1991 Barcelona municipal election

1991 Barcelona municipal election

←  1987 26 May 1991 1995  →
All 43 seats in the City Council of Barcelona 22 seats needed for a majority
Opinion polls
Registered	1,381,148 2.9%
Turnout	766,520 (55.5%) 13.4 pp
First party Second party Third party   Leader Pasqual Maragall Josep Maria Cullell Enrique Lacalle Party PSC–PSOE CiU PP Leader since 2 December 1982 1987 1987 Last election 21 seats, 43.6% 17 seats, 35.5% 3 seats, 7.6% [a] Seats won 20 16 4 Seat change 1 1 1 Popular vote 328,282 260,344 74,804 Percentage 42.9% 34.1% 9.8% Swing 0.7 pp 1.4 pp 2.2 pp   Fourth party   Leader Eulàlia Vintró Party IC Leader since 1987 Last election 2 seats, 5.2% Seats won 3 Seat change 1 Popular vote 49,034 Percentage 6.4% Swing 1.2 pp
Mayor before election Pasqual Maragall PSC Elected Mayor Pasqual Maragall PSC

A municipal election was held in Barcelona on Sunday, 26 May 1991, to elect the 4th City Council of the municipality. All 43 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.

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]

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 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. ^{[2] [4] [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. ^[6] Each municipality constituted a multi-member constituency, entitled a number of seats based on the following scale: ^[7]

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. ^[8]

The mayor was indirectly elected by the local assembly. ^[2] 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. ^[9]

Election date

The term of city councils in Spain expired four years after the date of their previous election, with amendments earlier in 1991 fixing election day for the fourth Sunday of May every four years (as of 2025, this has been the year before a leap year). The election decree was required to be issued between the fifty-fourth and sixtieth day prior to the scheduled election date and published on the following day in the Official State Gazette (BOE). ^[10] The previous local elections were held on 10 June 1987, setting the date for election day on the fourth Sunday of May four years later, which was 26 May 1991.

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. ^[11]

Elections to local councils were officially called on 2 April 1991 with the publication of the corresponding decree in the BOE, setting election day for 26 May. ^[12]

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 8,000 signatures were required. ^[13]

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
	PSC–PSOE	List Socialists' Party of Catalonia (PSC–PSOE)		Pasqual Maragall	Social democracy	43.6%	21
	CiU	List Democratic Convergence of Catalonia (CDC) Democratic Union of Catalonia (UDC)		Josep Maria Cullell	Catalan nationalism Centrism	35.5%	17
	PP	List People's Party (PP)		Enrique Lacalle	Conservatism Christian democracy	7.6% [a]	3
	IC	List Initiative for Catalonia (IC) – Unified Socialist Party of Catalonia (PSUC) – Party of the Communists of Catalonia (PCC)		Eulàlia Vintró	Eco-socialism Green politics	5.2%	2

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; 22 seats were required for an absolute majority in the City Council of Barcelona.

Polling firm/Commissioner	Fieldwork date	Sample size	Turnout				IC				Lead
1991 municipal election	26 May 1991	—	55.5	42.9 20	34.1 16	[b]	6.4 3	0.8 0	2.6 0	9.8 4	8.8
DYM/Cambio 16 [p 1]	20 May 1991	?	?	41.3 19/21	36.5 17/18	[b]	6.6 2/3	2.4 0	2.5 0	7.0 3	4.8
Producciones Cinco/Avui [p 2]	19 May 1991	3,800	?	40.6 20	36.7 18	[b]	5.8 2	–	3.1 0	8.1 3	3.9
OTR–IS/El Periódico [p 2]	18 May 1991	800	?	43.8 21/22	32.8 15/16	[b]	6.7 3	–	3.5 0	7.9 3	11.0
Opina/La Vanguardia [p 3]	13–15 May 1991	1,501	?	44.6 21/22	34.5 16/17	[b]	6.7 2/3	1.0 0	4.0 0	7.8 3/4	10.1
Metra Seis/El Independiente [p 1] [p 2]	12 May 1991	1,040	?	43.9 21	34.0 16	[b]	7.0 3	1.6 0	2.2 0	7.8 3	9.9
Demoscopia/El País [p 1] [p 4] [p 5]	4–7 May 1991	752	?	42.5 21	36.1 17/18	[b]	5.6 2	–	–	6.0 2/3	6.4
Opina/La Vanguardia [p 6]	15–17 Apr 1991	1,569	?	44.8 21/22	35.4 17/18	[b]	5.2 2/3	1.0 0	2.3 0	6.4 2/3	9.4
1989 general election	29 Oct 1989	—	68.5	28.4 (14)	34.2 (18)	[b]	8.1 (4)	4.9 (0)	2.8 (0)	14.8 (7)	5.8
1989 EP election	15 Jun 1989	—	53.7	28.7 (16)	29.3 (17)	[b]	5.6 (3)	3.9 (0)	3.5 (0)	12.7 (7)	0.6
1988 regional election	29 May 1988	—	59.9	25.2 (12)	48.0 (24)	[b]	7.8 (4)	4.0 (0)	4.0 (0)	7.4 (3)	22.8
1987 municipal election	10 Jun 1987	—	68.9	43.6 21	35.5 17	7.6 3	5.2 2	3.4 0	2.3 0	–	8.1

Results

← Summary of the 26 May 1991 City Council of Barcelona election results →

Parties and alliances		Popular vote			Seats
		Votes	%	±pp	Total	+/−
	Socialists' Party of Catalonia (PSC–PSOE)	328,282	42.95	−0.66	20	−1
	Convergence and Union (CiU)	260,344	34.06	−1.40	16	−1
	People's Party (PP)1	74,804	9.79	+2.23	4	+1
	Initiative for Catalonia (IC)	49,034	6.42	+1.26	3	+1
	Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC)	19,629	2.57	+0.26	0	±0
	Democratic and Social Centre (CDS)	6,454	0.84	−2.54	0	±0
	The Greens Ecologist–Humanist List (LVLE–H)2	6,120	0.80	+0.70	0	±0
	Green Barcelona (BV)	5,749	0.75	New	0	±0
	Party of the Communists of Catalonia (PCC)	3,168	0.41	New	0	±0
	Workers' Socialist Party (PST)	1,308	0.17	New	0	±0
	Revolutionary Workers' Party of Spain (PORE)	532	0.07	−0.06	0	±0
	Evangelical Social Action Party (PASE)	514	0.07	New	0	±0
	Alternative for Barcelona (AltBCN)	428	0.06	New	0	±0
	Alliance for the Republic (AxR)3	296	0.04	−0.03	0	±0
	Radical Centre of Catalonia (CRC)	294	0.04	New	0	±0
	Left Platform (PCE (m–l)–CRPE)4	210	0.03	−0.09	0	±0
	Centrist Unity (PED)	198	0.03	New	0	±0
Blank ballots		6,979	0.92	+0.17
Total		764,343			43	±0
Valid votes		764,343	99.70	+0.48
Invalid votes		2,177	0.30	−0.48
Votes cast / turnout		766,520	55.50	−13.43
Abstentions		614,628	44.50	+13.43
Registered voters		1,381,148
Sources [14] [15] [16] [17]
Footnotes: 1 People's Party results are compared to the combined totals of People's Alliance and People's Democratic Party in the 1987 election. 2 The Greens Ecologist–Humanist List results are compared to Humanist Platform totals in the 1987 election. 3 Alliance for the Republic results are compared to Internationalist Socialist Workers' Party totals in the 1987 election. 4 Left Platform results are compared to Republican Popular Unity totals in the 1987 election.

Popular vote

PSC–PSOE			42.95%
CiU			34.06%
PP			9.79%
IC			6.42%
ERC			2.57%
Others			3.30%
Blank ballots			0.92%

Seats

PSC–PSOE			46.51%
CiU			37.21%
PP			9.30%
IC			6.98%

Aftermath

Government formation

Investiture
Ballot →		5 July 1991
Required majority →		22 out of 43
	Pasqual Maragall (PSC) • PSC (20)	20 / 43	Y
	Josep Maria Cullell (CiU) • CiU (16)	16 / 43	N
	Enrique Lacalle (PP) • PP (4)	4 / 43	N
	Abstentions/Blank ballots • IC (3)	3 / 43
	Absentees	0 / 43
Sources [14] [18]

Notes

1. Results for AP (7.6%, 0 seats) and PDP (0.0%, 0 seats) in the 1987 election.
2. Within PP.

References

Opinion poll sources

1. "Las elecciones de 26-5-91". CEPC (in Spanish). August 1991.
2. "Sondejos". Generalitat de Catalunya (in Catalan). Retrieved 5 July 2017.
3. "La orientación del voto en Barcelona no asegura la mayoría absoluta a Maragall". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). 19 May 1991.
4. "El ascenso del PP hace peligrar al PSOE en Madrid, Sevilla y Valencia". El País (in Spanish). 19 May 1991.
5. "Ficha técnica". El País (in Spanish). 19 May 1991.
6. "La orientación del voto augura el mismo mapa político en el Ayuntamiento de Barcelona". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). 21 April 1991.

Other

1. Constitution (1978) , art. 140.
2. LBRL (1985) , art. 19.
3. LBRL (1985) , add. prov. 6.
4. Constitution (1978) , art. 13.
5. LOREG (1985) , arts. 2–3 & 176.
6. LOREG (1985) , arts. 163 & 180.
7. LOREG (1985) , art. 179.
8. LOREG (1985) , arts. 46, 48 & 182.
9. LOREG (1985) , art. 196.
10. LOREG (1985) , arts. 42 & 194.
11. LBRL (1985) , art. 61.
12. Real Decreto 391/1991, de 1 de abril, de convocatoria de elecciones locales (PDF) (Royal Decree 391/1991). Official State Gazette (in Spanish). 1 April 1991. Retrieved 27 November 2025.
13. LOREG (1985) , arts. 44 & 187.
14. Lozano, Carles. "Eleccions municipals a Barcelona (des de 1979)". Historia Electoral.com (in Catalan). Retrieved 4 November 2025.
15. "Resultats electorals. Eleccions Municipals 1991. Barcelona (Municipi)". Government of Catalonia (in Catalan). Retrieved 6 November 2025.
16. "Elecciones celebradas. Resultados electorales" (in Spanish). Ministry of the Interior . Retrieved 5 November 2025.
17. "Resumen de los resultados de las elecciones locales convocadas por Real Decreto 391/1991, de 1 de abril, y celebradas el 26 de mayo de 1991, según los datos que figuran en las actas remitidas por cada una de las Juntas Electorales de Zona" (PDF). Official State Gazette (in Spanish) (173 (Supplement)): 1–1052. 20 July 1991. ISSN   0212-033X . Retrieved 26 November 2025.
18. "El PSOE logra cinco de las 10 capitales pendientes". El País. Madrid. 6 July 1991. Retrieved 29 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 27 March 1991]. 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 14 March 1991]. BOE-A-1985-11672. Retrieved 4 November 2025.