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All 41 seats in the City Council of Barcelona 21 seats needed for a majority | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Opinion polls | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Registered | 1,161,140 0.2% | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Turnout | 703,590 (60.6%) 7.6 pp | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The 2015 Barcelona City Council election, also the 2015 Barcelona municipal election, was held on Sunday, 24 May 2015, to elect the 10th City Council of the municipality of Barcelona. All 41 seats in the City Council were up for election. The election was held simultaneously with regional elections in thirteen autonomous communities and local elections all throughout Spain.
The election was won by the Barcelona en Comú (BComú) citizen platform, supported by Podemos, Initiative for Catalonia Greens–United and Alternative Left (ICV–EUiA) and Constituent Process (Procés Constituent) and led by Ada Colau popular activist and former spokeswoman of the Platform for People Affected by Mortgages (PAH). Incumbent mayor Xavier Trias of the Convergence and Union (CiU) federation, who had campaigned for a second consecutive term in office, saw his support reduced from 14 to 10 out of 41 seats in the council. Citizens (C's) became the third largest political force in the city, whereas Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC) obtained its second best historical result. On the other hand, both the Socialists' Party of Catalonia (PSC) and the People's Party (PP) were severely mauled. The PSC, which had won every municipal election in Barcelona and had controlled the local government up until 2011, fell to fifth place and below 10% of the share, while the PP achieved its worst result since the People's Alliance (AP) result in the 1987 election. The Popular Unity Candidacy (CUP) also entered the City Council for the first time in history, winning 3 seats and 7.4% of the votes.
Colau went on to become the first female mayor of Barcelona in history with the support of the BComú, ERC, the PSC and one of the CUP councillors. [1]
The City Council of Barcelona (Catalan : Ajuntament de Barcelona, Spanish : Ayuntamiento de Barcelona) was the top-tier administrative and governing body of the municipality of Barcelona, composed of the mayor, the government council and the elected plenary assembly. [2] Elections to the local councils in Spain were fixed for the fourth Sunday of May every four years. [3] Voting for the local assembly was on the basis of universal suffrage, which comprised all nationals over 18 years of age, registered and residing in the municipality of Barcelona and in full enjoyment of their political rights, 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.
Local councillors were elected using the D'Hondt method and a closed list proportional representation, with an electoral threshold of five percent of valid votes—which included blank ballots—being applied in each local council. [2] [3] Councillors were allocated to municipal councils based on the following scale:
Population | Councillors |
---|---|
<100 | 3 |
101–250 | 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 mayor was indirectly elected by the plenary assembly. A legal clause required that mayoral candidates earned the vote of an absolute majority of councillors, or else the candidate of the most-voted party in the assembly was to be automatically appointed to the post. In the event of a tie, the appointee would be determined by lot. [2]
The electoral law allowed for parties and federations registered in the interior ministry, coalitions and groupings of electors to present lists of candidates. Parties and federations intending to form a coalition 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. For the case of Barcelona, as its population was over 1,000,001, at least 8,000 signatures were required. [3]
Below is a list of the main parties and electoral alliances which contested the election:
The table below lists voting intention estimates 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. When available, seat projections determined by the polling organisations are displayed below (or in place of) the percentages in a smaller font; 21 seats were required for an absolute majority in the City Council of Barcelona.
Poll conducted after legal ban on opinion polls Exit poll
Polling firm/Commissioner | Fieldwork date | Sample size | Turnout | Lead | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2015 municipal election | 24 May 2015 | — | 60.6 | 22.8 10 | 9.6 4 | 8.7 3 | [lower-alpha 2] | 11.0 5 | 7.4 3 | 11.0 5 | [lower-alpha 2] | 25.2 11 | 2.4 |
TNS Demoscopia/RTVE–FORTA [p 1] [4] | 24 May 2015 | ? | ? | 21.3 9/11 | 11.0 4/5 | 10.1 4/5 | [lower-alpha 2] | 9.6 3/4 | 8.8 3/4 | 10.2 4/5 | [lower-alpha 2] | 23.6 10/12 | 2.3 |
GESOP/El Periòdic [p 2] | 21–23 May 2015 | 1,100 | ? | 24.4 10/11 | 12.3 5 | 10.4 4/5 | [lower-alpha 2] | 9.0 4 | 6.2 2/3 | 9.9 4 | [lower-alpha 2] | 24.0 10/11 | 0.4 |
GESOP/El Periòdic [p 3] | 20–22 May 2015 | 1,000 | ? | 24.6 10/11 | 11.9 5 | 11.5 5 | [lower-alpha 2] | 9.1 4 | 6.2 2/3 | 8.6 3/4 | [lower-alpha 2] | 23.5 10/11 | 1.1 |
GAD3/Antena 3 [p 4] | 11–22 May 2015 | ? | ? | ? 11/12 | ? 5/6 | ? 4/5 | [lower-alpha 2] | ? 3/4 | ? 2 | ? 3/4 | [lower-alpha 2] | ? 10/11 | ? |
GESOP/El Periòdic [p 5] | 19–21 May 2015 | 800 | ? | 24.5 10/11 | 11.9 5 | 11.5 5 | [lower-alpha 2] | 9.5 4 | 6.2 2/3 | 9.5 4 | [lower-alpha 2] | 22.0 9/10 | 2.5 |
GESOP/El Periòdic [p 6] | 19–20 May 2015 | 700 | ? | 24.5 11 | 11.2 5 | 11.5 5 | [lower-alpha 2] | 10.0 4/5 | 5.6 2 | 10.3 4/5 | [lower-alpha 2] | 21.4 9/10 | 3.1 |
GESOP/El Periòdic [p 7] | 18–19 May 2015 | 600 | ? | 23.7 11 | 11.7 5 | 11.9 5 | [lower-alpha 2] | 10.3 4/5 | 5.6 2 | 10.9 4/5 | [lower-alpha 2] | 20.5 9/10 | 3.2 |
GESOP/El Periòdic [p 8] | 17–18 May 2015 | 400 | ? | 23.0 10/11 | 11.7 5/6 | 11.9 5/6 | [lower-alpha 2] | 10.5 4/5 | 5.0 0/2 | 11.5 5/6 | [lower-alpha 2] | 21.0 9/10 | 2.0 |
Metroscopia/El País [p 9] [p 10] [p 11] | 8–13 May 2015 | 1,000 | 65 | 22.0 10 | 8.2 3 | 5.1 2 | [lower-alpha 2] | 12.0 5 | 8.3 3 | 13.9 6 | [lower-alpha 2] | 27.0 12 | 5.0 |
MyWord/Cadena SER [p 12] [p 13] | 6–13 May 2015 | 800 | ? | 22.3 10/11 | 11.0 5 | 8.4 4 | [lower-alpha 2] | 10.7 4/5 | 7.0 3 | 13.3 6 | [lower-alpha 2] | 20.3 9/10 | 2.0 |
JM&A/Público [p 14] | 12 May 2015 | ? | ? | ? 10 | ? 5 | ? 4 | [lower-alpha 2] | ? 5 | ? 2 | ? 7 | [lower-alpha 2] | ? 8 | ? |
Encuestamos [p 15] | 1–12 May 2015 | ? | ? | 21.3 9/10 | 12.8 5/6 | 9.9 3/4 | [lower-alpha 2] | 12.0 4/5 | – | 14.7 6/7 | [lower-alpha 2] | 24.1 10/11 | 2.7 |
Sigma Dos/El Mundo [p 16] [p 17] | 8–11 May 2015 | 800 | ? | 22.7 10/11 | 13.0 6 | 10.6 4/5 | [lower-alpha 2] | 9.8 4 | 5.1 0/2 | 13.6 6 | [lower-alpha 2] | 20.6 9 | 2.1 |
GESOP/El Periódico [p 18] [p 19] | 7–8 May 2015 | 800 | ? | 22.6 10/11 | 14.6 6/7 | 12.5 5/6 | [lower-alpha 2] | 10.2 4/5 | 5.0 0/2 | 12.1 5/6 | [lower-alpha 2] | 18.9 8/9 | 3.7 |
GAD3/ABC [p 20] | 20 Apr–4 May 2015 | 508 | ? | 23.9 11/12 | 11.1 5/6 | 10.2 4/5 | [lower-alpha 2] | 11.5 5/6 | 4.3 0 | 15.3 6/7 | [lower-alpha 2] | 17.5 8/9 | 6.4 |
JM&A/Público [p 21] [p 22] | 3 May 2015 | ? | ? | 21.7 10 | 11.5 5 | 9.8 4 | [lower-alpha 2] | 10.2 4 | 5.4 2 | 13.6 6 | [lower-alpha 2] | 21.1 10 | 0.6 |
Feedback/La Vanguardia [p 23] | 24–28 Apr 2015 | 700 | ? | 24.2 10/11 | 13.5 5/6 | 11.1 4/5 | [lower-alpha 2] | 11.4 5 | 5.4 2 | 14.2 6 | [lower-alpha 2] | 17.1 7 | 7.1 |
CIS [p 24] [p 25] | 23 Mar–19 Apr 2015 | 993 | ? | 18.5 8 | 11.6 5 | 9.1 4 | [lower-alpha 2] | 10.1 4 | 7.1 3 | 13.8 6 | [lower-alpha 2] | 25.9 11 | 7.4 |
Sigma Dos/El Mundo [p 26] [p 27] | 24–25 Mar 2015 | 800 | ? | 21.4 9/10 | 13.2 5/6 | 10.3 4 | [lower-alpha 2] | 12.5 5/6 | 2.7 0 | 14.6 6/7 | [lower-alpha 2] | 22.3 10 | 0.9 |
M2015 [p 28] | 6 Mar 2015 | 530 | ? | 20.5 9 | 13.4 6 | 13.2 6 | [lower-alpha 2] | 16.1 7 | 5.8 2 | 7.8 3 | [lower-alpha 2] | 18.1 8 | 2.4 |
8TV [p 21] [p 29] | 21 Feb 2015 | ? | ? | 23.2 11 | 19.0 9 | 10.6 5 | [lower-alpha 2] | 8.4 4 | 2.1 0 | 6.3 3 | [lower-alpha 2] | 19.0 9 | 4.2 |
Feedback/La Vanguardia [p 30] | 16–19 Feb 2015 | 700 | 55.1 | 25.3 11/12 | 10.7 5 | 13.7 6 | [lower-alpha 2] | 10.3 4/5 | 4.2 0/2 | 8.1 3 | [lower-alpha 2] | 21.4 10 | 3.9 |
Llorente & Cuenca [p 31] | 31 Oct 2014 | ? | ? | ? 10/12 | ? 8/10 | ? 6/7 | [lower-alpha 2] | ? 4/5 | ? 1/2 | – | [lower-alpha 2] | ? 3/5 | ? |
GESOP/El Periódico [p 32] [p 33] | 15–18 Jul 2014 | 800 | ? | 22.3 10/11 | 13.0 6 | 14.0 6/7 | 7.9 3/4 | 14.2 7/8 | ? 0 | 6.3 2/3 | ? 0 | 7.6 3/4 | 8.1 |
2014 EP election [5] | 25 May 2014 | — | 51.0 | 20.9 (10) | 12.2 (6) | 12.0 (6) | 12.6 (6) | 21.8 (10) | – | 7.0 (3) | 4.7 (0) | – | 0.9 |
Feedback/La Vanguardia [p 34] | 14–17 Oct 2013 | 800 | 56.7 | 24.9 11 | 12.9 6 | 14.7 6 | 13.3 6 | 14.8 6 | 5.8 2 | 8.5 4 | – | – | 10.1 |
GESOP/El Periódico [p 35] | 13–15 May 2013 | 800 | ? | 24.1 11/12 | 14.2 6/7 | 12.0 5/6 | 14.2 6/7 | 10.2 4/5 | 9.0 4 | 9.2 4 | – | – | 9.9 |
2012 regional election [6] | 25 Nov 2012 | — | 70.9 | 29.4 (14) | 12.2 (5) | 14.9 (7) | 12.0 (5) | 13.1 (6) | 4.0 (0) | 8.2 (4) | – | – | 14.5 |
GESOP/El Periódico [p 36] | 4–7 Jun 2012 | 800 | ? | 27.5 14 | 20.0 10 | 13.3 7 | 12.2 6 | 8.0 4 | – | – | – | – | 7.5 |
2011 general election [7] | 20 Nov 2011 | — | 68.1 | 27.7 (12) | 25.7 (12) | 21.3 (10) | 10.0 (4) | 7.2 (3) | – | – | – | – | 2.0 |
2011 municipal election | 22 May 2011 | — | 53.0 | 28.7 14 | 22.1 11 | 17.2 9 | 10.4 5 | 5.6 2 | 2.0 0 | 1.9 0 | – | – | 6.6 |
Parties and alliances | Popular vote | Seats | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Votes | % | ±pp | Total | +/− | ||
Barcelona in Common (Let's Win Barcelona)–Agreement (BComú–E)1 | 176,612 | 25.21 | +14.82 | 11 | +6 | |
Convergence and Union (CiU) | 159,393 | 22.75 | –5.98 | 10 | –4 | |
Citizens–Party of the Citizenry (C's) | 77,272 | 11.03 | +9.09 | 5 | +5 | |
ERC–MES–Barcelona Open City–Advance–AM (ERC–MES–BcnCO–A–AM) | 77,120 | 11.01 | +5.42 | 5 | +3 | |
Socialists' Party of Catalonia–Progress Candidacy (PSC–CP) | 67,489 | 9.63 | –12.51 | 4 | –7 | |
People's Party (PP) | 61,004 | 8.71 | –8.53 | 3 | –6 | |
Popular Unity Candidacy–Let's Reverse Barcelona (CUP–Capgirem–PA) | 51,945 | 7.42 | +5.47 | 3 | +3 | |
Animalist Party Against Mistreatment of Animals (PACMA) | 5,720 | 0.82 | +0.11 | 0 | ±0 | |
The Greens–The Ecologist Alternative (EV–AE) | 5,684 | 0.81 | New | 0 | ±0 | |
Better Barcelona (RI.cat–SI)2 | 2,626 | 0.37 | –0.76 | 0 | ±0 | |
Blank Seats (EB) | 1,957 | 0.28 | –1.39 | 0 | ±0 | |
Platform for Catalonia (PxC) | 1,617 | 0.23 | –0.34 | 0 | ±0 | |
Vox–Family and Life Party (Vox–PFiV)3 | 1,520 | 0.22 | +0.13 | 0 | ±0 | |
United Free Citizens (CILUS) | 989 | 0.14 | New | 0 | ±0 | |
Union, Progress and Democracy (UPyD) | 811 | 0.12 | –0.12 | 0 | ±0 | |
Communist Party of the Catalan People (PCPC) | 656 | 0.09 | –0.07 | 0 | ±0 | |
Spanish Phalanx of the CNSO (FE–JONS) | 455 | 0.07 | +0.01 | 0 | ±0 | |
Humanist Party (PH) | 439 | 0.06 | –0.04 | 0 | ±0 | |
United for Declaring Catalan Independence (UPDIC) | 286 | 0.04 | New | 0 | ±0 | |
Libertarian Party (P–LIB) | 273 | 0.04 | New | 0 | ±0 | |
Internationalist Solidarity and Self-Management (SAIn) | 166 | 0.02 | –0.02 | 0 | ±0 | |
The National Coalition (LCN) | 99 | 0.01 | New | 0 | ±0 | |
Blank ballots | 6,363 | 0.91 | –3.56 | |||
Total | 700,496 | 41 | ±0 | |||
Valid votes | 700,496 | 99.56 | +1.26 | |||
Invalid votes | 3,094 | 0.44 | –1.26 | |||
Votes cast / turnout | 703,590 | 60.59 | +7.60 | |||
Abstentions | 457,550 | 39.41 | –7.60 | |||
Registered voters | 1,161,140 | |||||
Sources [8] [9] [10] [11] | ||||||
Footnotes:
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The 2003 Catalan regional election was held on Sunday, 16 November 2003, to elect the 7th Parliament of the autonomous community of Catalonia. All 135 seats in the Parliament were up for election.
The 1999 Catalan regional election was held on Sunday, 17 October 1999, to elect the 6th Parliament of the autonomous community of Catalonia. All 135 seats in the Parliament were up for election.
The 2010 Catalan regional election was held on Sunday, 28 November 2010, to elect the 9th Parliament of the autonomous community of Catalonia. All 135 seats in the Parliament were up for election. This was the first election held in Catalonia after the Constitutional Court of Spain struck down parts of the regional 2006 Statute of Autonomy that granted new powers of self-rule to the region. The ruling came after four years of deliberation concerning a constitutional appeal filed by the conservative People's Party (PP) under Mariano Rajoy and was met with anger and street protests throughout the region.
The 2012 Catalan regional election was held on Sunday, 25 November 2012, to elect the 10th Parliament of the autonomous community of Catalonia. All 135 seats in the Parliament were up for election. It was a snap election, announced on 25 September by President Artur Mas following the pro-independence demonstration in Barcelona on 11 September—the National Day of Catalonia—and the failed talks between President Mas and Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy to give greater fiscal autonomy to Catalonia.
The 2015 Catalan regional election was held on Sunday, 27 September 2015, electing the 11th Parliament of the autonomous community of Catalonia. All 135 seats in the Parliament were up for election. This was the third regional Catalan election in only five years, after the 2010 and 2012 elections and the first one in over 37 years in which Democratic Convergence of Catalonia (CDC) and Democratic Union of Catalonia (UDC) ran separately, after the dissolution of Convergence and Union (CiU) in June 2015 over disagreements on the coalition's separatist turn.
The 1995 Barcelona City Council election, also the 1995 Barcelona municipal election, was held on Sunday, 28 May 1995, to elect the 5th City Council of the municipality of Barcelona. All 41 seats in the City Council were up for election. The election was held simultaneously with regional elections in thirteen autonomous communities and local elections all throughout Spain.
The 1999 Barcelona City Council election, also known as the 1999 Barcelona municipal election, was held on Sunday, 13 June 1999, to elect the 6th City Council of the municipality of Barcelona. All 41 seats in the City Council were up for election. The election was held simultaneously with regional elections in thirteen autonomous communities and local elections all throughout Spain, as well as the 1999 European Parliament election.
The 2007 Barcelona City Council election, also the 2007 Barcelona municipal election, was held on Sunday, 27 May 2007, to elect the 8th City Council of the municipality of Barcelona. All 41 seats in the City Council were up for election. The election was held simultaneously with regional elections in thirteen autonomous communities and local elections all throughout Spain.
The 2011 Barcelona City Council election, also the 2011 Barcelona municipal election, was held on Sunday, 22 May 2011, to elect the 9th City Council of the municipality of Barcelona. All 41 seats in the City Council were up for election. The election was held simultaneously with regional elections in thirteen autonomous communities and local elections all throughout Spain.
The 2019 Barcelona City Council election, also the 2019 Barcelona municipal election, was held on Sunday, 26 May 2019, to elect the 11th City Council of the municipality of Barcelona. All 41 seats in the City Council were up for election. The election was held simultaneously with regional elections in twelve autonomous communities and local elections all throughout Spain, as well as the 2019 European Parliament election in Spain.
En Comú Podem was an electoral coalition in Catalonia, originally formed in October 2015 by Podemos, Barcelona en Comú, Initiative for Catalonia Greens, United and Alternative Left, and Equo, and led by the Mayor of Barcelona, Ada Colau, to contest the 2015 Spanish general election.
Left Movement of Catalonia is a social-democratic, pro-independence political party in Catalonia. The party was founded in November 2014 from the merger of New Catalan Left (NECat) and Catalonia Movement, which had both been formed by dissident members of the Socialists' Party of Catalonia (PSC) who were dissatisfied with what they saw as the party's lack of support for the independence movement. Its founders included Marina Geli and Ernest Maragall (NECat), but both have ever since left for other parties—Geli joined the Together for Catalonia alliance ahead of the 2017 Catalan regional election, whereas Maragall defected to Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC) in 2018.
The 2017 Catalan regional election was held on Thursday 21 December 2017 to elect the 12th Parliament of the autonomous community of Catalonia. All 135 seats in the Parliament were up for election. The election was called by Spanish prime minister Mariano Rajoy after the invocation of Article 155 of the 1978 Spanish Constitution to enforce direct rule in Catalonia and the subsequent dismissal of the Catalan government under President Carles Puigdemont. The three pro-Catalan independence parties won a slim majority of parliamentary seats, claiming 70 out of 135, but fell short of a majority in the popular vote by securing 47.6% of the share.
Catalunya en Comú, previously Un País en Comú and collectively dubbed as Comuns, is a Catalan-based political party established in December 2016 as an umbrella for Barcelona en Comú, Initiative for Catalonia Greens (ICV), United and Alternative Left (EUiA) and Equo, which until then had been collaborating through electoral alliances under the Catalunya Sí que es Pot and En Comú Podem labels in the September 2015 regional and December 2015 and June 2016 general elections.
The 2021 Catalan regional election was held on Sunday, 14 February 2021, to elect the 13th/14th Parliament of the autonomous community of Catalonia. All 135 seats in the Parliament were up for election.
Sobiranistes is a political party of the republican and Catalan sovereigntist left, formed by a splinter group from Catalunya en Comú (CatComú) led by Joan Josep Nuet and Elisenda Alamany, deputies in the Parliament of Catalonia.
Elisenda Alamany i Gutiérrez is a Spanish teacher and politician, currently serving as a member of the City Council of Barcelona, since June 2019. From January 2018 to April 2019 she was a deputy in the 12th Legislature of the Parliament of Catalonia. Initially part of the coalition Catalunya en Comú–Podem, she was the spokesperson for its parliamentary group from 18 January to 29 October 2018. In October 2018, she promoted the platform Sobiranistes (Sovereigntists) as a criticism of the leadership of En Comú Podem. In February 2019 she left the parliamentary group but kept her seat. On 24 February 2019, she announced the creation of the party Nova.
In the run up to the 2015 Spanish local elections, various organisations carried out opinion polling to gauge voting intention in local entities in Spain. Results of such polls for municipalities in Catalonia are displayed in this article. The date range for these opinion polls is from the previous local elections, held on 22 May 2011, to the day the next elections were held, on 24 May 2015.
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