2019 Zaragoza municipal election

2019 Zaragoza municipal election

←  2015 26 May 2019 2023  →
All 31 seats in the City Council of Zaragoza 16 seats needed for a majority
Opinion polls
Registered	505,756 0.7%
Turnout	332,813 (65.8%) 0.3 pp
First party Second party Third party   Leader Pilar Alegría Jorge Azcón Sara Fernández Party PSOE PP Cs Leader since 28 September 2018 4 December 2018 9 March 2019 Last election 6 seats, 18.7% 10 seats, 26.9% 4 seats, 12.3% Seats won 10 8 6 Seat change 4 2 2 Popular vote 92,823 73,065 60,552 Percentage 28.0% 22.0% 18.3% Swing 9.3 pp 4.9 pp 6.0 pp   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader Pedro Santisteve Violeta Barba Julio Calvo Party ZGZ Podemos–Equo Vox Leader since 1 March 2015 8 February 2019 22 April 2019 Last election 9 seats, 24.6% Did not contest Did not contest Seats won 3 2 2 Seat change 6 2 2 Popular vote 33,423 20,551 20,458 Percentage 10.1% 6.2% 6.2% Swing 14.5 pp New party New party
Mayor before election Pedro Santisteve ZGZ Elected mayor Jorge Azcón PP

A municipal election was held in Zaragoza on Sunday, 26 May 2019, to elect the 11th City Council of the municipality. All 31 seats in the City Council were up for election. It was held concurrently with regional elections in twelve autonomous communities and local elections all throughout Spain, as well as the 2019 European Parliament election.

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
<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 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 24 May 2015, setting the date for election day on Sunday, 26 May 2019.

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 2 April 2019 with the publication of the corresponding decree in the BOE, setting election day for 26 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] Additionally, a balanced composition of men and women was required in the electoral lists, so that candidates of either sex made up at least 40 percent of the total composition. ^[14]

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)		Jorge Azcón	Conservatism Christian democracy	26.9%	10
	ZGZ	List United Left of Aragon (IU) – Communist Party of Aragon (PCE–A) – The Dawn Marxist Organization (La Aurora (OM)) – Republican Left (IR) – Feminist Party of Spain (PFE) Anticapitalists (Anticapitalistas)		Pedro Santisteve	Localism Left-wing populism Participatory democracy	24.6%	9
	PSOE	List Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE)		Pilar Alegría	Social democracy	18.7%	6
	Cs	List Citizens–Party of the Citizenry (Cs)		Sara Fernández	Liberalism	12.3%	4
	CHA	List Aragonese Union (CHA)		Carmelo Asensio	Aragonese nationalism Eco-socialism	6.8%	2
	PAR	List Aragonese Party (PAR)		María Elena Allué	Regionalism Centrism	2.8%	0
	Podemos– Equo	List We Can (Podemos) Equo (Equo)		Violeta Barba	Left-wing populism Direct democracy Democratic socialism	Contested in alliance [a]
	Vox	List Vox (Vox)		Julio Calvo	Right-wing populism Ultranationalism National conservatism	Did not contest

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
2019 municipal election	26 May 2019	—	65.8	22.0 8	10.1 3	28.0 10	18.3 6	4.6 0	1.7 0	6.2 2	[b]	6.2 2	–	6.0
GfK/FORTA [p 1] [p 2] [15]	26 May 2019	?	?	18.2 5/6	10.9 3/4	27.6 9/11	15.3 4/5	6.5 1/2	3.2 0	9.6 2/3	[b]	5.6 0/1	–	9.4
KeyData/Público [p 3]	19 May 2019	?	66.2	16.9 6	11.7 4	24.0 9	17.7 6	4.8 0	2.2 0	8.0 3	[b]	8.1 3	–	6.3
A+M/Heraldo de Aragón [p 4]	9–10 May 2019	800	68.5	21.1 7/8	10.3 3/4	22.5 8/9	19.3 6/7	6.7 2	2.0 0	11.1 4	[b]	5.0 0/2	–	1.4
40dB/El País [p 5]	3–8 May 2019	800	?	17.8 6	14.0 4/5	26.1 9/10	15.1 5	5.2 1	–	10.4 3	[b]	7.4 2	–	8.3
April 2019 general election	28 Apr 2019	—	78.5	17.2 (5)	–	30.5 (10)	21.5 (7)	–	–	[c]	[c]	12.5 (4)	14.9 (5)	9.0
CIS [p 6] [p 7]	21 Mar–23 Apr 2019	498	?	24.2 9/10	13.0 4/6	23.5 8/9	10.7 3/4	5.7 1/2	3.7 0	11.8 4/5	[b]	2.7 0	–	0.7
ElectoPanel/Electomanía [p 8]	31 Mar–7 Apr 2019	?	?	23.9 8	6.1 2	28.9 10	13.3 4	5.9 2	2.6 0	6.6 2	[b]	10.2 3	–	5.0
ElectoPanel/Electomanía [p 9]	24–31 Mar 2019	?	?	23.6 8	? 2	29.9 10	13.5 4	5.9 2	2.8 0	6.5 2	[b]	10.0 3	–	6.3
ElectoPanel/Electomanía [p 10]	17–24 Mar 2019	?	?	23.6 8	11.6 4	29.9 10	13.5 4	5.9 2	2.8 0	[b]	[b]	10.0 3	–	6.3
ElectoPanel/Electomanía [p 11]	10–17 Mar 2019	?	?	24.1 8	11.9 4	28.6 9	12.7 4	5.8 2	2.9 0	[b]	[b]	11.7 4	–	4.5
ElectoPanel/Electomanía [p 12]	3–10 Mar 2019	?	?	23.6 8	12.1 4	28.2 9	13.3 4	5.7 2	3.0 0	[b]	[b]	11.6 4	–	4.6
ElectoPanel/Electomanía [p 13]	22 Feb–3 Mar 2019	?	?	24.1 8	12.0 4	27.9 10	13.5 5	5.6 2	3.0 0	[b]	[b]	11.1 4	–	3.8
A+M/Heraldo de Aragón [p 14]	3–4 Oct 2018	800	64.5	27.3 9/10	15.2 5/6	25.6 9/10	18.5 6/7	4.9 0/1	1.6 0	[b]	[b]	3.0 0	–	1.7
A+M/Heraldo de Aragón [p 15] [16]	11–15 Apr 2018	800	65.0	23.9 8/9	19.5 6/7	21.8 7/8	21.4 7/8	4.9 0/1	3.6 0	[b]	[b]	–	–	2.1
Fundación DFA/City Council [p 16] [p 17] [p 18]	8 Nov–1 Dec 2017	1,430	?	23.9 8	18.7 7	19.5 7	17.5 6	9.6 3	–	[b]	[b]	–	–	4.4
A+M/Heraldo de Aragón [p 19] [p 20]	22–27 Nov 2017	600	69.2	25.8 9/10	17.3 6/7	23.4 9/10	16.7 5/6	7.4 2	2.6 0	[b]	[b]	–	–	2.4
2016 general election	26 Jun 2016	—	72.6	33.8 (11)	–	22.9 (7)	17.7 (6)	–	[d]	[c]	[c]	0.3 (0)	21.8 (7)	10.9
2015 general election	20 Dec 2015	—	75.6	29.1 (10)	–	20.2 (6)	18.8 (6)	[e]	[d]	20.7 (7)	7.0 (2)	0.4 (0)	–	8.4
2015 municipal election	24 May 2015	—	65.5	26.9 10	24.6 9	18.7 6	12.3 4	6.8 2	2.8 0	[b]	[b]	–	–	2.3

Voting preferences

The table below lists raw, unweighted voting preferences.

Polling firm/Commissioner	Fieldwork date	Sample size											?	N	Lead
2019 municipal election	26 May 2019	—	14.2	6.5	18.1	11.8	3.1	1.1	4.0	[b]	4.0	–	—	34.2	3.9
April 2019 general election	28 Apr 2019	—	13.4	–	23.8	16.8	–	–	[c]	[c]	9.8	11.6	—	21.5	7.0
CIS [p 6]	21 Mar–23 Apr 2019	498	11.4	5.8	10.2	3.0	1.0	0.8	4.8	[b]	1.2	–	50.4	8.4	1.2
Fundación DFA/City Council [p 21]	13 Sep–18 Oct 2018	2,072	8.4	9.8	11.6	8.6	2.4	0.2	[b]	[b]	–	–	38.7	14.1	1.8
Fundación DFA/City Council [p 17]	8 Nov–1 Dec 2017	1,430	9.0	8.5	11.7	11.0	2.7	0.6	[b]	[b]	–	–	42.2	8.5	0.7
2016 general election	26 Jun 2016	—	24.4	–	16.5	12.8	–	[d]	[c]	[c]	0.2	15.7	—	27.4	7.9
2015 general election	20 Dec 2015	—	21.9	–	15.2	14.1	[e]	[d]	15.6	5.3	0.3	–	—	24.4	6.3
2015 municipal election	24 May 2015	—	17.4	15.9	12.1	8.0	4.4	1.8	[b]	[b]	–	–	—	34.5	1.5

Results

← Summary of the 26 May 2019 City Council of Zaragoza election results →

Parties and alliances		Popular vote			Seats
		Votes	%	±pp	Total	+/−
	Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE)	92,823	28.00	+9.33	10	+4
	People's Party (PP)	73,065	22.04	−4.84	8	−2
	Citizens–Party of the Citizenry (Cs)	60,552	18.27	+5.99	6	+2
	Zaragoza in Common: United Left–Let's Win Zaragoza–Anticapitalists (ZGZ)	33,423	10.08	−14.49	3	−6
	We Can–Equo (Podemos–Equo)	20,551	6.20	New	2	+2
	Vox (Vox)	20,458	6.17	New	2	+2
	Aragonese Union (CHA)	15,311	4.62	−2.15	0	−2
	Aragonese Party (PAR)	5,608	1.69	−1.13	0	±0
	Ñ Platform (PAÑ)	2,584	0.78	New	0	±0
	Animalist Party Against Mistreatment of Animals (PACMA)	2,079	0.63	−0.55	0	±0
	Giving More (Demos+)	782	0.24	New	0	±0
	Blank Seats (EB)	768	0.23	−1.13	0	±0
	Communist Party of the Workers of Spain (PCTE)	229	0.07	New	0	±0
	Social Aragonese Movement (MAS)	219	0.07	New	0	±0
	Spanish Phalanx of the CNSO (FE–JONS)	212	0.06	New	0	±0
	Aragonese Land (TA)	188	0.06	New	0	±0
	Federation of Independents of Aragon (FIA)	184	0.06	−0.05	0	±0
	Communist Party of the Peoples of Spain (PCPE)	164	0.05	−0.23	0	±0
	Aragonese State (EAR)	160	0.05	−0.09	0	±0
Blank ballots		2,112	0.64	−1.25
Total		331,472			31	±0
Valid votes		331,472	99.60	+0.56
Invalid votes		1,342	0.40	−0.56
Votes cast / turnout		332,814	65.81	+0.28
Abstentions		172,942	34.19	−0.28
Registered voters		505,756
Sources [17] [18] [19]

Popular vote

PSOE			28.00%
PP			22.04%
Cs			18.27%
ZGZ			10.08%
Podemos–Equo			6.20%
Vox			6.17%
CHA			4.62%
PAR			1.69%
Others			2.28%
Blank ballots			0.64%

Seats

PSOE			32.26%
PP			25.81%
Cs			19.35%
ZGZ			9.68%
Vox			6.45%
Podemos–Equo			6.45%

Notes

1. Podemos and Equo contested the 2015 election within the ZGZ alliance.
2. Within ZGZ.
3. Within Unidas Podemos.
4. Within PP.
5. Within IU.

References

Opinion poll sources

1. "El PSOE ganaría en Aragón y podría gobernar con soltura con la izquierda, según un sondeo". Hoy Aragón (in Spanish). 26 May 2019.
2. "El PSOE, primera fuerza política en los ayuntamientos de Zaragoza, Huesca y Teruel". Heraldo de Aragón (in Spanish). 26 May 2019.
3. "El PSOE se reforzaría en Valencia, Zaragoza y Sevilla pese al auge de Cs y la irrupción de Vox". Público (in Spanish). 20 May 2019.
4. "La izquierda sería mayoritaria en Zaragoza con el PSOE como primera fuerza". Heraldo de Aragón (in Spanish). 20 May 2019.
5. "El PSOE lidera en Zaragoza". El País (in Spanish). 19 May 2019.
6. "Estimaciones de voto en Comunidades Autónomas y grandes ciudades (Estudio nº 3245. Marzo-abril 2019)". CIS (in Spanish). 9 May 2019.
7. "Macrobarómetro de abril 2019. Preelectoral elecciones al Parlamento Europeo, autonómicas y municipales 2019. Ficha técnica (Estudio nº 3245. Marzo-abril 2019)". CIS (in Spanish). 9 May 2019.
8. "ElectoPanel municipal (12A): muchas ciudades pendientes de un concejal". Electomanía (in Spanish). 12 April 2019.
9. "ElectoPanel municipales (4A): Madrid en Pie no consigue entrar en el Ayuntamiento". Electomanía (in Spanish). 4 April 2019.
10. "ElectoPanel Municipales (28M). Mayorías ajustadas en varias ciudades". Electomanía (in Spanish). 28 March 2019.
11. "ElectoPanel para municipales (21M): situación estable en la última semana". Electomanía (in Spanish). 21 March 2019.
12. "ElectoPanel grandes áreas metropolitanas 14M: la izquierda resiste en Valencia, Madrid se le escapa a Carmena". Electomanía (in Spanish). 14 March 2019.
13. "ElectoPanel municipal: distintas mayorías posibles y mucha igualdad en varias ciudades". Electomanía (in Spanish). 7 March 2019.
14. "El PP superaría por casi dos puntos a un PSOE en alza y ZEC se desplomaría". Heraldo de Aragón (in Spanish). 14 October 2018.
15. "C's se dispararía y tendría la llave para gobernar en Zaragoza, mientras que ZEC se quedaría como cuarta fuerza". Heraldo de Aragón (in Spanish). 23 April 2018.
16. "El PP más lejos de obtener la alcaldía de Zaragoza". AraInfo (in Spanish). 26 December 2017.
17. "Encuesta de Satisfacción de los servicios municipales de la ciudad de Zaragoza" (PDF). City Council of Zaragoza (in Spanish). 26 December 2017.
18. "ZARAGOZA. Sondeo Fundación DFA. Municipales. Diciembre 2017". Electográfica (in Spanish). 26 December 2017.
19. "ZEC se desplomaría frente a la fuerte subida del PSOE y Ciudadanos". Heraldo de Aragón (in Spanish). 3 December 2017.
20. "CAPITALES ARAGONESAS. Sondeo A+M. Municipales. Noviembre 2017". Electográfica (in Spanish). 3 December 2017.
21. "Encuesta de Satisfacción de los servicios municipales de la ciudad de Zaragoza. 2018" (PDF). City Council of Zaragoza (in Spanish). 9 November 2018.

Other

1. Constitution (1978) , art. 140.
2. 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 209/2019, de 1 de abril, por el que se convocan elecciones locales y a las Asambleas de Ceuta y Melilla para el 26 de mayo de 2019 (PDF) (Royal Decree 209/2019). Official State Gazette (in Spanish). 1 April 2019. Retrieved 10 November 2025.
13. LOREG (1985) , arts. 44 & 187.
14. LOREG (1985) , art. 44 bis.
15. "Ayto. de Zaragoza. Sondeo GfK". Aragón TV (in Spanish). 26 May 2019.
16. "ARAGÓN. Elecciones municipales. Encuesta A+M para Heraldo. Abril 2018". Electográfica (in Spanish). 24 April 2018.
17. Lozano, Carles. "Elecciones municipales en Zaragoza (desde 1979)". Historia Electoral.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 4 November 2025.
18. "Elecciones celebradas. Resultados electorales" (in Spanish). Ministry of the Interior . Retrieved 5 November 2025.
19. "Resolución de 17 de septiembre de 2019, de la Presidencia de la Junta Electoral Central, por la que se procede a la publicación del resumen de los resultados de las elecciones locales convocadas por Real Decreto 209/2019, de 1 de abril, y celebradas el 26 de mayo de 2019, según los datos que figuran en las actas de proclamación remitidas por cada una de las Juntas Electorales de Zona. Provincias: Toledo, Valencia, Valladolid, Zamora, Zaragoza, Ceuta y Melilla" (PDF). Official State Gazette (in Spanish) (235): 107354–107854. 30 September 2019. ISSN   0212-033X . Retrieved 6 November 2025.

Bibliography

• Constitución Española (Constitution). Official State Gazette (in Spanish). 29 December 1978 [version as of 27 September 2011]. 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 4 August 2018]. 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 6 March 2019]. BOE-A-1985-11672. Retrieved 5 October 2025.