2003 Zaragoza municipal election

2003 Zaragoza municipal election

← 1999 25 May 2003 2007  →
All 31 seats in the City Council of Zaragoza 16 seats needed for a majority
Opinion polls
Registered	515,232 0.9%
Turnout	341,039 (66.2%) 7.7 pp
First party Second party Third party   Leader Juan Alberto Belloch José Atarés Antonio Gaspar Party PSOE PP CHA Leader since 27 June 1998 8 April 2000 1999 Last election 10 seats, 29.8% 15 seats, 42.3% 4 seats, 13.6% Seats won 12 11 6 Seat change 2 4 2 Popular vote 114,952 110,747 62,211 Percentage 33.9% 32.7% 18.3% Swing 4.1 pp 9.6 pp 4.7 pp   Fourth party   Leader Manuel Lorenzo Blasco Party PAR Leader since 22 October 2002 Last election 2 seats, 7.7% Seats won 2 Seat change 0 Popular vote 23,690 Percentage 7.0% Swing 0.7 pp
Mayor before election José Atarés PP Elected mayor Juan Alberto Belloch PSOE

A municipal election was held in Zaragoza 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

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), 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 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)		José Atarés	Conservatism Christian democracy	42.3%	15		[14] [15] [16]
	PSOE	List Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE)		Juan Alberto Belloch	Social democracy	29.8%	10		[17] [18]
	CHA	List Aragonese Union (CHA)		Antonio Gaspar	Aragonese nationalism Eco-socialism	13.6%	4		[19]
	PAR	List Aragonese Party (PAR)		Manuel Lorenzo Blasco	Regionalism Centrism	7.7%	2		[20]
	IU	List United Left of Aragon (IU) – Communist Party of Aragon (PCE–A) – Revolutionary Workers' Party (POR) – Workers' Revolutionary Party–Revolutionary Left (PRT–IR)		Jesús Lacasa	Socialism Communism	4.4%	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; 16 seats were required for an absolute majority in the City Council of Zaragoza.

Color key:

  Exit poll

Polling firm/Commissioner	Fieldwork date	Sample size	Turnout						Lead
2003 municipal election	25 May 2003	—	66.2	32.7 11	33.9 12	18.3 6	7.0 2	4.0 0	1.2
Sigma Dos/Antena 3 [p 1] [p 2]	25 May 2003	?	?	? 9/10	? 10/11	? 6/7	? 2	? 2	?
Ipsos–Eco/RTVE [p 3]	25 May 2003	?	?	? 10/11	? 10/11	? 5/6	? 2	? 2	Tie
C&J/El Periódico [p 4]	12–15 May 2003	?	?	33.4 10/11	35.0 12/13	18.0 5/6	7.9 2	3.6 0/1	1.6
Opina/El País [p 5] [p 6] [p 7]	11–12 May 2003	800	?	35.0 11/12	32.0 10/11	18.0 6	? 2	? 1	3.0
CIS [p 8] [p 9]	22 Mar–28 Apr 2003	472	66.0	31.2 10	34.7 11	17.6 6	9.8 3	5.5 1	3.5
C&J/El Periódico [p 4] [p 10]	10–16 Apr 2003	?	?	28.9 9/10	37.7 12/13	16.3 5/6	9.9 2/3	? 0/1	8.8
2000 general election	12 Mar 2000	—	71.2	48.1 (17)	26.6 (9)	15.1 (5)	3.4 (0)	4.2 (0)	21.5
1999 municipal election	13 Jun 1999	—	58.5	42.3 15	29.8 10	13.6 4	7.7 2	4.4 0	12.5

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	—	21.5	22.3	12.1	4.6	2.6	—	33.8	0.8
C&J/El Periódico [p 4]	12–15 May 2003	?	17.8	19.2	–	4.2	1.9	33.1		1.4
CIS [p 8] [p 10]	22 Mar–28 Apr 2003	472	14.0	19.7	8.3	4.7	3.0	39.9	8.7	5.7
C&J/El Periódico [p 4]	10–16 Apr 2003	?	17.0	22.2	–	5.8	–	–	–	5.2
2000 general election	12 Mar 2000	—	34.0	18.9	10.7	2.4	3.0	—	28.8	15.1
1999 municipal election	13 Jun 1999	—	24.6	17.3	7.9	4.5	2.5	—	41.5	7.3

Results

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

Parties and alliances		Popular vote			Seats
		Votes	%	±pp	Total	+/−
	Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE)	114,952	33.90	+4.12	12	+2
	People's Party (PP)	110,747	32.66	−9.64	11	−4
	Aragonese Union (CHA)	62,211	18.34	+4.77	6	+2
	Aragonese Party (PAR)	23,690	6.99	−0.75	2	±0
	United Left of Aragon (IU)	13,474	3.97	−0.38	0	±0
	The Greens–SOS Nature (LV–SOS)	2,413	0.71	New	0	±0
	Aragonese Initiative (INAR)	1,110	0.33	New	0	±0
	Family and Life Party (PFyV)	748	0.22	New	0	±0
	Democratic and Social Centre (CDS)	636	0.19	New	0	±0
	Republican Left (IR)	356	0.10	New	0	±0
	Humanist Party (PH)	225	0.07	−0.18	0	±0
Blank ballots		8,560	2.52	+0.51
Total		339,122			31	±0
Valid votes		339,122	99.44	−0.06
Invalid votes		1,917	0.56	+0.06
Votes cast / turnout		341,039	66.19	+7.73
Abstentions		174,193	33.81	−7.73
Registered voters		515,232
Sources [21] [22] [23]

Popular vote

PSOE			33.90%
PP			32.66%
CHA			18.34%
PAR			6.99%
IU			3.97%
Others			1.62%
Blank ballots			2.52%

Seats

PSOE			38.71%
PP			35.48%
CHA			19.35%
PAR			6.45%

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. "Belloch deberá pactar con Chunta para gobernar con mayoría absoluta". El Periódico de Aragón (in Spanish). 17 May 2003.
5. "El PSOE logrará la alcaldía de Zaragoza si le apoya la Chunta". El País (in Spanish). 18 May 2003.
6. "El PP sería la fuerza más votada en Zaragoza". El Periódico de Aragón (in Spanish). 19 May 2003.
7. "PP y PSOE rozan la mayoría absoluta en Bilbao, única capital vasca gobernada por el PNV". Libertad Digital (in Spanish). 19 May 2003.
8. "Preelectoral elecciones autonómicas, 2003. CA de Aragón (Estudio nº 2484. Marzo-Abril 2003)". CIS (in Spanish). 17 May 2003.
9. "La guerra pasa factura electoral al PP". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). 18 May 2003.
10. "Belloch domina, Atarés cae, el PAR recupera y CHA sigue fuerte". El Periódico de Aragón (in Spanish). 26 April 2003.

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. Montserrat, Concha (1 April 2000). "El PP aragonés propondrá a Atarés para suceder a Rudi en Zaragoza". El País (in Spanish). Zaragoza. Retrieved 22 November 2025.
15. "Atarés, elegido nuevo alcalde de Zaragoza". El Mundo (in Spanish). Zaragoza. EFE. 8 April 2000. Retrieved 22 November 2025.
16. "El PP se prepara para diseñar todo su banquillo electoral". El Periódico de Aragón (in Spanish). 14 December 2002. Retrieved 22 November 2025.
17. Montserrat, Concha (23 April 2002). "El rival de Belloch renuncia a las primarias para la alcaldía de Zaragoza". El País (in Spanish). Zaragoza. Retrieved 22 November 2025.
18. Notario, Pilar (10 July 2002). "El PSOE arropa a Belloch". Aragón Digital (in Spanish). Zaragoza. Retrieved 22 November 2025.
19. "Chunta se postula como opción decisiva de gobierno". El Periódico de Aragón (in Spanish). 24 October 2002. Retrieved 22 November 2025.
20. Guillén, Nieves (28 December 2002). "Atarés y Belloch asisten a la proclamación de Blasco". Aragón Digital (in Spanish). Zaragoza. Retrieved 22 November 2025.
21. Lozano, Carles. "Elecciones municipales en Zaragoza (desde 1979)". Historia Electoral.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 4 November 2025.
22. "Elecciones celebradas. Resultados electorales" (in Spanish). Ministry of the Interior . Retrieved 5 November 2025.
23. "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.

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.