2003 Madrid municipal election

2003 Madrid municipal election

←  1999 25 May 2003 2007  →
All 55 seats in the City Council of Madrid 28 seats needed for a majority
Opinion polls
Registered	2,484,328 0.2%
Turnout	1,711,613 (68.9%) 8.9 pp
First party Second party Third party   Leader Alberto Ruiz-Gallardón Trinidad Jiménez Inés Sabanés Party PP PSOE IU Leader since 18 July 2002 13 May 2002 23 June 1998 Last election 28 seats, 49.5% 20 seats, 36.0% 5 seats, 8.7% Seats won 30 21 4 Seat change 2 1 1 Popular vote 874,264 625,148 123,015 Percentage 51.3% 36.7% 7.2% Swing 1.8 pp 0.7 pp 1.5 pp
Mayor before election José María Álvarez del Manzano PP Elected Mayor Alberto Ruiz-Gallardón PP

A municipal election was held in Madrid on Sunday, 25 May 2003, to elect the 7th City Council of the municipality. All 55 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.

The People's Party (PP) under President of the Community of Madrid Alberto Ruiz-Gallardón, who was succeeding the retiring José María Álvarez del Manzano, managed to revert the near-tie situation predicted by opinion polls between his party and the PSOE-IU bloc. Gallardón went on to win a comfortable absolute majority both in votes and seats, reverting the 1999 result in which it had seemed that party's support had begun to decline. The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) under Trinidad Jiménez obtained its best result since it was ousted from power in 1989, despite it not being enough to recover the mayoralty. United Left (IU) continued on its long-term decline and lost another seat, scoring its worst result since 1987.

A remarkable event for this election was that both main parties' contenders (Ruiz-Gallardón and Jiménez) were cousins, despite belonging to opposing parties.

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 Madrid, the top-tier administrative and governing body was the City Council of Madrid. ^[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 Madrid 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), 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). The election decree was required to be issued no later than the twenty-fifth day prior to the scheduled election date and published on the following day in the Official State Gazette (BOE). ^[10] The previous election was held on 13 June 1999, setting the date for election day on Sunday, 25 May 2003.

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 not bound to the open council system were officially called on 1 April 2003 with the publication of the corresponding decree in the BOE, setting election day for 25 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 Madrid, 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
	PP	List People's Party (PP)		Alberto Ruiz-Gallardón	Conservatism Christian democracy	49.5%	28		[14] [15] [16]
	PSOE	List Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE)		Trinidad Jiménez	Social democracy	36.0%	20		[17] [18]
	IUCM	List United Left of the Community of Madrid (IUCM) – Communist Party of Madrid (PCM) – Revolutionary Workers' Party (POR) – Workers' Revolutionary Party–Revolutionary Left (PRT–IR)		Inés Sabanés	Socialism Communism	8.7%	5		[19]
	LV	List The Greens (LV)		José María Mendiluce	Green politics	0.7%	0		[20] [21] [22]

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; 28 seats were required for an absolute majority in the City Council of Madrid (27 until 1 January 2003).

Color key:

  Exit poll

Polling firm/Commissioner	Fieldwork date	Sample size	Turnout				LV	Lead
2003 municipal election	25 May 2003	—	68.9	51.3 30	36.7 21	7.2 4	1.6 0	14.6
Sigma Dos/Antena 3 [p 1] [p 2]	25 May 2003	?	?	? 27/29	? 22/23	? 4/5	–	?
Ipsos–Eco/RTVE [p 3]	25 May 2003	?	?	? 27/28	? 22/23	? 5/6	–	?
Insight/La Razón [p 4]	19 May 2003	?	?	47.2 28	39.8 22	9.1 5	–	7.4
Opina/El País [p 5] [p 6]	18 May 2003	?	?	47.0 27/28	40.0 23/24	7.0 4	–	7.0
Demoscopia/PP [p 7]	17 May 2003	?	?	48.5– 50.0 28/29	38.5– 39.5 22/23	6.5– 7.5 3/4	3.0– 4.0 0	10.0– 10.5
Sigma Dos/El Mundo [p 8] [p 9]	8–13 May 2003	500	?	47.5 27/28	39.7 22/24	8.3 4/5	2.4 0	7.8
Vox Pública/El Periódico [p 10] [p 11]	12–13 May 2003	801	?	46.5– 47.5 27/28	40.0– 41.0 23/24	7.0– 8.0 4	2.0– 3.0 0	6.5
CIS [p 12] [p 13]	22 Mar–28 Apr 2003	714	76.7	45.4 27	35.9 22	10.3 6	–	9.5
Ipsos–Eco/ABC [p 14]	22–24 Apr 2003	?	?	47.0 27/28	40.7 24	6.7 3/4	–	6.3
IMOP/PSOE [p 15]	11 Mar 2003	513	66	45.1 27	41.4 25	6.2 3	2.0 0	3.7
Sondaxe/La Voz de Galicia [p 16] [p 17]	18 Jan 2003	?	?	54.4 30	36.5 20	7.2 3	–	17.9
Opina/El País [p 18]	25–26 Nov 2002	800	?	49.0 27	42.0 23	6.0 3	1.5 0	7.0
Demoscopia/CEIM [p 19]	18–25 Oct 2002	2,471	?	54.1	35.2	5.2	4.8	18.9
Opina/El País [p 20] [p 21]	29 Sep 2002	?	?	49.0	42.0	6.5	–	7.0
Ipsos–Eco/ABC [p 22]	6–13 Sep 2002	?	?	49.0 28	37.7 21	7.6 4	–	11.3
Inner Line/PSOE [p 23]	29 Jun 2002	1,200	?	46.0– 47.0	40.0– 41.0	8.0– 9.0	–	6.0
Demoscopia/IU [p 24]	27 Jun 2002	1,200	65.7	48.0	39.1	11.0	–	8.9
Inner Line/PSOE [p 25] [p 26] [p 27]	23 May–8 Jun 2001	1,200	?	47.0 26	40.0 22	10.0 5	–	7.0
2000 general election	12 Mar 2000	—	74.2	55.4 (31)	30.9 (17)	8.8 (5)	0.7 (0)	24.5
1999 municipal election	13 Jun 1999	—	60.0	49.5 28	36.0 20	8.7 5	0.7 0	13.5

Voting preferences

The table below lists raw, unweighted voting preferences.

Polling firm/Commissioner	Fieldwork date	Sample size				LV	?	N	Lead
2003 municipal election	25 May 2003	—	35.2	25.2	5.0	1.1	—	31.1	10.0
Vox Pública/El Periódico [p 11]	12–13 May 2003	801	37.7	30.7	5.7	2.7	17.7	3.0	7.0
CIS [p 12]	22 Mar–28 Apr 2003	714	32.8	26.8	8.5	–	19.8	6.0	6.0
Demoscopia/CEIM [p 19]	18–25 Oct 2002	2,471	39.0	24.9	4.5	3.5	18.9	7.4	14.1
2000 general election	12 Mar 2000	—	40.9	22.8	6.5	0.5	—	25.8	18.1
1999 municipal election	13 Jun 1999	—	29.5	21.5	5.2	0.4	—	40.0	8.0

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				Other/ None	?	Lead
Ipsos–Eco/ABC [p 14]	22–24 Apr 2003	?	42.6	34.2	5.6	1.8	15.7	8.4

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
Ipsos–Eco/ABC [p 14]	22–24 Apr 2003	?	56.2	23.3	1.0	19.5	32.9
Ipsos–Eco/ABC [p 22]	6–13 Sep 2002	?	54.4	18.1	0.6	26.8	36.3

Preferred Mayor

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

Polling firm/Commissioner	Fieldwork date	Sample size					Other/ None/ Not care	?	Lead
			Gallardón PP	Jiménez PSOE	Sabanés IUCM	Mendiluce LV
Vox Pública/El Periódico [p 11]	12–13 May 2003	801	42.8	28.2	4.7	2.0	8.3	13.9	14.6
Opina/El País [p 18]	25–26 Nov 2002	800	41.3	27.1	–	–	31.6		14.2

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
			Gallardón PP	Jiménez PSOE	Sabanés IUCM	Mendiluce LV
Vox Pública/El Periódico [p 11]	12–13 May 2003	801	59.1	18.0	0.5	0.2	1.3	20.9	41.1
Opina/El País [p 18]	25–26 Nov 2002	800	58.9	10.8	–	–	30.3		48.1

Results

← Summary of the 25 May 2003 City Council of Madrid election results →

Parties and alliances		Popular vote			Seats
		Votes	%	±pp	Total	+/−
	People's Party (PP)	874,264	51.30	+1.82	30	+2
	Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE)	625,148	36.68	+0.68	21	+1
	United Left of the Community of Madrid (IUCM)	123,015	7.22	−1.45	4	−1
	The Greens (LV)	26,448	1.55	+0.85	0	±0
	The Greens of the Community of Madrid (LVCM)	9,944	0.58	New	0	±0
	Republican Left (IR)	3,553	0.21	New	0	±0
	Family and Life Party (PFyV)	3,094	0.18	New	0	±0
	The Phalanx (FE)	2,174	0.13	+0.02	0	±0
	Democratic and Social Centre (CDS)	2,136	0.13	−0.32	0	±0
	Independent Spanish Phalanx (FEI)	1,113	0.07	−0.01	0	±0
	Humanist Party (PH)	1,022	0.06	−0.07	0	±0
	Madrilenian Independent Regional Party (PRIM)	903	0.05	−0.06	0	±0
	Commoners' Land–Castilian Nationalist Party (TC–PNC)	820	0.05	−0.02	0	±0
	Another Democracy is Possible (ODeP)	810	0.05	New	0	±0
	Spanish Democratic Party (PADE)	801	0.05	±0.00	0	±0
	Authentic Phalanx (FA)	635	0.04	New	0	±0
	Immigrants with Rights, Equality and Obligations (INDIO)	479	0.03	New	0	±0
	Republican Federation (FR)	478	0.03	New	0	±0
Blank ballots		27,304	1.60	−1.30
Total		1,704,141			55	+2
Valid votes		1,704,141	99.56	+0.14
Invalid votes		7,472	0.44	−0.14
Votes cast / turnout		1,711,613	68.90	+8.86
Abstentions		772,715	31.10	−8.86
Registered voters		2,484,328
Sources [23] [24] [25] [26]

Popular vote

PP			51.30%
PSOE			36.68%
IUCM			7.22%
LV			1.55%
Others			1.64%
Blank ballots			1.60%

Seats

PP			54.55%
PSOE			38.18%
IUCM			7.27%

Aftermath

Investiture
Ballot →		14 June 2003
Required majority →		28 out of 55
	Alberto Ruiz-Gallardón (PP) • PP (30)	30 / 55	Y
	Trinidad Jiménez (PSOE) • PSOE (21)	21 / 55	N
	Inés Sabanés (IUCM) • IUCM (4)	4 / 55	N
	Blank ballots	0 / 55
	Absentees	0 / 55
Sources [23] [27]

References

Opinion poll sources

1. "El sondeo de Sigma Dos determina una lucha codo a codo entre populares y socialistas en Madrid". ABC (in Spanish). 25 May 2003. Archived from the original on 25 May 2019. Retrieved 19 May 2019.
2. "El PP retiene la mayoría en Madrid, Valencia, Málaga y Valladolid, pero pierde Zaragoza". ABC (in Spanish). 25 May 2003.
3. "Sondeo a pie de urna de Ipsos Eco Consulting para TVE". ABC (in Spanish). 25 May 2003. Archived from the original on 7 December 2017. Retrieved 11 December 2017.
4. "La 'batalla' de Madrid, la más reñida en los comicios del 25-M". El Mundo (in Spanish). 20 May 2003.
5. "Los indecisos deberán romper el empate a la alcaldía y la Comunidad de Madrid". El País (in Spanish). 18 May 2003.
6. "La alcaldía de Madrid depende de los indecisos". El País (in Spanish). 18 May 2003.
7. "Mayoría constitucionalista en Vitoria, al obtener 9 ediles el PP y 7 el PSE". ABC (in Spanish). 18 May 2003.
8. "Empate técnico en la 'batalla' de Madrid a 9 días de las elecciones". El Mundo (in Spanish). 16 May 2003.
9. "Estimación de concejales, mayo 2003". El Mundo (in Spanish). 16 May 2003.
10. "Madrid". El Periódico de Catalunya (in Spanish). 18 May 2003.
11. "La alcaldía de Madrid pende de un hilo". El Periódico de Catalunya (in Spanish). 18 May 2003.
12. "Preelectoral elecciones autonómicas, 2003. CA de Madrid (Estudio nº 2493. Marzo-Abril 2003)". CIS (in Spanish). 17 May 2003.
13. "La guerra pasa factura electoral al PP". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). 18 May 2003.
14. "Gallardón mantiene la mayoría absoluta en Madrid y PSOE-IU ganarían la Comunidad". ABC (in Spanish). 28 April 2003.
15. "El PSOE recuperará 135.000 votos en las municipales, según una encuesta". El País (in Spanish). 11 March 2003.
16. "El PP ganará las locales en Madrid, según una encuesta de Sondaxe". La Voz de Galicia (in Spanish). 18 January 2003.
17. "Las mujeres no gobernarán en el Ayuntamiento y la Comunidad". La Voz de Galicia (in Spanish). 18 January 2003.
18. "Ruiz-Gallardón logra mayoría absoluta para ser alcalde de Madrid pero por sólo un concejal". El País (in Spanish). 2 December 2002.
19. "Ruiz-Gallardón lograría la mayoría absoluta sin Ana Botella, según un sondeo de la CEIM". El País (in Spanish). 13 November 2002.
20. "El PP mantiene por la mínima la mayoría en Madrid". El País (in Spanish). 29 September 2002.
21. "Encuesta España. Septiembre 2002" (PDF). Instituto Opina (in Spanish). 29 September 2002. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 May 2005. Retrieved 23 February 2021.
22. "El PP mantiene la mayoría absoluta a ocho meses de los comicios municipales". ABC (in Spanish). 22 September 2002.
23. "El PSOE maneja un sondeo en el que el PP pierde por un concejal la mayoría absoluta en Madrid". ABC (in Spanish). 29 June 2002.
24. "Una encuesta vaticina un empate entre el PP y la oposición en los comicios locales". El País (in Spanish). 27 June 2002.
25. "La izquierda puede desbancar al PP de la alcaldía de la capital, según un sondeo del PSOE". El País (in Spanish). 6 July 2001.
26. "La encuesta de la FSM atribuye a la izquierda la mayoría". ABC (in Spanish). 30 June 2001.
27. "Un sondeo del PSOE sobre intención de voto predice una victoria de la izquierda". El País (in Spanish). 25 June 2001.

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 374/2003, de 31 de marzo, por el que se convocan elecciones locales y a las Asambleas de Ceuta y Melilla (PDF) (Royal Decree 374/2003). Official State Gazette (in Spanish). 31 March 2003. Retrieved 10 November 2025.
13. LOREG (1985) , arts. 44 & 187.
14. Casqueiro, Javier (9 July 2002). "Aznar pide a Gallardón que sea candidato a la alcaldía de Madrid". El País (in Spanish). Madrid. Retrieved 9 November 2025.
15. "Ruiz-Gallardón y Esperanza Aguirre serán los candidatos del PP en Madrid a la alcaldía y la comunidad respectivamente". ABC (in Spanish). 9 July 2002. Retrieved 9 November 2025.
16. "El Comité Electoral del PP de Madrid propondrá hoy a Gallardón como candidato a la Alcaldía de la capital" (in Spanish). Madrid: Servimedia. 17 July 2002. Retrieved 16 November 2025.
17. Díez, Anabel (10 May 2002). "Trinidad Jiménez y Simancas serán elegidos candidatos por el PSOE regional el lunes". El País (in Spanish). Madrid. Retrieved 9 November 2025.
18. "Jiménez y Simancas, candidatos del PSOE a la alcaldía y la comunidad de Madrid". El País (in Spanish). Madrid. 13 May 2002. Retrieved 9 November 2025.
19. Serrano, Rodolfo (19 July 2002). "IU llega a un acuerdo de candidatos para poner fin a su crisis electoral". El País (in Spanish). Madrid. Retrieved 9 November 2025.
20. Díez, Anabel (8 May 2002). "El eurodiputado Mendiluce estudia ser candidato de Los Verdes a la alcaldía". El País (in Spanish). Madrid. Retrieved 9 November 2025.
21. Díez, Anabel (9 May 2002). "El eurodiputado por el PSOE Mendiluce se presenta con Los Verdes en Madrid". El País (in Spanish). Madrid. Retrieved 9 November 2025.
22. Díez, Anabel (9 May 2002). "Mendiluce desoye a Zapatero y confirma que será candidato a la alcaldía por Los Verdes". El País (in Spanish). Madrid. Retrieved 9 November 2025.
23. Lozano, Carles. "Elecciones Municipales en Madrid (desde 1979)". Historia Electoral.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 4 November 2025.
24. "Elecciones al Ayuntamiento de Madrid de 25 de mayo de 2003 y a la Asamblea de Madrid de 26 de octubre de 2003" (PDF). City Council of Madrid (in Spanish). Retrieved 5 November 2025.
25. "Elecciones celebradas. Resultados electorales" (in Spanish). Ministry of the Interior . Retrieved 5 November 2025.
26. "Acuerdo de 20 de junio de 2003, 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 374/2003, de 31 de marzo, y celebradas el 25 de mayo, 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) (158 (Supplement)): 1–700. 3 July 2003. ISSN   0212-033X . Retrieved 6 November 2025.
27. "Gallardón, elegido alcalde de Madrid con los 30 votos del PP". El Mundo (in Spanish). Madrid. EFE. 14 June 2003. Retrieved 9 November 2025.

Bibliography

• Constitución Española (Constitution). Official State Gazette (in Spanish). 29 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 11 March 2003]. 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 11 March 2003]. BOE-A-1985-11672. Retrieved 4 November 2025.