2023 Zaragoza City Council election

2023 Zaragoza City Council election

←  2019 28 May 2023
All 31 seats in the City Council of Zaragoza 16 seats needed for a majority
Opinion polls
Registered	503,743 0.4%
Turnout	335,350 (66.6%) 0.8 pp
First party Second party Third party   Leader Natalia Chueca Lola Ranera Julio Calvo Party PP PSOE Vox Leader since January 2023 19 February 2020 22 April 2019 Last election 8 seats, 22.0% 10 seats, 28.0% 2 seats, 6.2% Seats won 15 10 4 Seat change 7 0 2 Popular vote 125,751 87,790 41,061 Percentage 37.9% 26.4% 12.4% Swing 15.9 pp 1.6 pp 6.2 pp   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader Elena Tomás Fernando Rivarés Daniel Pérez Party ZGZ/ZeC Podemos–AV CS–Tú Aragón Leader since 19 December 2022 15 July 2020 22 March 2023 Last election 3 seats, 10.1% 2 seats, 6.2% 6 seats, 18.3% Seats won 2 0 0 Seat change 1 2 6 Popular vote 19,381 14,908 5,530 Percentage 5.8% 4.5% 1.7% Swing 4.3 pp 1.7 pp 16.6 pp
Mayor before election Jorge Azcón PP Elected Mayor Natalia Chueca PP

The 2023 Zaragoza City Council election, also the 2023 Zaragoza municipal election, was held on Sunday, 28 May 2023, to elect the 12th City Council of the municipality of Zaragoza. All 31 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.

Electoral system

The City Council of Zaragoza (Spanish : Ayuntamiento de Zaragoza) was the top-tier administrative and governing body of the municipality of Zaragoza, composed of the mayor, the government council and the elected plenary assembly. ^[1] Elections to the local councils in Spain were fixed for the fourth Sunday of May every four years. ^[2] 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 Zaragoza 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. ^{[1] [2]} 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. ^[1]

Parties and candidates

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 Zaragoza, as its population was between 300,001 and 1,000,000, at least 5,000 signatures were required. ^[2]

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.
						Votes (%)	Seats
	PSOE	List Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE)		Lola Ranera	Social democracy	28.00%	10	N	[3]
	PP	List People's Party (PP)		Natalia Chueca	Conservatism Christian democracy	22.04%	8	Y	[4] [5]
	CS– Tú Aragón	List Citizens–Party of the Citizenry (CS) You Aragon (Tú Aragón)		Daniel Pérez	Liberalism	18.27%	6	Y	[6] [7]
	ZGZ/ZeC	List United Left of Aragon (IU) – Communist Party of Aragon (PCE–A) – The Dawn. Marxist Organization OM (La Aurora (om)) – Republican Left (IR)		Elena Tomás	Localism Left-wing populism Participatory democracy	10.08%	3	N	[8]
	Podemos–AV	List We Can (Podemos) Green Alliance (AV)		Fernando Rivarés	Left-wing populism Direct democracy Democratic socialism	6.20%	2	N	[9]
	Vox	List Vox (Vox)		Julio Calvo	Right-wing populism Ultranationalism National conservatism	6.17%	2	N	[10]

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

Polling firm/Commissioner	Fieldwork date	Sample size	Turnout										Lead
2023 municipal election	28 May 2023	—	66.5	26.4 10	37.9 15	1.7 0	5.8 2	4.5 0	12.4 4	4.7 0	0.8 0	–	11.5
GAD3/RTVE–FORTA [p 1]	12–27 May 2023	1,100	?	28.0 10/11	37.0 14	3.0 0	5.0 0/2	5.0 1/2	11.0 4	4.0 0	2.0 0	–	9.0
40dB/Prisa [p 2] [p 3]	12–17 May 2023	800	?	26.7 9/10	37.5 14/15	3.2 0	8.0 2/3	5.3 0/1	8.5 3	5.7 0/2	–	–	10.8
CIS [p 4] [p 5]	10–26 Apr 2023	1,088	?	26.9 9/10	36.4 12/14	3.6 0	8.6 2/3	5.6 0/2	8.6 2/3	5.6 0/2	1.0 0	–	9.5
A+M/Heraldo de Aragón [p 6]	14–18 Apr 2023	800	66.2	30.7 10/11	39.5 14/15	2.3 0	9.3 3	5.8 2	4.8 0/2	5.4 1/2	1.2 0	–	8.8
Sigma Dos/El Mundo [p 7] [p 8]	14–17 Nov 2022	500	?	29.0 10	39.0 14	3.8 0	9.3 3	4.6 0	6.9 2	5.7 2	–	–	10.0
SocioMétrica/El Español [p 9] [p 10]	3–7 Oct 2022	600	?	26.2 9/10	36.9 14/15	3.6 0	8.1 3	4.5 0	11.6 4	4.2 0	1.6 0	–	10.7
A+M/Heraldo de Aragón [p 11] [p 12]	27 Sep–6 Oct 2022	900	68.8	26.0 9	39.6 14	3.7 0	6.0 2	6.6 2	7.4 2	6.4 2	1.3 0	–	13.6
A+M/Heraldo de Aragón [p 13] [p 14]	4–18 Apr 2022	800	68.6	21.7 7	42.9 15	6.3 2	6.6 2	5.3 1	7.3 2	6.4 2	1.9 0	–	21.2
ElectoPanel/Electomanía [p 15]	13 May–6 Aug 2021	405	?	24.5 9	35.7 13	5.0 1	7.7 2	5.1 1	8.9 3	6.8 2	1.6 0	–	11.2
A+M/Heraldo de Aragón [p 16] [p 17]	15–16 Apr 2021	800	66.2	28.7 10	36.9 14	5.2 1	5.9 2	4.6 0	7.6 2	6.9 2	1.4 0	–	8.2
November 2019 general election [11]	10 Nov 2019	—	72.5	30.0 (10)	23.2 (8)	9.6 (3)	[lower-alpha 1]	[lower-alpha 1]	17.3 (6)	4.9 (0)	–	12.0 (4)	6.8
2019 municipal election	26 May 2019	—	65.8	28.0 10	22.0 8	18.3 6	10.1 3	6.2 2	6.2 2	4.6 0	1.7 0	–	6.0

Voting preferences

The table below lists raw, unweighted voting preferences.

Polling firm/Commissioner	Fieldwork date	Sample size										?	N	Lead
2023 municipal election	28 May 2023	—	17.4	25.0	1.1	3.8	3.0	8.2	3.1	0.6	–	—	33.4	7.6
40dB/Prisa [p 3]	12–17 May 2023	800	15.6	22.3	3.0	5.4	4.0	8.2	4.2	0.4	–	23.4	6.8	6.7
CIS [p 4]	10–26 Apr 2023	1,088	18.8	25.9	1.4	6.1	3.7	6.8	2.6	0.4	–	26.9	3.4	7.1
Fundación DFA/City Council [p 18]	16 Feb–22 Mar 2023	2,025	10.3	18.4	1.1	1.4	1.9	4.9	0.5	0.3	–	47.9	8.8	8.1
Fundación DFA/City Council [p 19]	24 Oct–29 Nov 2022	2,030	12.5	18.1	0.9	1.6	2.8	6.3	0.9	0.0	–	40.9	10.0	5.6
Fundación DFA/City Council [p 20]	6 Apr–16 May 2022	2,025	13.3	19.7	1.4	2.3	2.7	6.4	1.3	0.2	–	35.1	10.4	6.4
Fundación DFA/City Council [p 21]	27 Oct–29 Nov 2021	2,025	12.1	18.4	1.5	2.6	2.9	5.8	1.0	0.1	–	38.0	9.2	6.3
Fundación DFA/City Council [p 22]	10 May–11 Jun 2021	2,025	12.9	21.1	3.1	3.6	2.4	5.2	0.6	0.3	–	31.5	10.4	8.2
Fundación DFA/City Council [p 23]	9 Nov–2 Dec 2020	2,025	14.3	15.4	4.0	3.1	2.4	4.7	0.4	0.3	–	35.0	10.7	1.1
Fundación DFA/City Council [p 24]	25 May–2 Jul 2020	2,038	16.8	17.7	3.7	3.7	4.2	3.9	1.0	0.2	–	28.8	13.8	0.9
November 2019 general election	10 Nov 2019	—	21.6	16.7	6.9	[lower-alpha 1]	[lower-alpha 1]	12.5	3.5	–	8.7	—	28.7	4.9
2019 municipal election	26 May 2019	—	18.1	14.2	11.8	6.5	4.0	4.0	3.1	1.1	–	—	34.2	3.9

Results

← Summary of the 28 May 2023 City Council of Zaragoza election results →

Parties and alliances		Popular vote			Seats
		Votes	%	±pp	Total	+/−
	People's Party (PP)	125,751	37.88	+15.84	15	+7
	Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE)	87,790	26.45	–1.55	10	±0
	Vox (Vox)	41,061	12.37	+6.20	4	+2
	Zaragoza in Common: United Left–Let's Win Zaragoza (ZGZ/ZeC)	19,381	5.84	–4.24	2	–1
	Aragonese Union (CHA)	15,757	4.75	+0.13	0	±0
	We Can–Green Alliance (Podemos–AV)	14,908	4.49	–1.71	0	–2
	Aragon Exists–Exists Coalition (Existe)	8,081	2.43	New	0	±0
	Citizens–You Aragon (CS–Tú Aragón)	5,530	1.67	–16.60	0	–6
	Aragonese Party (PAR)	2,902	0.87	–0.82	0	±0
	Zaragoza Now (Zaragoza Ya)	2,104	0.63	New	0	±0
	Blank Seats to Leave Empty Seats (EB)	1,641	0.49	+0.26	0	±0
	Communist Party of the Workers of Spain (PCTE)	699	0.21	+0.14	0	±0
	For a Fairer World (PUM+J)	601	0.18	New	0	±0
	Federation of Independents of Aragon (FIA)	370	0.11	+0.05	0	±0
	We Propose for Minorities (Proponemos XM)	188	0.06	New	0	±0
Blank ballots		5,202	1.57	+0.93
Total		331,966			31	±0
Valid votes		331,966	98.99	–0.61
Invalid votes		3,384	1.01	+0.61
Votes cast / turnout		335,350	66.57	+0.76
Abstentions		168,393	33.43	–0.76
Registered voters		503,743
Sources [12]

Popular vote PP   37.88% PSOE   26.45% Vox   12.37% ZGZ/ZeC   5.84% CHA   4.75% Podemos–AV   4.49% Existe   2.43% CS–Tú Aragón   1.67% Others   2.56% Blank ballots   1.57%

Seats PP   48.39% PSOE   32.26% Vox   12.90% ZGZ/ZeC   6.45%

Notes

1. Within Unidas Podemos.

References

Opinion poll sources

1. "El partido más votado en el Ayuntamiento de Zaragoza sería el PP, seguido de PSOE y Vox". CARTV (in Spanish). 28 May 2023.
2. "El PP roza la mayoría absoluta en Zaragoza". El País. 22 May 2023.
3. "Informe preelectoral para el Ayuntamiento de Zaragoza. Mayo 2023" (PDF). 40dB. 22 May 2023.
4. "Preelectoral elecciones municipales y autonómicas 2023. Zaragoza municipio (Estudio nº 3402. Abril 2023)". CIS (in Spanish). 11 May 2023.
5. "Estimación de voto. Municipios, grandes ciudades y Comunidades Autónomas (Estudio nº 3402. Abril 2023)" (PDF). CIS (in Spanish). 11 May 2023.
6. "Natalia Chueca ganaría pero la alcaldía de Zaragoza quedaría a expensas de si Vox mantiene su representación". Heraldo de Aragón (in Spanish). 23 April 2023.
7. "Zaragoza seguirá en manos del PP por la mínima si pacta con Vox". El Mundo (in Spanish). 21 November 2022.
8. "ZARAGOZA. Encuesta SigmaDos 21/11/2022: PODEMOS 4,6%, ZeC 9,3% (3), CHA 5,7% (2), PSOE 29,0% (10), Cs 3,8%, PP 39,0% (14), VOX 6,9% (2)". Electográfica (in Spanish). 21 November 2022.
9. "Azcón deshoja la margarita: duplicaría el resultado en Zaragoza pero se ve obligado a disputar por la comunidad". El Español (in Spanish). 12 October 2022.
10. "ZARAGOZA. Encuesta SocioMétrica 12/10/2022: ZeC 8,1% (3), PODEMOS 4,5%, CHA 4,2%, PSOE 26,2% (9/10), PAR 1,6%, Cs 3,6%, PP 36,9% (14/15), VOX 11,6% (4)". Electograph (in Spanish). 12 October 2022.
11. "El PP ganaría las elecciones en Zaragoza con 14 concejales pero necesitaría los 2 de Vox para llegar a la mayoría absoluta". Heraldo de Aragón (in Spanish). 12 October 2022.
12. "ZARAGOZA, HUESCA, TERUEL. Encuesta A+M 12/10/2022". Electograph (in Spanish). 12 October 2022.
13. "Azcón se quedaría a un edil de la mayoría absoluta y el PSOE perdería tres concejales". Heraldo de Aragón (in Spanish). 23 April 2022.
14. "ZARAGOZA, HUESCA, TERUEL. Encuesta A+M 23/04/2022". Electograph (in Spanish). 23 April 2022.
15. "EP Zaragoza (10A): absoluta de PP+Vox". Electomanía (in Spanish). 10 August 2021.
16. "El PP se dispararía hasta los 14 ediles en Zaragoza por el hundimiento de Cs y solo dependería de Vox". Heraldo de Aragón (in Spanish). 23 April 2021.
17. "ZARAGOZA, HUESCA, TERUEL. Encuesta A+M 23/04/2021". Electograph (in Spanish). 23 April 2021.
18. "Barómetro semestral de los servicios municipales de la ciudad de Zaragoza. 1er semestre 2023" (PDF). City Council of Zaragoza (in Spanish). 28 July 2023.
19. "Barómetro semestral de los servicios municipales de la ciudad de Zaragoza. 2o semestre 2022" (PDF). City Council of Zaragoza (in Spanish). 23 December 2022.
20. "Barómetro semestral de los servicios municipales de la ciudad de Zaragoza. 1er semestre 2022" (PDF). City Council of Zaragoza (in Spanish). 29 June 2022.
21. "Barómetro semestral de los servicios municipales de la ciudad de Zaragoza. 2o semestre 2021" (PDF). City Council of Zaragoza (in Spanish). 28 December 2021.
22. "Barómetro semestral de los servicios municipales de la ciudad de Zaragoza. 1er semestre 2021" (PDF). City Council of Zaragoza (in Spanish). 5 August 2021.
23. "Barómetro semestral de los servicios municipales de la ciudad de Zaragoza. 2o semestre 2020" (PDF). City Council of Zaragoza (in Spanish). 30 January 2021.
24. "Barómetro semestral de los servicios municipales de la ciudad de Zaragoza. 2020" (PDF). City Council of Zaragoza (in Spanish). 31 July 2020.

Other

1. Ley 7/1985, de 2 de abril, Reguladora de las Bases del Régimen Local (Law 7) (in Spanish). 2 April 1985. Retrieved 9 December 2023.
2. Ley Orgánica 5/1985, de 19 de junio, del Régimen Electoral General (Organic Law 5) (in Spanish). 19 June 1985. Retrieved 9 December 2023.
3. "Lola Ranera, nueva portavoz del PSOE en el Ayuntamiento de Zaragoza y Alfonso Gómez, portavoz adjunto" (in Spanish). Zaragoza: Europa Press. 19 February 2020. Retrieved 26 April 2022.
4. Alonso, Jorge (16 December 2022). "Azcón ratifica su pulso a Lambán en las elecciones: "El PP es la única alternativa ante tanto disparate de la izquierda"". Heraldo de Aragón (in Spanish). Zaragoza. Retrieved 16 December 2022.
5. Gomar, Carlota (9 January 2023). "Natalia Chueca es la candidata del PP para revalidar la Alcaldía de Zaragoza". El Periódico de Aragón (in Spanish). Retrieved 14 January 2023.
6. López, M. (17 January 2023). "Sara Fernández anuncia que no será candidata de Cs ni a la alcaldía de Zaragoza ni a la DGA". Heraldo de Aragón (in Spanish). Zaragoza. Retrieved 9 February 2023.
7. Martín, Ignacio (22 March 2023). "Cs designa a Ortas presidente y a Pérez Calvo candidato a Zaragoza". El Periódico de Aragón (in Spanish). Zaragoza. Retrieved 22 March 2023.
8. "Elena Tomás será la candidata de ZEC al Ayuntamiento de Zaragoza". Heraldo (in Spanish). 19 December 2022. Retrieved 1 April 2023.
9. "Fernando Rivarés, nombrado portavoz de Podemos Aragón y Nacho Escartín continúa como portavoz parlamentario". El Periódico de Aragón (in Spanish). Europa Press. 15 July 2020. Retrieved 26 April 2022.
10. "Vox apuesta de nuevo por Julio Calvo como candidato en Zaragoza". El Periódico de Aragón (in Spanish). 19 January 2023. Retrieved 28 January 2023.
11. "Electoral Results Consultation. Congress. November 2019. Zaragoza Municipality". Ministry of the Interior (in Spanish). Retrieved 5 July 2021.
12. "Resolución de 5 de julio de 2023, 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 207/2023, de 3 de abril, y celebradas el 28 de mayo de 2023, según los datos que figuran en las actas de proclamación remitidas por cada una de las Juntas Electorales de Zona. Provincias: Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Segovia, Sevilla, Soria, Tarragona, Teruel, Toledo, Valencia, Valladolid, Zamora y Zaragoza. Ciudades Autónomas de Ceuta y Melilla" (PDF). Boletín Oficial del Estado (in Spanish) (261): 145194–146077. 1 November 2023. ISSN   0212-033X.