1987 Zaragoza municipal election

1987 Zaragoza municipal election

← 1983 10 June 1987 1991  →
All 31 seats in the City Council of Zaragoza 16 seats needed for a majority
Registered	435,764 3.0%
Turnout	291,228 (66.8%) 5.0 pp
First party Second party Third party   Leader Antonio González Triviño Emilio Eiroa Rafael Zapatero Party PSOE PAR AP Leader since 22 January 1986 1987 1987 Last election 18 seats, 52.4% 4 seats, 13.3% 6 seats (CP) [a] Seats won 13 8 5 Seat change 5 4 1 Popular vote 111,102 66,296 42,901 Percentage 38.7% 23.1% 14.9% Swing 13.7 pp 9.8 pp n/a   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader Rafael de Miguel José Luis Martínez Blasco José Alberto García-Atance Party CDS CAA–IU PDP Leader since 1983 1987 1987 Last election 0 seats, 3.1% 1 seat, 5.4% [b] 2 seats (CP) [a] Seats won 3 2 0 Seat change 3 1 2 Popular vote 30,831 20,650 1,697 Percentage 10.7% 7.2% 0.6% Swing 7.6 pp 1.8 pp n/a
Mayor before election Antonio González Triviño PSOE Elected mayor Antonio González Triviño PSOE

A municipal election was held in Zaragoza 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 throughout 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 Zaragoza, the top-tier administrative and governing body was the City Council of Zaragoza. ^[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 Zaragoza 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 Zaragoza, 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	List Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE)		Antonio González Triviño	Social democracy	52.4%	18		[15] [16] [17]
	AP	List People's Alliance (AP)		Rafael Zapatero	Conservatism National conservatism	22.3% [a]	8		[1]
	PDP	List People's Democratic Party (PDP)		José Alberto García-Atance	Christian democracy				[18]
	PAR	List Aragonese Party (PAR)		Emilio Eiroa	Regionalism Centrism	13.3%	4
	CAA–IU	List Communist Party of Aragon (PCE–A) Socialist Action Party (PASOC) Republican Left (IR)		José Luis Martínez Blasco	Socialism Communism	5.4% [b]	1
	CDS	List Democratic and Social Centre (CDS)		Rafael de Miguel	Centrism Liberalism	3.1%	0

Results

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

Parties and alliances		Popular vote			Seats
		Votes	%	±pp	Total	+/−
	Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE)	111,102	38.68	−13.68	13	−5
	Regionalist Aragonese Party (PAR)	66,296	23.08	+9.75	8	+4
	People's Alliance (AP)1	42,901	14.93	n/a	5	−1
	Democratic and Social Centre (CDS)	30,831	10.73	+7.58	3	+3
	Aragon Alternative Convergence–United Left (CAA–IU)2	20,650	7.19	+1.76	2	+1
	Workers' Party of Spain–Communist Unity (PTE–UC)	4,733	1.65	New	0	±0
	Aragonese Union (UA–CHA)	2,170	0.76	New	0	±0
	People's Democratic Party (PDP)	1,697	0.59	n/a	0	−2
	Humanist Platform (PH)	1,140	0.40	New	0	±0
	Communist Unification of Spain (UCE)	741	0.26	New	0	±0
	Republican Popular Unity (UPR)3	683	0.24	+0.14	0	±0
Blank ballots		4,317	1.50	+1.50
Total		287,261			31	±0
Valid votes		287,261	98.64	−1.36
Invalid votes		3,967	1.36	+1.36
Votes cast / turnout		291,228	66.83	+5.07
Abstentions		144,536	33.17	−5.07
Registered voters		435,764
Sources [19] [20] [21]
Footnotes: 1 Within the People's Coalition alliance in the 1983 election. 2 Aragon Alternative Convergence–United Left results are compared to Communist Party of Spain totals in the 1983 election. 3 Republican Popular Unity results are compared to Popular Struggle Coalition totals in the 1983 election.

Popular vote

PSOE			38.68%
PAR			23.08%
AP			14.93%
CDS			10.73%
CAA–IU			7.19%
PTE–UC			1.65%
Others			2.24%
Blank ballots			1.50%

Seats

PSOE			41.94%
PAR			25.81%
AP			16.13%
CDS			9.68%
CAA–IU			6.45%

Aftermath

Investiture
Ballot →		30 June 1987
Required majority →		16 out of 31
	Antonio González Triviño (PSOE) • PSOE (13)	13 / 31	Y
	Emilio Eiroa (PAR) • PAR (8) • AP (5)	13 / 31	N
	José Luis Martínez Blasco (CAA–IU) • CAA–IU (2)	2 / 31	N
	Abstentions/Blank ballots • CDS (3)	3 / 31
	Absentees	0 / 31
Sources [22]

Notes

1. Within the AP–PDP–UL alliance in the 1983 election: AP (6 seats) and PDP (2 seats). ^[1]
2. Results for PCE in the 1983 election.

References

1. Ortega, Javier (6 November 1986). "El Grupo Popular en el Ayuntamiento de Zaragoza se queda con un solo edil". El País (in Spanish). Zaragoza. 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. Ortega, Javier (11 January 1986). "Sainz de Varanda, alcalde socialista de Zaragoza, murió ayer tras una larga enfermedad". El País (in Spanish). Zaragoza. Retrieved 29 November 2025.
16. Ortega, Javier (23 January 1986). "El PSOE propone a González Triviño como candidato a la alcaldía de Zaragoza". El País (in Spanish). Zaragoza. Retrieved 29 November 2025.
17. Ortega, Javier (28 January 1986). "González Triviño, elegido alcalde de Zaragoza". El País (in Spanish). Zaragoza. Retrieved 29 November 2025.
18. "Alzaga descarta cualquier coalición del PDP con Alianza Popular". El País (in Spanish). Valencia. 28 January 1987. Retrieved 28 November 2025.
19. Lozano, Carles. "Elecciones municipales en Zaragoza (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. Ortega, Javier (1 July 1987). "Decisiva abstención del CDS". El País (in Spanish). Zaragoza. 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.