1995 Zaragoza municipal election

1995 Zaragoza municipal election

←  1991 28 May 1995 1999  →
All 31 seats in the City Council of Zaragoza 16 seats needed for a majority
Registered	497,001 6.6%
Turnout	333,394 (67.1%) 10.6 pp
First party Second party Third party   Leader Luisa Fernanda Rudi Emilio Comín Eudaldo Casanova Party PP PSOE IU Leader since 10 November 1994 1995 1995 Last election 7 seats, 21.8% 15 seats, 42.9% 3 seats, 9.4% Seats won 15 6 4 Seat change 8 9 1 Popular vote 155,206 62,390 44,047 Percentage 46.8% 18.8% 13.3% Swing 25.0 pp 24.1 pp 3.9 pp   Fourth party Fifth party   Leader Francisco Meroño Antonio Gaspar Party PAR CHA Leader since 1995 1995 Last election 6 seats, 18.3% 0 seats, 2.3% Seats won 4 2 Seat change 2 2 Popular vote 41,558 19,783 Percentage 12.5% 6.0% Swing 5.8 pp 3.7 pp
Mayor before election Antonio González Triviño PSOE Elected mayor Luisa Fernanda Rudi PP

A municipal election was held in Zaragoza on Sunday, 28 May 1995, to elect the 5th 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.

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 Zaragoza, the top-tier administrative and governing body was the City Council of Zaragoza. ^[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 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 or within the framework of Community law. ^{[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 election day being fixed 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 no later than the fifty-fifth 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 26 May 1991, setting the date for election day on the fourth Sunday of May four years later, which was 28 May 1995.

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 4 April 1995 with the publication of the corresponding decree in the BOE, setting election day for 28 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 Zaragoza, as its population was between 300,001 and 1,000,000, at least 5,000 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
	PSOE	List Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE)		Emilio Comín	Social democracy	42.9%	15		[14]
	PP	List People's Party (PP)		Luisa Fernanda Rudi	Conservatism Christian democracy	21.8%	7		[15]
	PAR	List Aragonese Party (PAR)		Francisco Meroño	Regionalism Centrism	18.3%	6
	IU	List United Left of Aragon (IU) – Communist Party of Aragon (PCE–A) – Socialist Action Party (PASOC) – Republican Left (IR)		Eudaldo Casanova	Socialism Communism	9.4%	3
	CHA	List Aragonese Union (CHA)		Antonio Gaspar	Aragonese nationalism Eco-socialism	2.3%	0

Results

← Summary of the 28 May 1995 City Council of Zaragoza election results →

Parties and alliances		Popular vote			Seats
		Votes	%	±pp	Total	+/−
	People's Party (PP)	155,206	46.78	+25.00	15	+8
	Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE)	62,390	18.81	−24.06	6	−9
	United Left of Aragon (IU)	44,047	13.28	+3.88	4	+1
	Aragonese Party (PAR)	41,558	12.53	−5.74	4	−2
	Aragonese Union (CHA)	19,783	5.96	+3.63	2	+2
	Independent Federation of Workers and Self-employed (FITA)	1,237	0.37	New	0	±0
	Platform of Independents of Spain (PIE)	963	0.29	New	0	±0
	Aragonese Unity (UA)	654	0.20	New	0	±0
	Spanish Phalanx of the CNSO (FE–JONS)	275	0.08	New	0	±0
Blank ballots		5,655	1.70	+0.24
Total		331,768			31	±0
Valid votes		331,768	99.51	+0.19
Invalid votes		1,626	0.49	−0.19
Votes cast / turnout		333,394	67.08	+10.60
Abstentions		163,607	32.92	−10.60
Registered voters		497,001
Sources [16] [17] [18]

Popular vote

PP			46.78%
PSOE			18.81%
IU			13.28%
PAR			12.53%
CHA			5.96%
Others			0.94%
Blank ballots			1.70%

Seats

PP			48.39%
PSOE			19.35%
IU			12.90%
PAR			12.90%
CHA			6.45%

Aftermath

Investiture
Ballot →		17 June 1995
Required majority →		16 out of 31
	Luisa Fernanda Rudi (PP) • PP (15) • PAR (4)	19 / 31	Y
	Emilio Comín (PSOE) • PSOE (6)	6 / 31	N
	Eudaldo Casanova (IU) • IU (4)	4 / 31	N
	Antonio Gaspar (CHA) • CHA (2)	2 / 31	N
	Abstentions/Blank ballots	0 / 31
	Absentees	0 / 31
Sources [19] [20]

References

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 489/1995, de 3 de abril, de convocatoria de elecciones locales y a las Asambleas de Ceuta y Melilla (PDF) (Royal Decree 489/1995). Official State Gazette (in Spanish). 3 April 1995. Retrieved 26 November 2025.
13. LOREG (1985) , arts. 44 & 187.
14. Díez, Anabel; Torrontegui, Javier (13 November 1994). "El PSOE comunica a Marco y Triviño que no volverán a ser candidatos". El País (in Spanish). Madrid / Zaragoza. Retrieved 24 November 2025.
15. Ruiz de Azúa, Victorino (11 November 1994). "Seis mujeres en las candidaturas del Partido Popular a las alcaldías de las principales ciudades". El País (in Spanish). Madrid. Retrieved 29 November 2025.
16. Lozano, Carles. "Elecciones municipales en Zaragoza (desde 1979)". Historia Electoral.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 4 November 2025.
17. "Elecciones celebradas. Resultados electorales" (in Spanish). Ministry of the Interior . Retrieved 5 November 2025.
18. "Acuerdo de la Junta Electoral Central de 19 de julio de 1995, de publicación del resumen de los resultados de las elecciones locales convocadas por Real Decreto 489/1995, de 3 de abril, y celebradas el 28 de mayo de 1995, según los datos que figuran en las actas de proclamación remitidas por cada una de las Juntas Electorales de Zona" (PDF). Official State Gazette (in Spanish) (173 (Supplement)): 1–1166. 21 July 1995. ISSN   0212-033X . Retrieved 26 November 2025.
19. "Rudi encabeza el desembarco del PP en los ayuntamientos de Aragón". El País (in Spanish). Madrid. 18 June 1995. Retrieved 30 November 2025.
20. Ibares, Alicia (18 June 1995). "El PP consigue que Rudi sea la primera alcaldesa de Zaragoza". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). Zaragoza. Retrieved 30 November 2025.

Bibliography

• Constitución Española (Constitution). Official State Gazette (in Spanish). 27 December 1978 [version as of 28 August 1992]. 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 31 December 1994]. 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 24 March 1995]. BOE-A-1985-11672. Retrieved 4 November 2025.