2003 Valencia City Council election

2003 Valencia City Council election

←  1999 25 May 2003 2007  →
All 33 seats in the City Council of Valencia 17 seats needed for a majority
Opinion polls
Registered	631,225 1.9%
Turnout	432,366 (68.5%) 5.8 pp
First party Second party Third party   Leader Rita Barberá Rafael Rubio Antonio Montalbán Party PP PSPV–PSOE L'Entesa Leader since 1991 25 November 2000 19 December 1998 Last election 20 seats, 53.2% 11 seats, 29.0% 2 seats, 6.4% Seats won 19 12 2 Seat change 1 1 0 Popular vote 220,548 132,903 31,519 Percentage 51.2% 30.8% 7.3% Swing 2.0 pp 1.8 pp 0.9 pp
Mayor before election Rita Barberá PP Elected mayor Rita Barberá PP

A municipal election was held in Valencia on Sunday, 25 May 2003, to elect the 7th City Council of the municipality. All 33 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

Local government

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 Valencia, the top-tier administrative and governing body was the City Council of Valencia. ^[3] Elections to local councils in Spain were fixed for the fourth Sunday of May every four years (as of 2025, this has been the year before a leap year). ^[4]

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. ^[5]

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 Valencia 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] [6] [7]}

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. ^[8] Each municipality constituted a multi-member constituency, entitled a number of seats based on the following scale: ^[9]

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. ^[10]

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 Valencia, as its population was between 300,001 and 1,000,000, at least 5,000 signatures were required. ^[11]

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)		Rita Barberá	Conservatism Christian democracy	53.2%	20
	PSPV–PSOE	List Socialist Party of the Valencian Country (PSPV–PSOE)		Rafael Rubio	Social democracy	29.0%	11
	L'Entesa	List United Left of the Valencian Country (EUPV) – Communist Party of the Valencian Country (PCPV) – Revolutionary Workers' Party (POR) – Workers' Revolutionary Party–Revolutionary Left (PRT–IR) Valencian Left (EV)		Antonio Montalbán	Socialism Communism	6.4%	2
	UV	List Valencian Union (UV)		José María Chiquillo	Blaverism Conservatism	4.7%	0
	Bloc–EV	List Valencian Nationalist Bloc (Bloc) Green Left (EV)		Ferran Puchades	Valencian nationalism Progressivism Ecologism	3.2%	0

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; 17 seats were required for an absolute majority in the City Council of Valencia.

Polling firm/Commissioner	Fieldwork date	Sample size	Turnout						Lead
2003 municipal election	25 May 2003	—	68.5	51.2 19	30.8 12	7.3 2	3.6 0	2.6 0	20.4
CIS [p 1] [p 2]	22 Mar–28 Apr 2003	398	80.6	49.4 18	30.3 11	7.5 2	3.6 1	4.8 1	19.1
Vox Pública/El Periódico [p 3] [p 4] [p 5]	25–27 Apr 2003	500	?	49.5– 50.5 18/20	27.5– 28.5 10/11	7.0– 8.0 2/3	5.0– 6.0 1/2	–	22.0
PSPV [p 6]	15–25 Apr 2003	920	68.7	? 16	? 14	? 3	–	–	?
2000 general election	12 Mar 2000	—	71.1	54.7 (20)	28.8 (11)	7.3 (2)	3.6 (0)	2.0 (0)	25.9
2003 municipal election	13 Jun 1999	—	62.7	53.2 20	29.0 11	6.4 2	4.7 0	3.2 0	24.2

Voting preferences

The table below lists raw, unweighted voting preferences.

Polling firm/Commissioner	Fieldwork date	Sample size						?	N	Lead
2003 municipal election	25 May 2003	—	34.9	21.1	5.0	2.5	1.8	—	31.5	13.8
CIS [p 1]	22 Mar–28 Apr 2003	398	40.5	26.6	5.0	1.8	1.8	14.3	6.5	13.9
2000 general election	12 Mar 2000	—	38.7	20.4	5.2	2.5	1.4	—	28.9	18.3
2003 municipal election	13 Jun 1999	—	33.3	18.1	4.0	3.0	2.0	—	37.3	15.2

Results

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

Parties and alliances		Popular vote			Seats
		Votes	%	±pp	Total	+/−
	People's Party (PP)	220,548	51.15	−2.10	19	−1
	Socialist Party of the Valencian Country (PSPV–PSOE)	132,903	30.82	+1.87	12	+1
	United Left–Valencian Left: Agreement (L'Entesa)	31,519	7.31	+0.94	2	±0
	Valencian Union (UV)	15,593	3.62	−1.12	0	±0
	Valencian Nationalist Bloc–Green Left (Bloc–EV)	11,201	2.60	−0.61	0	±0
	Cannabis Party for Legalisation and Normalisation (PCLyN)	4,177	0.97	New	0	±0
	The Greens of the Valencian Country (EV–LV)	3,369	0.78	New	0	±0
	Spain 2000 (E–2000)	819	0.19	New	0	±0
	Family and Life Party (PFyV)	732	0.17	New	0	±0
	Republican Left of the Valencian Country–Municipal Agreement (ERPV–AM)	692	0.16	New	0	±0
	Alternative Citizen Initiative (ICAL)	532	0.12	New	0	±0
	Regional Party of the Valencian Community (PRCV)	509	0.12	New	0	±0
	Democratic and Social Centre (CDS)	461	0.11	−0.03	0	±0
	Federal Republican Party (PRF)	441	0.10	−0.02	0	±0
	Internationalist Socialist Workers' Party (POSI)	354	0.08	New	0	±0
	Humanist Party (PH)	300	0.07	−0.02	0	±0
Blank ballots		7,007	1.63	−0.22
Total		431,157			33	±0
Valid votes		431,157	99.72	+0.08
Invalid votes		1,209	0.28	−0.08
Votes cast / turnout		432,366	68.50	+5.78
Abstentions		198,859	31.50	−5.78
Registered voters		631,225
Sources [12] [13] [14]

Popular vote

PP			51.15%
PSPV–PSOE			30.82%
L'Entesa			7.31%
UV			3.62%
Bloc–EV			2.60%
Others			2.87%
Blank ballots			1.63%

Seats

PP			57.58%
PSPV–PSOE			36.36%
L'Entesa			6.06%

Aftermath

Investiture
Ballot →		14 June 2003
Required majority →		17 out of 33
	Rita Barberá (PP) • PP (19)	19 / 33	Y
	Rafael Rubio (PSPV) • PSPV (12)	12 / 33	N
	Antonio Montalbán (L'Entesa) • L'Entesa (2)	2 / 33	N
	Blank ballots	0 / 33
	Absentees	0 / 33
Sources [12] [15]

References

Opinion poll sources

1. "Preelectoral elecciones autonómicas, 2003. CA Valenciana (Estudio nº 2491. Marzo-Abril 2003)" (PDF). CIS (in Spanish). 17 May 2003.
2. "La guerra pasa factura electoral al PP". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). 18 May 2003.
3. "Valencia". El Periódico de Catalunya (in Spanish). 5 May 2003.
4. "Los valencianos mantienen su apoyo al PP tras irse Zaplana". El Periódico de Aragón (in Spanish). 5 May 2003.
5. "VOX PUBLICA". El Periódico de Aragón (in Spanish). 5 May 2003.
6. "El PP pierde la mayoría absoluta en Valencia, según el PSPV". El País (in Spanish). 1 May 2003.

Other

1. Constitution (1978) , art. 140.
2. LBRL (1985) , art. 19.
3. LBRL (1985) , add. prov. 6.
4. LOREG (1985) , art. 42.
5. LOREG (1985) , art. 196.
6. Constitution (1978) , art. 13.
7. LOREG (1985) , arts. 2–3 & 176.
8. LOREG (1985) , arts. 163 & 180.
9. LOREG (1985) , art. 179.
10. LOREG (1985) , arts. 46, 48 & 182.
11. LOREG (1985) , arts. 44 & 187.
12. Lozano, Carles. "Eleccions municipals a València (des de 1979)". Historia Electoral.com (in Catalan). Retrieved 4 November 2025.
13. "Elecciones celebradas. Resultados electorales" (in Spanish). Ministry of the Interior . Retrieved 5 November 2025.
14. "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.
15. Alberola, Miquel (14 June 2003). "Alcanzar el pleno empleo". El País. Valencia. 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.