2015 Zaragoza City Council election

Last updated
2015 Zaragoza City Council election
Zaragoza (ciudad).svg
  2011 24 May 2015 2019  

All 31 seats in the City Council of Zaragoza
16 seats needed for a majority
Opinion polls
Registered502,076 Increase2.svg 1.2%
Turnout328,920 (65.5%)
Increase2.svg 0.4 pp
 First partySecond partyThird party
  Eloy Suarez 2015 (cropped).jpg Pedro Santisteve 2015b (cropped).jpg Carlos Perez Anadon 2015 (cropped).jpg
Leader Eloy Suárez Pedro Santisteve Carlos Pérez Anadón
Party PP ZGZ PSOE
Leader since3 December 20101 March 20157 October 2014
Last election15 seats, 41.3%3 seats, 7.9% [a] 10 seats, 27.1%
Seats won1096
Seat changeDecrease2.svg 5Increase2.svg 6Decrease2.svg 4
Popular vote87,56980,05560,807
Percentage26.9%24.6%18.7%
SwingDecrease2.svg 14.4 pp Increase2.svg 16.7 pp Decrease2.svg 8.4 pp

 Fourth partyFifth party
  Portrait placeholder.svg Portrait placeholder.svg
Leader Elena Martínez Ortín Juan Martín Expósito
Party C's CHA
Leader since14 April 201518 December 2018
Last electionDid not contest3 seats, 9.2%
Seats won42
Seat changeIncrease2.svg 4Decrease2.svg 1
Popular vote40,01822,067
Percentage12.3%6.8%
SwingNew partyDecrease2.svg 2.4 pp

Mayor before election

Juan Alberto Belloch
PSOE

Elected mayor

Pedro Santisteve
ZGZ

A municipal election was held in Zaragoza on Sunday, 24 May 2015, to elect the 10th City Council of the municipality. All 31 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.

Contents

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]

PopulationCouncillors
<1003
101–2505
251–1,0007
1,001–2,0009
2,001–5,00011
5,001–10,00013
10,001–20,00017
20,001–50,00021
50,001–100,00025
>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). [10] 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 31 March 2015 with the publication of the corresponding decree in the BOE, setting election day for 24 May. [12]

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:

  Poll conducted after legal ban on opinion polls  Exit poll

Results

Summary of the 24 May 2015 City Council of Zaragoza election results
ZaragozaCouncilDiagram2015.svg
Parties and alliancesPopular voteSeats
Votes%±pp Total+/−
People's Party (PP)87,56926.88−14.3810−5
Zaragoza in Common (ZGZ)180,05524.57+16.659+6
Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE)60,80718.67−8.476−4
Citizens–Party of the Citizenry (C's)40,01812.28New4+4
Aragonese Union (CHA)22,0676.77−2.472−1
Aragonese Party (PAR)9,1852.82−1.720±0
Union, Progress and Democracy (UPyD)4,9281.51−2.070±0
Blank Seats (EB)4,4261.36New0±0
Animalist Party Against Mistreatment of Animals (PACMA)3,8491.18+0.850±0
Commitment with Aragon (CCA)2,0880.64+0.310±0
The Greens–Green Group (LV–GV)1,8180.56+0.090±0
Communist Party of the Peoples of Spain (PCPE)9000.28+0.160±0
Republican Social Movement (MSR)6290.19New0±0
Aragonese Bloc (BAR)4650.14New0±0
Aragonese State (EAR)4530.14New0±0
Federation of Independents of Aragon (FIA)3740.11−0.040±0
Blank ballots6,1451.89−1.69
Total325,77631±0
Valid votes325,77699.04+0.52
Invalid votes3,1440.96−0.52
Votes cast / turnout328,92065.51+0.38
Abstentions173,15634.49−0.38
Registered voters502,076
Sources [15] [16] [17]
Footnotes:
Popular vote
PP
26.88%
ZGZ
24.57%
PSOE
18.67%
C's
12.28%
CHA
6.77%
PAR
2.82%
UPyD
1.51%
EB
1.36%
PACMA
1.18%
Others
2.06%
Blank ballots
1.89%
Seats
PP
32.26%
ZGZ
29.03%
PSOE
19.35%
C's
12.90%
CHA
6.45%

Notes

  1. Data for IU in the 2011 election.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Within ZGZ.
  3. 1 2 Undecided and/or abstentionists excluded.
  4. Within IU.
  5. Within PP.

References

Opinion poll sources
  1. "Los sondeos dan un vuelco en Zaragoza". Heraldo de Aragón (in Spanish). 24 May 2015.
  2. "Ayto. de Zaragoza. TNS Demoscopia". Aragón TV (in Spanish). 24 May 2015.
  3. "Encuestas y resultados - elecciones autonómicas y municipales del 24 de mayo de 2015". GAD3 (in Spanish). 28 May 2015.
  4. "Encuestas electorales al Ayuntamiento de Zaragoza". SoydeZaragoza.es (in Spanish). 17 May 2015.
  5. "El PP depende de C's para gobernar en Madrid, Valencia, Sevilla y Málaga". Público (in Spanish). 15 May 2015.
  6. "Ada Colau empata con Trias, Barberá se estrella en Valencia y Podemos tiene la llave en Sevilla". Público (in Spanish). 3 May 2015.
  7. "Tracking de sondeos en las capitales: la derecha sólo puede esperar que Ciudadanos salve al PP". Público (in Spanish). 3 May 2015.
  8. "Dos de cada diez antiguos votantes del PP se "fugan" a Ciudadanos". Público (in Spanish). 17 May 2015.
  9. "La pugna por el Ayuntamiento de Zaragoza tendría que decidirse mediante acuerdos". Heraldo de Aragón (in Spanish). 7 May 2015.
  10. "Resultados en las municipales de Zaragoza". Heraldo de Aragón (in Spanish). 23 April 2015.
  11. "Preelectoral elecciones autonómicas y municipales 2015. Municipio de Zaragoza (Estudio nº 3064. Marzo-Abril 2015)". CIS (in Spanish). 7 May 2015.
  12. "El PP se echa a la calle para recuperar a las clases medias". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). 8 May 2015.
  13. "Empate técnico entre Zaragoza en Común y Partido Popular. La campaña será decisiva". Zaragoza en Común (in Spanish). 15 April 2015. Archived from the original on 2015-05-24.
  14. "ZARAGOZA, Marzo 2015. Sondeo interno Zaragoza en Común". Electográfica (in Spanish). 15 April 2015.
  15. "El PP ganaría las elecciones locales en Zaragoza por un estrecho margen". El Periódico de Aragón (in Spanish). 11 May 2014.
  16. "ZARAGOZA, Mayo 2014. AC Consultores / MyWord / Periódico de Aragón". Electográfica (in Spanish). 11 May 2014.
  17. "En Zaragoza: El PSOE, con dificultades para reeditar el acuerdo con CHA e IU". Heraldo de Aragón (in Spanish). 23 April 2014.
  18. "ZARAGOZA, Abril 2014. A+M / Heraldo de Aragón". Electográfica (in Spanish). 23 April 2014.
  19. "El PSOE ganaría en Zaragoza por un ajustado margen sobre el PP". El Periódico de Aragón (in Spanish). 19 January 2014.
  20. "ZARAGOZA, Enero 2014. AC Consultores / El Periódico de Aragón". Electográfica (in Spanish). 19 January 2014.
  21. "El PSOE ganaría las elecciones en Zaragoza y el PP se desplomaría". El Periódico de Aragón (in Spanish). 21 April 2013.
Other
  1. Constitution (1978) , art. 140.
  2. 1 2 3 LBRL (1985) , art. 19.
  3. LBRL (1985) , arts. 121–132.
  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 233/2015, de 30 de marzo, por el que se convocan elecciones locales y a las Asambleas de Ceuta y Melilla para el 24 de mayo de 2015 (PDF) (Royal Decree 233/2015). Official State Gazette (in Spanish). 30 March 2015. Retrieved 10 November 2025.
  13. "ARAGÓN (Capitales), Abril 2015. Sondeo A+M". Electográfica (in Spanish). 23 April 2015.
  14. "El reparto del poder territorial en España en 2015" (PDF). desarrollando-ideas.com (in Spanish). 31 October 2014.
  15. Lozano, Carles. "Elecciones municipales en Zaragoza (desde 1979)". Historia Electoral.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 4 November 2025.
  16. "Elecciones celebradas. Resultados electorales" (in Spanish). Ministry of the Interior . Retrieved 5 November 2025.
  17. "Acuerdo de 1 de julio de 2015, 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 233/2015, de 30 de marzo, y celebradas el 24 de mayo de 2015, según los datos que figuran en las actas de proclamación remitidas por cada una de las Juntas Electorales de Zona. Provincias: Valencia, Valladolid, Zamora, Zaragoza, Ceuta y Melilla" (PDF). Official State Gazette (in Spanish) (248): 96411–96655. 16 October 2015. ISSN   0212-033X . Retrieved 6 November 2025.

Bibliography