2007 Madrid City Council election

2007 Madrid City Council election

←  2003 27 May 2007 2011  →
All 57 seats in the City Council of Madrid 29 seats needed for a majority
Opinion polls
Registered	2,404,697 3.2%
Turnout	1,585,441 (65.9%) 3.0 pp
First party Second party Third party   Leader Alberto Ruiz-Gallardón Miguel Sebastián Ángel Pérez Party PP PSOE IUCM Leader since 21 September 2002 18 November 2006 26 January 2007 Last election 30 seats, 51.3% 21 seats, 36.7% 4 seats, 7.2% Seats won 34 18 5 Seat change 4 3 1 Popular vote 877,589 487,887 136,881 Percentage 55.6% 30.9% 8.7% Swing 4.3 pp 5.8 pp 1.5 pp
Mayor before election Alberto Ruiz-Gallardón PP Elected Mayor Alberto Ruiz-Gallardón PP

A municipal election was held in Madrid on Sunday, 27 May 2007, to elect the 8th City Council of the municipality. All 57 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.

Alberto Ruiz-Gallardón's People's Party (PP) went on to win the largest victory achieved by a candidate in a municipal election in Madrid to date, with over 55% of the votes and nearly 60% of the seats. The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) plummeted barely above 1995 levels, while United Left (IU) recovered from its negative result in 2003 and gained support for the first time since 1995.

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 Madrid, the top-tier administrative and governing body was the City Council of Madrid. ^[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 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] [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 Madrid, as its population was over 1,000,001, at least 8,000 signatures were required. ^[11] Amendments to the electoral law in 2007 introduced requirements for a balanced composition of men and women in the electoral lists, so that candidates of either sex made up at least 40 percent of the total composition. ^[12]

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	51.3%	30		[13]
	PSOE	List Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE)		Miguel Sebastián	Social democracy	36.7%	21		[14] [15]
	IUCM	List United Left of the Community of Madrid (IUCM) – Communist Party of Madrid (PCM) – Revolutionary Workers' Party (POR)		Ángel Pérez	Socialism Communism	7.2%	4		[16] [17] [18]

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; 29 seats were required for an absolute majority in the City Council of Madrid (28 until 1 January 2007).

Color key:

  Exit poll

Polling firm/Commissioner	Fieldwork date	Sample size	Turnout				Lead
2007 municipal election	27 May 2007	—	65.9	55.6 34	30.9 18	8.7 5	24.7
Ipsos/RTVE–FORTA [p 1] [p 2]	27 May 2007	?	?	52.9 31/33	33.1 19/21	8.8 5/6	19.8
Sigma Dos/El Mundo [p 3]	18 May 2007	400	?	53.5 32/33	32.8 19/20	9.5 5	20.7
Metroscopia/ABC [p 4]	14–16 May 2007	?	65–70	54.5 33	34.5 21	6.0 3	20.0
Opina/El País [p 5] [p 6]	14 May 2007	?	?	53.0 32	37.0 21/22	6.5 3/4	16.0
TNS Demoscopia/Antena 3 [p 7]	9 May 2007	?	?	? 32/33	? 21/22	? 3/4	?
Opina/Cadena SER [p 8] [p 9]	6 May 2007	600	?	56.3 33	35.4 20/21	6.4 3/4	20.9
CIS [p 10]	2–4 May 2007	1,000	?	52.7 32	34.5 21	7.1 4	18.2
Opina/El País [p 11] [p 12]	21–22 Mar 2007	700	?	53.0 31/32	38.0 22/23	5.5 3	15.0
PSOE [p 13]	1 Mar 2007	?	70	? 28/29	? 24	? 4/5	?
Metroscopia/CEIM [p 14] [p 15]	12 Feb–1 Mar 2007	975	?	53.9 32	35.0 21	7.4 4	18.9
Sigma Dos/PP [p 16]	14–25 Feb 2007	1,200	?	52.5 30/31	36.1 20/21	6.8 4	16.4
Sigma Dos/El Mundo [p 17] [p 18]	16–21 Nov 2006	400	?	57.0 32/33	32.9 19/20	5.5 3	24.1
Iberconsulta/La Razón [p 19]	17 Sep 2006	?	?	53.3 31	34.2 20	? 4	19.1
Opina/El País [p 20] [p 21]	26 Apr 2006	542	?	51.0 29	38.0 22	8.0 4	13.0
Synovate/PSOE [p 22]	15 May 2005	1,012	?	? 28	? 22	? 5	?
2004 EP election	13 Jun 2004	—	53.6	52.5 (30)	40.0 (23)	5.1 (2)	12.5
2004 general election	14 Mar 2004	—	80.8	47.6 (28)	41.8 (24)	6.3 (3)	5.8
October 2003 regional election	26 Oct 2003	—	66.2	51.2 (30)	36.6 (21)	8.4 (4)	14.6
2003 municipal election	25 May 2003	—	68.9	51.3 30	36.7 21	7.2 4	14.6

Voting preferences

The table below lists raw, unweighted voting preferences.

Polling firm/Commissioner	Fieldwork date	Sample size				?	N	Lead
2007 municipal election	27 May 2007	—	36.5	20.3	5.7	—	34.1	16.2
CIS [p 10]	2–4 May 2007	1,000	42.1	23.1	4.8	18.5	4.1	19.0
2004 EP election	13 Jun 2004	—	28.1	21.4	2.7	—	46.4	6.7
2004 general election	14 Mar 2004	—	38.3	33.6	5.1	—	19.2	4.7
October 2003 regional election	26 Oct 2003	—	33.7	24.1	5.5	—	33.8	9.6
2003 municipal election	25 May 2003	—	35.2	25.2	5.0	—	31.1	10.0

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
Opina/Cadena SER [p 9]	6 May 2007	600	47.7	30.0	5.5	1.5	11.9	17.7
CIS [p 10]	2–4 May 2007	1,000	46.8	27.7	4.6	8.1	12.8	19.1

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
Opina/Cadena SER [p 9]	6 May 2007	600	73.3	7.0	0.2	–	19.5	66.3
CIS [p 10]	2–4 May 2007	1,000	68.7	11.3	–	0.8	19.2	57.4

Preferred Mayor

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

All candidates

Polling firm/Commissioner	Fieldwork date	Sample size						Other/ None/ Not care	?	Lead
			Gallardón PP	Jiménez PSOE	Sebastián PSOE	Sabanés IUCM	Pérez IUCM
Opina/El País [p 6]	14 May 2007	?	50.0	–	27.0	–	–	23.0		23.0
Opina/Cadena SER [p 9]	6 May 2007	600	50.2	–	28.2	–	5.8	6.0	9.9	22.0
CIS [p 10]	2–4 May 2007	1,000	49.9	–	17.7	–	2.6	17.2	12.6	32.2
Opina/El País [p 21]	26 Apr 2006	542	43.2	28.2	–	6.8	–	8.9	12.9	15.0

Gallardón vs. Sebastián

Polling firm/Commissioner	Fieldwork date	Sample size			Other/ None/ Not care	?	Lead
			Gallardón PP	Sebastián PSOE
Opina/El País [p 11]	21–22 Mar 2007	700	53.0	32.1	4.9	10.0	20.9

Gallardón vs. Bono

Polling firm/Commissioner	Fieldwork date	Sample size			Other/ None/ Not care	?	Lead
			Gallardón PP	Bono PSOE
PSOE [p 23]	Sep 2006	?	37.0	43.0	20.0		6.0

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
			Gallardón PP	Jiménez PSOE	Sebastián PSOE	Sabanés IUCM	Pérez IUCM
Opina/Cadena SER [p 9]	6 May 2007	600	82.0	–	7.2	–	0.2	0.2	10.5	74.8
Opina/El País [p 11]	21–22 Mar 2007	700	78.4	–	11.9	–	–	0.4	9.2	66.5
Opina/El País [p 21]	26 Apr 2006	542	60.7	17.5	–	0.2	–	1.5	20.1	43.2

Results

← Summary of the 27 May 2007 City Council of Madrid election results →

Parties and alliances		Popular vote			Seats
		Votes	%	±pp	Total	+/−
	People's Party (PP)	877,589	55.65	+4.35	34	+4
	Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE)	487,887	30.94	−5.74	18	−3
	United Left of the Community of Madrid (IUCM)	136,881	8.68	+1.46	5	+1
	The Greens (LV, LVM, LVCM, LV–GV)1	14,011	0.89	−1.24	0	±0
	Spanish Alternative (AES)	6,140	0.39	New	0	±0
	Anti-Bullfighting Party Against Mistreatment of Animals (PACMA)	3,167	0.20	New	0	±0
	For a Fairer World (PUM+J)	2,501	0.16	New	0	±0
	Spanish Phalanx of the CNSO (FE–JONS)	1,920	0.12	New	0	±0
	Democratic and Social Centre (CDS)	1,681	0.11	−0.02	0	±0
	National Democracy (DN)	1,571	0.10	New	0	±0
	Family and Life Party (PFyV)	1,390	0.09	−0.09	0	±0
	The Phalanx (FE)	1,353	0.09	−0.04	0	±0
	Republican Left (IR)	1,272	0.08	−0.13	0	±0
	Communist Party of the Peoples of Spain (PCPE)	1,253	0.08	New	0	±0
	Madrid First (PM)	1,163	0.07	+0.02	0	±0
	Humanist Party (PH)	950	0.06	±0.00	0	±0
	Liberal Democratic Centre (CDL)	834	0.05	New	0	±0
	Commoners' Land (TC)	821	0.05	±0.00	0	±0
	Democratic Innovation (ID)	664	0.04	New	0	±0
	Authentic Phalanx (FA)	530	0.03	−0.01	0	±0
	Catholic Tercio of Political Action (TCAP)	461	0.03	New	0	±0
	Liberal Centrist Union (UCL)	318	0.02	New	0	±0
	Immigrants with Rights, Equality and Obligations (INDIO)	308	0.02	−0.01	0	±0
	Union for Leganés (ULEG)	188	0.01	New	0	±0
	European Ibero-American Alliance Party (PAIE)	151	0.01	New	0	±0
Blank ballots		32,066	2.03	+0.43
Total		1,577,070			57	+2
Valid votes		1,577,070	99.47	−0.09
Invalid votes		8,371	0.53	+0.09
Votes cast / turnout		1,585,441	65.93	−2.97
Abstentions		819,256	34.07	+2.97
Registered voters		2,404,697
Sources [19] [20] [21] [22]
Footnotes: 1 The Greens results are compared to the combined totals of The Greens and The Greens of the Community of Madrid in the 2003 election.

Popular vote

PP			55.65%
PSOE			30.94%
IUCM			8.68%
Others			2.70%
Blank ballots			2.03%

Seats

PP			59.65%
PSOE			31.58%
IUCM			8.77%

Aftermath

Investiture
Ballot →		16 June 2007
Required majority →		29 out of 57
	Alberto Ruiz-Gallardón (PP) • PP (34)	34 / 57	Y
	Pilar Gallego (PSOE) • PSOE (18)	18 / 57	N
	Ángel Pérez (IUCM) • IUCM (5)	5 / 57	N
	Blank ballots	0 / 57
	Absentees	0 / 57
Sources [19] [23]

References

Opinion poll sources

1. "Madrid: el PP revalidaría la mayoría en Asamblea y Ayuntamiento". Expansión (in Spanish). 27 May 2007.
2. "27-M. 22:00h. Cierre de colegios, primeros sondeos". Es por Madrid (in Spanish). 27 May 2007.
3. "El 62% de ciudadanos cree que la pregunta a Gallardón sobre 'Malaya' perjudica a Sebastián". El Mundo (in Spanish). 20 May 2007.
4. "Gallardón y Aguirre ampliarían su victoria en Madrid con más del 52% de los votos". ABC (in Spanish). 20 May 2007.
5. "El PP se crece en Madrid y Valencia y el PSOE amarra Barcelona y Sevilla". El País (in Spanish). 21 May 2007.
6. "Gallardón aumenta su apoyo en Madrid tras un mandato de obras". El País (in Spanish). 21 May 2007.
7. "La campaña por Madrid echa a andar con todas las encuestas favorables al PP". ABC (in Spanish). 10 May 2007.
8. "El PP revalidaría la mayoría en el Ayuntamiento y la Comunidad de Madrid". Cadena SER (in Spanish). 11 May 2007.
9. "Pulsómetro 11/05/2007". Cadena SER (in Spanish). 11 May 2007. Archived from the original on 13 May 2007.
10. "Preelectoral elecciones municipales, 2007. Ciudad de Madrid (Estudio nº 2704. Mayo 2007)". CIS (in Spanish). 11 May 2007.
11. "Gallardón mantiene la mayoría absoluta". El País (in Spanish). 26 March 2007.
12. "Gallardón mantiene la mayoría absoluta del PP en Madrid". El País (in Spanish). 26 March 2007.
13. "Blanco asegura que "Gallardón está muy tocado" y atribuye más "tirón" a Aguirre". ABC (in Spanish). 1 March 2007.
14. "El PP de Aguirre y Gallardón se distancia de un PSOE estancado". ABC (in Spanish). 12 March 2007.
15. "Aguirre y Gallardón ganan a sus rivales en valoración y arrasan en intención de voto". ABC (in Spanish). 12 March 2007.
16. "El PP espera ganar por goleada". El Mundo (in Spanish). 28 March 2007.
17. "El alcalde de las obras crece en votos". El Mundo (in Spanish). 27 November 2006.
18. "Aguirre y Gallardón aumentan su ventaja según una encuesta de SIGMA DOS-El Mundo". 20 minutos (in Spanish). 27 November 2006.
19. "Suspiro de alivio en Génova con la última encuesta de Madrid". Semanal Digital (in Spanish). 17 September 2006.^{[ permanent dead link ]}
20. "Rajoy saca peor nota que Zapatero en los bastiones electorales del PP". El País (in Spanish). 2 May 2006.
21. "Informe Encuesta Comunidad y Ayuntamiento de Madrid. Abril 2006" (PDF). Instituto Opina (in Spanish). 2 May 2006. Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 January 2007. Retrieved 20 May 2020.
22. "Aguirre pierde la mayoría absoluta, según una macroencuesta encargada por el PSOE". El País (in Spanish). 15 May 2005.
23. "Los sondeos animan al PSOE a pedir a Bono que dispute la alcaldía de Madrid". Cadena SER (in Spanish). 10 October 2006.

Other

1. Constitution (1978) , art. 140.
2. LBRL (1985) , art. 19.
3. LBRL (1985) , arts. 121–132.
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. LOREG (1985) , art. 44 bis.
13. "El Comité Electoral del PP ratifica a Gallardón como candidato a la Alcaldía". El Mundo (in Spanish). Madrid. EFE. 20 September 2006. Retrieved 9 November 2025.
14. "Miguel Sebastián será el candidato del PSOE a la alcaldía de Madrid". El País (in Spanish). Madrid. 25 October 2006. Retrieved 9 November 2025.
15. "Sebastián será ratificado mañana como candidato, comenzará a trabajar el lunes y será presentado por Zapatero el día 26" (in Spanish). Madrid: Europa Press. 17 November 2006. Retrieved 9 November 2025.
16. "IU aprueba sus listas electorales a la Asamblea y al Ayuntamiento". El Mundo (in Spanish). Madrid. EFE. 20 December 2006. Retrieved 9 November 2025.
17. "La Comisión Federal de IU anula la candidatura de Pérez a la Alcaldía". El Mundo (in Spanish). Madrid. Agencias. 22 January 2007. Retrieved 9 November 2025.
18. "Inés Sabanés y Ángel Pérez, cabezas de lista de IU para la Comunidad y el Ayuntamiento de Madrid". El País (in Spanish). Madrid. 26 January 2007. Retrieved 9 November 2025.
19. Lozano, Carles. "Elecciones Municipales en Madrid (desde 1979)". Historia Electoral.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 4 November 2025.
20. "Resultados generales elecciones al Ayuntamiento de Madrid y Asamblea de Madrid de 27 de mayo de 2007" (PDF). City Council of Madrid (in Spanish). Retrieved 5 November 2025.
21. "Elecciones celebradas. Resultados electorales" (in Spanish). Ministry of the Interior . Retrieved 5 November 2025.
22. "Acuerdo de 6 de julio de 2007, 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 444/2007, de 2 de abril, y celebradas el 27 de mayo de 2007, 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) (162 (Supplement)): 1–623. 7 July 2007. ISSN   0212-033X . Retrieved 6 November 2025.
23. "27-M.- Gallardón, reelegido alcalde de Madrid con los votos de los 34 ediles del PP, que mantiene su mayoría absoluta" (in Spanish). Madrid: Europa Press. 16 June 2007. 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 13 April 2007]. 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 20 April 2007]. BOE-A-1985-11672. Retrieved 4 November 2025.