1999 Zaragoza municipal election

1999 Zaragoza municipal election

←  1995 13 June 1999 2003  →
All 31 seats in the City Council of Zaragoza 16 seats needed for a majority
Opinion polls
Registered	510,832 2.8%
Turnout	298,639 (58.5%) 8.6 pp
First party Second party Third party   Leader Luisa Fernanda Rudi Juan Alberto Belloch Antonio Gaspar Party PP PSOE CHA Leader since 10 November 1994 27 June 1998 1995 Last election 15 seats, 46.8% 6 seats, 18.8% 2 seats, 6.0% Seats won 15 10 4 Seat change 0 4 2 Popular vote 125,693 88,482 40,333 Percentage 42.3% 29.8% 13.6% Swing 4.5 pp 11.0 pp 7.6 pp   Fourth party Fifth party   Leader Fernando Labena José Luis Martínez Blasco Party PAR IU Leader since 1999 1999 Last election 4 seats, 12.5% 4 seats, 13.3% Seats won 2 0 Seat change 0 4 Popular vote 23,009 12,926 Percentage 7.7% 4.4% Swing 4.8 pp 8.9 pp
Mayor before election Luisa Fernanda Rudi PP Elected mayor Luisa Fernanda Rudi PP

A municipal election was held in Zaragoza on Sunday, 13 June 1999, to elect the 6th 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 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 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-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 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
	PP	List People's Party (PP)		Luisa Fernanda Rudi	Conservatism Christian democracy	46.8%	15		[14] [15]
	PSOE	List Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE)		Juan Alberto Belloch	Social democracy	18.8%	6		[16] [17]
	IU	List United Left of Aragon (IU) – Communist Party of Aragon (PCE–A) – Socialist Action Party (PASOC) – Republican Left (IR) – Revolutionary Workers' Party (POR) – Workers' Revolutionary Party (PRT)		José Luis Martínez Blasco	Socialism Communism	13.3%	4
	PAR	List Aragonese Party (PAR)		Fernando Labena	Regionalism Centrism	12.5%	4
	CHA	List Aragonese Union (CHA)		Antonio Gaspar	Aragonese nationalism Eco-socialism	6.0%	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; 16 seats were required for an absolute majority in the City Council of Zaragoza.

Polling firm/Commissioner	Fieldwork date	Sample size	Turnout						Lead
1999 municipal election	13 Jun 1999	—	58.5	42.3 15	29.8 10	4.4 0	7.7 2	13.6 4	12.5
Demoscopia/El País [p 1]	26 May–1 Jun 1999	?	?	? 15	? 8	? 2	? 4	? 2	?
1996 general election	3 Mar 1996	—	76.8	48.6 (16)	28.3 (9)	11.6 (3)	[a]	9.5 (3)	20.3
1995 municipal election	28 May 1995	—	67.1	46.8 27	18.8 6	13.3 4	12.5 4	6.0 2	28.0

Results

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

Parties and alliances		Popular vote			Seats
		Votes	%	±pp	Total	+/−
	People's Party (PP)	125,693	42.30	−4.48	15	±0
	Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE)	88,482	29.78	+10.97	10	+4
	Aragonese Union (CHA)	40,333	13.57	+7.61	4	+2
	Aragonese Party (PAR)	23,009	7.74	−4.79	2	−2
	United Left of Aragon (IU)	12,926	4.35	−8.93	0	−4
	Humanist Party (PH)	729	0.25	New	0	±0
Blank ballots		5,961	2.01	+0.31
Total		297,133			31	±0
Valid votes		297,133	99.50	−0.01
Invalid votes		1,506	0.50	+0.01
Votes cast / turnout		298,639	58.46	−8.62
Abstentions		212,193	41.54	+8.62
Registered voters		510,832
Sources [18] [19] [20]

Popular vote

PP			42.30%
PSOE			29.78%
CHA			13.57%
PAR			7.74%
IU			4.35%
PH			0.25%
Blank ballots			2.01%

Seats

PP			48.39%
PSOE			32.26%
CHA			12.90%
PAR			6.45%

Aftermath

Government formation

Investiture
Ballot →		3 July 1999
Required majority →		16 out of 31
	Luisa Fernanda Rudi (PP) • PP (15)	15 / 31	Y
	Juan Alberto Belloch (PSOE) • PSOE (10)	10 / 31	N
	Antonio Gaspar (CHA) • CHA (4)	4 / 31	N
	Fernando Labena (PAR) • PAR (2)	2 / 31	N
	Abstentions/Blank ballots	0 / 31
	Absentees	0 / 31
Sources [21] [22]

2000 investiture

Investiture
Ballot →		8 April 2000
Required majority →		16 out of 31
	José Atarés (PP) • PP (15)	15 / 31	Y
	Juan Alberto Belloch (PSOE) • PSOE (9)	9 / 31	N
	Antonio Gaspar (CHA) • CHA (4)	4 / 31	N
	Fernando Labena (PAR) • PAR (2)	2 / 31	N
	Abstentions/Blank ballots	0 / 31
	Absentees • PSOE (1)	1 / 31
Sources [23]

Notes

1. Within PP.

References

Opinion poll sources

1. "Rudi no logra la mayoría en Zaragoza". El País (in Spanish). 6 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. Casqueiro, Javier (3 March 1999). "El PP repite 35 candidatos a alcaldes de capitales, cambia 10 y duda sobre cinco". El País (in Spanish). Madrid. Retrieved 2 December 2025.
15. Casqueiro, Javier (6 March 1999). "El partido ultima las listas con la inclusión de más mujeres en las Diputaciones". El País (in Spanish). Madrid. Retrieved 2 December 2025.
16. "Belloch anuncia su candidatura al Ayuntamiento de Zaragoza". El Mundo (in Spanish). Zaragoza. Europa Press. 15 May 1998. Retrieved 29 November 2025.
17. Díez, Anabel (28 June 1998). "Los candidatos oficialistas ganan las primarias". El País (in Spanish). Madrid. Retrieved 29 November 2025.
18. Lozano, Carles. "Elecciones municipales en Zaragoza (desde 1979)". Historia Electoral.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 4 November 2025.
19. "Elecciones celebradas. Resultados electorales" (in Spanish). Ministry of the Interior . Retrieved 5 November 2025.
20. "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.
21. Montserrat, Concha (3 July 1999). "Luisa Fernanda Rudi retiene la alcaldía de Zaragoza". El País (in Spanish). Zaragoza. Retrieved 30 November 2025.
22. "El PP mantiene Zaragoza y Teruel, pero pierde Huesca". El País (in Spanish). Zaragoza. 4 July 1999. Retrieved 30 November 2025.
23. "Atarés, elegido nuevo alcalde de Zaragoza". El Mundo (in Spanish). Zaragoza. EFE. 8 April 2000. Retrieved 22 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.