1999 Barcelona municipal election

1999 Barcelona municipal election

←  1995 13 June 1999 2003  →
All 41 seats in the City Council of Barcelona 21 seats needed for a majority
Opinion polls
Registered	1,352,781 1.1%
Turnout	697,091 (51.5%) 14.7 pp
First party Second party Third party   Leader Joan Clos Joaquim Molins Santiago Fisas Party PSC–PM CiU PP Leader since 26 September 1997 30 March 1998 22 January 1999 Last election 16 seats, 38.4% 13 seats, 30.6% 7 seats, 16.6% Seats won 20 10 6 Seat change 4 3 1 Popular vote 313,623 150,518 103,177 Percentage 45.2% 21.7% 14.9% Swing 6.8 pp 8.9 pp 1.7 pp   Fourth party Fifth party   Leader Jordi Portabella Imma Mayol Party ERC–EV–AM IC–V–EPM Leader since 16 May 1998 1998 Last election 2 seats, 5.1% 3 seats (IC–EV) [a] Seats won 3 2 Seat change 1 1 Popular vote 45,278 43,999 Percentage 6.5% 6.3% Swing 1.4 pp n/a
Mayor before election Joan Clos PSC Elected Mayor Joan Clos PSC

A municipal election was held in Barcelona on Sunday, 13 June 1999, to elect the 6th City Council of the municipality. All 41 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 1999 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. ^{[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-national European citizens and those 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 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), but a legal amendment introduced in 1998 allowed for local elections held in May 1995 to be held concurrently with European Parliament elections, provided that they were scheduled for within a four month-timespan. 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 28 May 1995, setting the date for election day concurrently with that year's European Parliament election on Sunday, 13 June 1999.

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 20 April 1999 with the publication of the corresponding decree in the BOE, setting election day for 13 June. ^[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–PM	List Socialists' Party of Catalonia (PSC–PSOE)		Joan Clos	Social democracy	38.4%	16		[14] [15] [16]
	CiU	List Democratic Convergence of Catalonia (CDC) Democratic Union of Catalonia (UDC)		Joaquim Molins	Catalan nationalism Centrism	30.6%	13		[17] [18] [19]
	PP	List People's Party (PP)		Santiago Fisas	Conservatism Christian democracy	16.6%	7		[20] [21]
	IC– V–EPM	List Initiative for Catalonia–Greens (IC–V)		Imma Mayol	Regionalism Eco-socialism Green politics	7.6% [b]	3
	EUiA	List United and Alternative Left (EUiA) – Living Unified Socialist Party of Catalonia (PSUC viu) – Party of the Communists of Catalonia (PCC)		Jordi Gasull	Socialism Communism
	ERC– EV–AM	List Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC) The Greens–Ecologist Confederation of Catalonia (EV–CEC)		Jordi Portabella	Catalan independence Left-wing nationalism Social democracy	5.1%	2		[22] [23] [24]
	PI	List Party for Independence (PI)		Pilar Rahola	Catalan independence	Did not contest			[25]

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

Polling firm/Commissioner	Fieldwork date	Sample size	Turnout						PI		Lead
1999 municipal election	13 Jun 1999	—	51.5	45.2 20	21.7 10	14.9 6	6.3 2	6.5 3	1.0 0	1.3 0	23.5
DYM/El Periódico [p 1] [p 2]	6 Jun 1999	1,007	?	44.1 20	31.5 14	12.8 5	5.5 2	3.3 0	–	–	12.6
Opina/La Vanguardia [p 2] [p 3]	1–2 Jun 1999	900	?	40.0 18/19	26.5 12	17.5 7/8	5.0 0/2	6.0 2	–	–	13.5
Eco Consulting/ABC [p 4]	24 May–2 Jun 1999	400	?	35.8 16/17	28.8 13	18.9 8/9	7.0 3	–	4.2 0	2.1 0	7.0
Sigma Dos/El Mundo [p 5] [p 6]	27 May–1 Jun 1999	500	?	39.2 17/19	27.3 12/13	18.5 8/9	5.5 2	4.4 0	2.1 0	1.8 0	11.9
Demoscopia/El País [p 7]	26 May–1 Jun 1999	?	?	39.9 17/18	25.3 11	19.3 8/9	8.1 3	4.7 0/2	–	–	14.6
CIS [p 8] [p 9]	9–19 May 1999	720	?	41.6 17/18	27.0 11/12	16.3 6/7	7.0 2/3	5.6 2	0.4 0	–	14.6
Opina/La Vanguardia [p 10]	29 Apr–1 May 1999	850	?	39.0 17/19	30.0 13/14	17.0 7/8	5.0 0/2	5.0 0/2	0.5 0	1.0 0	9.0
DYM/El Periódico [p 11] [p 12]	24 Apr 1999	708	?	42.7 19/20	26.9 12	15.0 6/7	3.8 0	6.2 2	0.4 0	4.8 0/2	15.8
Opina/La Vanguardia [p 13] [p 14]	19–20 Jun 1998	600	?	38.1 17	30.8 14	16.3 7	6.0 3	4.8 0	1.0 0	0.8 0	7.3
IC–EV [p 15] [p 16]	20–22 Apr 1998	1,200	?	? 18	? 13	? 7	? 3	? 0	? 0	–	?
Barcelona City Council [p 17] [p 18]	15–17 Dec 1997	720	?	41.0– 42.0 19	29.5– 30.5 13	? 7	? 2	? 0	? 0	–	11.5
1996 general election	3 Mar 1996	—	77.0	34.4 (15)	29.8 (13)	22.7 (10)	7.7 (3)	4.1 (0)	–	–	4.6
1995 regional election	19 Nov 1995	—	65.9	21.5 (9)	39.7 (17)	17.6 (7)	9.9 (4)	9.3 (4)	–	–	18.2
1995 municipal election	28 May 1995	—	66.2	38.4 16	30.6 13	16.6 7	7.6 3	5.1 2	–	–	7.8

Voting preferences

The table below lists raw, unweighted voting preferences.

Polling firm/Commissioner	Fieldwork date	Sample size						PI		?	N	Lead
1999 municipal election	13 Jun 1999	—	23.2	11.1	7.6	3.3	3.3	0.5	0.7	—	48.5	12.1
CIS [p 19]	9–19 May 1999	720	29.2	14.0	7.5	6.4	4.3	0.3	–	27.0	9.5	15.2
1996 general election	3 Mar 1996	—	26.4	22.9	17.4	5.9	3.2	–	–	—	23.0	3.5
1995 regional election	19 Nov 1995	—	14.2	26.1	11.6	6.5	6.1	–	–	—	34.1	11.9
1995 municipal election	28 May 1995	—	25.4	20.2	11.0	5.0	3.4	–	–	—	33.8	5.2

Victory preferences

The table below lists opinion polling on the victory preferences for each party in the event of a municipal election taking place.

Polling firm/Commissioner	Fieldwork date	Sample size						PI		Other/ None	?	Lead
CIS [p 19]	9–19 May 1999	720	38.2	15.6	7.5	7.5	4.2	0.3	–	0.7	26.0	22.6
Opina/La Vanguardia [p 10]	29 Apr–1 May 1999	850	38.1	22.4	4.1	2.7	2.2	–	0.2	0.9	29.4	15.7
Opina/La Vanguardia [p 13]	19–20 Jun 1998	600	36.0	24.8	–	–	–	–	–	7.5	31.7	11.2

Victory likelihood

The table below lists opinion polling on the perceived likelihood of victory for each party in the event of a municipal election taking place.

Polling firm/Commissioner	Fieldwork date	Sample size							Other/ None	?	Lead
CIS [p 19]	9–19 May 1999	720	61.5	10.7	3.6	0.4	–	–	–	23.7	50.8
Opina/La Vanguardia [p 10]	29 Apr–1 May 1999	850	51.7	14.4	1.5	0.2	0.4	0.0	0.0	32.1	37.3
Opina/La Vanguardia [p 13]	19–20 Jun 1998	600	46.7	19.8	–	–	–	–	1.3	32.2	26.9

Preferred Mayor

The table below lists opinion polling on leader preferences to become mayor of Barcelona.

All candidates

Polling firm/Commissioner	Fieldwork date	Sample size							Other/ None/ Not care	?	Lead
			Clos PSC	Molins CiU	Fisas PP	Portabella ERC	Mayol IC–V	Rahola PI
CIS [p 19]	9–19 May 1999	720	44.4	12.8	2.4	2.5	4.9	4.6	5.3	23.2	31.6

Clos vs. Molins

Polling firm/Commissioner	Fieldwork date	Sample size			Other/ None/ Not care	?	Lead
			Clos PSC	Molins CiU
Opina/La Vanguardia [p 10]	29 Apr–1 May 1999	850 [c]	45.9	23.3	11.9	18.9	22.6
		850	39.9	20.7	11.4	28.0	19.2
Opina/La Vanguardia [p 13]	19–20 Jun 1998	600	40.2	20.2	8.5	31.1	20.0

Predicted Mayor

The table below lists opinion polling on the perceived likelihood for each leader to become mayor.

Polling firm/Commissioner	Fieldwork date	Sample size			Other/ None/ Not care	?	Lead
			Clos PSC	Molins CiU
Opina/La Vanguardia [p 10]	29 Apr–1 May 1999	850	57.2	12.1	1.9	28.8	45.1
Opina/La Vanguardia [p 13]	19–20 Jun 1998	600	50.3	14.7	3.0	32.0	35.6

Results

← Summary of the 13 June 1999 City Council of Barcelona election results →

Parties and alliances		Popular vote			Seats
		Votes	%	±pp	Total	+/−
	Socialists' Party of Catalonia–Municipal Progress (PSC–PM)	313,623	45.19	+6.80	20	+4
	Convergence and Union (CiU)	150,518	21.69	−8.87	10	−3
	People's Party (PP)	103,177	14.87	−1.75	6	−1
	Republican Left of Catalonia–The Greens–Municipal Agreement (ERC–EV–AM)	45,278	6.52	+1.40	3	+1
	Initiative for Catalonia–Greens–Agreement for Municipal Progress (IC–V–EPM)	43,999	6.34	−1.27	2	−1
	United and Alternative Left (EUiA)	8,941	1.29	New	0	±0
	Party for Independence (PI)	6,671	0.96	New	0	±0
	The Greens–Green Group (EV–GV)	4,675	0.67	New	0	±0
	Ecologist Party of Catalonia (PEC)	1,079	0.16	New	0	±0
	Democratic and Social Centre (CDS)	798	0.11	−0.03	0	±0
	The Phalanx (FE)	644	0.09	New	0	±0
	Catalan State (EC)	561	0.08	New	0	±0
	Humanist Party of Catalonia (PHC)	517	0.07	+0.04	0	±0
	Independent Spanish Phalanx (FEI)	235	0.03	New	0	±0
	European Nation State (N)	210	0.03	+0.01	0	±0
Blank ballots		13,130	1.89	+0.98
Total		694,056			41	±0
Valid votes		694,056	99.56	−0.22
Invalid votes		3,035	0.44	+0.22
Votes cast / turnout		697,091	51.53	−14.69
Abstentions		655,690	48.47	+14.69
Registered voters		1,352,781
Sources [26] [27] [28] [29]

Popular vote

PSC–PM			45.19%
CiU			21.69%
PP			14.87%
ERC–EV–AM			6.52%
IC–V–EPM			6.34%
EUiA			1.29%
Others			2.22%
Blank ballots			1.89%

Seats

PSC–PM			48.78%
CiU			24.39%
PP			14.63%
ERC–EV–AM			7.32%
IC–V–EPM			4.88%

Aftermath

Government formation

Investiture
Ballot →		3 July 1999
Required majority →		21 out of 41
	Joan Clos (PSC) • PSC (20) • ERC–EV (3) • IC–V (2)	25 / 41	Y
	Joaquim Molins (CiU) • CiU (10)	10 / 41	N
	Santiago Fisas (PP) • PP (6)	6 / 41	N
	Abstentions/Blank ballots	0 / 41
	Absentees	0 / 41
Sources [26] [30]

Notes

1. Within the IC–EV alliance in the 1995 election.
2. Results for IC–EV in the 1995 election.
3. Prompted.

References

Opinion poll sources

1. "Las encuestas coinciden en el aumento del PSC en Barcelona". El País (in Spanish). 7 June 1999.
2. "Sondejos". Generalitat de Catalunya (in Catalan). Archived from the original on 24 May 2019. Retrieved 5 July 2017.
3. "Objetivo: convencer al indeciso". Vivir Barcelona (in Spanish). 7 June 1999.
4. "El futuro gobierno municipal de Barcelona pasa por el PP y los independentistas". ABC (in Spanish). 5 June 1999.
5. "Barcelona: IC salva a Joan Clos". El Mundo (in Spanish). 2 June 1999.
6. "ELECCIONES 13-J /BALANCE DE LAS ENCUESTAS". El Mundo (in Spanish). 6 June 1999.
7. "Ascenso de Clos en Barcelona". El País (in Spanish). 6 June 1999.
8. "El PP conserva su poder municipal, autonómico y europeo, e IU se hunde". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). 5 June 1999.
9. "Estudio CIS nº 2340. Ficha técnica". CIS (in Spanish). 4 June 1999.
10. "Clos gana sin tener segura la alcaldía". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). 8 May 1999.
11. "Una encuesta sitúa a Clos al borde de la mayoría absoluta". El País (in Spanish). 25 April 1999.
12. "Un sondeo da la victoria a Joan Clos". Vivir Tarragona (in Spanish). 25 April 1999.
13. "Clos gana con claridad a Molins, aunque la izquierda pierde la mayoría". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). 5 July 1998.
14. "Un sondeo da a Clos ocho puntos más que a Molins". El País (in Spanish). 6 July 1998.
15. "IC confía en seguir gobernando Barcelona con el PSC, amparándose en una encuesta". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). 19 May 1998.
16. "El PSC e IC-EV tendrán mayoría en Barcelona, según una encuesta electoral". El País (in Spanish). 19 May 1998.
17. "La oposición critica la encuesta municipal". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). 15 January 1998.
18. "Clos se crece". Vivir Tarragona (in Spanish). 14 January 1998.
19. "Preelectoral elecciones municipales, 1999. Barcelona (Estudio nº 2340. Mayo 1999)". CIS (in Spanish). 4 June 1999.

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 606/1999, de 19 de abril, de convocatoria de elecciones Locales y a las Asambleas de Ceuta y Melilla (PDF) (Royal Decree 606/1999). Official State Gazette (in Spanish). 19 April 1999. Retrieved 26 November 2025.
13. LOREG (1985) , arts. 44 & 187.
14. Uria, Lluis; Mauri, Luis (24 November 1996). "Maragall anuncia que dimitirá como alcalde de Barcelona en septiembre de 1997". El País (in Spanish). Barcelona. Retrieved 20 November 2025.
15. Espada, Arcadi (27 September 1997). "Maragall deja la alcaldía de Barcelona y sugiere a Pujol que también se vaya". El País (in Spanish). Barcelona. Retrieved 27 November 2025.
16. Company, Enric (7 November 1998). "Clos, proclamado candidato a la alcaldía de Barcelona". El País (in Spanish). Barcelona. Retrieved 27 November 2025.
17. Uria, Lluis (14 November 1996). "Roca anuncia su refirada política para 1999". El País (in Spanish). Barcelona. Retrieved 27 November 2025.
18. "Mas pugnará con Molins para ser el candidato de CiU a la alcaldía de Barcelona". El País (in Spanish). Barcelona. 26 March 1998. Retrieved 27 November 2025.
19. "Molins desplaza a Mas como candidato de CiU para la alcaldía de Barcelona". El País (in Spanish). Barcelona. 31 March 1998. Retrieved 27 November 2025.
20. Rusiñol, Pere (22 January 1999). "Los cambios en el Gobierno precipitan la elección de Fisas como "alcaldable" del PP en Barcelona". El País (in Spanish). Barcelona. Retrieved 28 November 2025.
21. Rusiñol, Pere (23 January 1999). "Directivos empresariales tratan de animar a Fisas y convencerle de que el PP puede ser clave en Barcelona". El País (in Spanish). Barcelona. Retrieved 28 November 2025.
22. "Portabella, el más votado como "alcaldable" de ERC en tres distritos". El País (in Spanish). Barcelona. 24 April 1998. Retrieved 28 November 2025.
23. "Portabella gana la candidatura de ERC a la alcaldía de Barcelona". El País (in Spanish). Barcelona. 17 May 1998. Retrieved 28 November 2025.
24. Rusiñol, Pere (21 January 1999). "Els Verds se acercan a ERC y estudian una lista única en Barcelona". El País (in Spanish). Barcelona. Retrieved 28 November 2025.
25. "El PI designa a Rahola para encabezar la lista de Barcelona en las municipales y propone frenar al PP". El País (in Spanish). Barcelona. Agencias. 22 February 1999. Retrieved 28 November 2025.
26. Lozano, Carles. "Eleccions municipals a Barcelona (des de 1979)". Historia Electoral.com (in Catalan). Retrieved 4 November 2025.
27. "Resultats electorals. Eleccions Municipals 1999. Barcelona (Municipi)". Government of Catalonia (in Catalan). Retrieved 6 November 2025.
28. "Elecciones celebradas. Resultados electorales" (in Spanish). Ministry of the Interior . Retrieved 5 November 2025.
29. "Acuerdo de 15 de julio de 1999, de la Junta Electoral Central, por el que se procede a la publicación del resumen de los resultados de las elecciones locales convocadas por Real Decreto 606/1999, de 19 de abril, y celebradas el 13 de junio, 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) (178 (Supplement)): 1–1182. 27 July 1999. ISSN   0212-033X . Retrieved 26 November 2025.
30. Cia, Blanca (4 July 1999). "Clos promete convertir Barcelona en una ciudad líder en prosperidad y solidaridad". El País (in Spanish). Barcelona. 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 22 April 1999]. 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 22 April 1999]. BOE-A-1985-11672. Retrieved 4 November 2025.