	60,479	20.85	+17.88	7	+7
	United Left–Assembly for Andalusia (IU–CA)2	26,562	9.16	+0.30	3	+1
	Democratic and Social Centre (CDS)	6,968	2.40	+1.23	0	±0
	Workers' Party of Spain–Communist Unity (PTE–UC)	3,954	1.36	New	0	±0
	People's Democratic Party (PDP)1	2,602	0.90	n/a	0	−4
	The Greens (LV)	1,750	0.60	New	0	±0
	Independent Solution (SI)	561	0.19	New	0	±0
	Spanish Phalanx of the CNSO (FE–JONS)	515	0.18	New	0	±0
	Andalusian Liberation (LA)	248	0.09	New	0	±0
	Republican Popular Unity (UPR)	176	0.06	New	0	±0
	Humanist Platform (PH)	161	0.06	New	0	±0
Blank ballots		2,416	0.83	+0.38
Total		290,067			31	±0
Valid votes		290,067	98.81	−0.48
Invalid votes		3,492	1.19	+0.48
Votes cast / turnout		293,559	61.29	+1.03
Abstentions		185,393	38.71	−1.03
Registered voters		478,952
Sources [19] [20] [21]
Footnotes: 1 Within the People's Coalition alliance in the 1983 election. 2 United Left–Assembly for Andalusia results are compared to Communist Party of Spain totals in the 1983 election.

Popular vote

PSOE–A			38.75%
AP			24.58%
PA			20.85%
IU–CA			9.16%
CDS			2.40%
PTE–UC			1.36%
Others			2.07%
Blank ballots			0.83%

Seats

PSOE–A			41.94%
AP			25.81%
PA			22.58%
IU–CA			9.68%

Aftermath

Government formation

Investiture
Ballot →		30 June 1987
Required majority →		16 out of 31
	Manuel del Valle (PSOE–A) • PSOE–A (13)	13 / 31	Y
	Soledad Becerril (AP) • AP (8)	8 / 31	N
	Alejandro Rojas-Marcos (PA) • PA (7)	7 / 31	N
	Adolfo Cuéllar (IU–CA) • IU–CA (3)	3 / 31	N
	Abstentions/Blank ballots	0 / 31
	Absentees	0 / 31
Sources [22]

Notes

1. Within the AP–PDP–UL alliance in the 1983 election: AP (6 seats) and PDP (4 seats). ^[1]
2. Results for PCE in the 1983 election.
3. Results for AP–PDP–UL in the 1983 election.
4. Undecided and/or abstentionists excluded.
5. Within AP–PDP–UL/AP–PDP–PL.

References

Opinion poll sources

1. "Del Valle necesitará apoyos externos para mantenerse en la alcaldía de Sevilla" (PDF). El País (in Spanish). 4 June 1987.
2. "El PSOE filtra una encuesta claramente favorable a Manuel del Valle". ABC (in Spanish). 11 May 1987.
3. "El PDP concurrirá en solitario a las próximas elecciones municipales". ABC (in Spanish). 19 March 1987.
4. "Peligra la mayoría absoluta socialista en Sevilla". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). 3 March 1987.
5. "Con Del Valle el PSOE puede perder la Alcaldía de Sevilla". ABC (in Spanish). 3 March 1987.
6. "Rojas Marcos asegura que obtendría el doble de votos que Valle por la Alcaldía". ABC (in Spanish). 11 January 1987.

Other

1. "Soledad Becerril será la candidata de AP para la alcaldía de Sevilla". El País (in Spanish). Seville. 24 March 1987. Retrieved 29 November 2025.
2. Constitution (1978) , art. 140.
3. LBRL (1985) , art. 19.
4. LBRL (1985) , add. prov. 6.
5. Constitution (1978) , art. 13.
6. LOREG (1985) , arts. 2–3 & 176.
7. LOREG (1985) , arts. 163 & 180.
8. LOREG (1985) , art. 179.
9. LOREG (1985) , arts. 46, 48 & 182.
10. LOREG (1985) , art. 196.
11. LOREG (1985) , arts. 42 & 194.
12. LBRL (1985) , art. 61.
13. Real Decreto 508/1987, de 13 de abril, de convocatoria de elecciones locales (PDF) (Royal Decree 508/1987). Official State Gazette (in Spanish). 13 April 1987. Retrieved 27 November 2025.
14. LOREG (1985) , arts. 44 & 187.
15. García, Sebastián (22 March 1987). "Del Valle, floja esperanza del PSOE en Sevilla". El País (in Spanish). Seville. Retrieved 30 November 2025.
16. González Ibáñez, Juan (8 April 1987). "Barranco y Del Valle, confirmados como candidatos a alcaldes de Madrid y Sevilla". El País (in Spanish). Madrid. Retrieved 28 November 2025.
17. "Alzaga descarta cualquier coalición del PDP con Alianza Popular". El País (in Spanish). Valencia. 28 January 1987. Retrieved 28 November 2025.
18. González Ibáñez, Juan (1 May 1987). "Suárez renuncia a ser candidato al Parlamento y pone en su lugar al ex ministro Punset". El País (in Spanish). Madrid. Retrieved 28 November 2025.
19. Lozano, Carles. "Elecciones municipales en Sevilla (desde 1979)". Historia Electoral.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 4 November 2025.
20. "Elecciones celebradas. Resultados electorales" (in Spanish). Ministry of the Interior . Retrieved 5 November 2025.
21. "Resultados de las elecciones municipales celebradas el 10 de junio de 1987" (PDF). Official State Gazette (in Spanish) (172): 1–565. 20 July 1987. ISSN   0212-033X . Retrieved 26 November 2025.
22. "Los alcaldes de Sevilla y Córdoba ofrecen a los grupos de oposición la posibilidad de integrarse en sus gobiernos". El País (in Spanish). Seville. 1 July 1987. Retrieved 30 November 2025.

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 7/1985, de 2 de abril, Reguladora de las Bases del Régimen Local (Law 7/1985). Official State Gazette (in Spanish). 2 April 1985 [version as of 3 April 1985]. BOE-A-1985-5392. Retrieved 4 November 2025.
• Ley Orgánica 5/1985, de 19 de junio, del Régimen Electoral General (Organic Law 5/1985). Official State Gazette (in Spanish). 19 June 1985 [version as of 3 April 1987]. BOE-A-1985-11672. Retrieved 4 November 2025.