Municipal elections in Barcelona

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Municipal elections in Barcelona are held every four years to elect the city council. The mayor is elected indirectly by the councillors on the first plenary session of the term.

Contents

Overview

The basic level of Spanish local government are the municipalities (Spanish: municipios, Catalan: municipis). The city of Barcelona constitutes a municipality. The reigning institution in Barcelona is called Ajuntament de Barcelona, and is formed by the mayor (Catalan: alcalde, fem. alcaldessa), the government (Catalan: Comissió de govern, although it is commonly known as Govern municipal) and the legislature or city council (Catalan: Consell Municipal, although it is commonly known as Ple de l'Ajuntament). [1]

Local elections in Spain are regulated by the LOREG law. Municipal elections are held every 4 years on the last Sunday of May, in all the municipalities of Spain at the same time, together with other regional elections (though not in Catalonia) and other local-level elections, such as comarcal or provincial council elections. If European elections are scheduled to take place on the same dates, local elections must be held the same day with European Parliament elections.

The size of the legislature is determined by the population count on 1 January before the election. In Barcelona, the city council currently has 41 members. Voters elect only the members of the city council; the mayor is elected indirectly. Voting is non-compulsory. Local councillors are elected using the D'Hondt method and a closed-list proportional representation, with a threshold of 5 percent of valid votes, which include blank ballots.

The mayor is elected on the first plenary session of the term by the city councillors in a single-round election. If any candidate obtains an absolute majority of the votes, the candidate of the most voted party is elected as a mayor. After the plenary session, the Mayor chooses councillors to be in the government executive. [2]

Since the restoration of democracy after the fascist dictatorship of Francisco Franco, elections have taken place on 3 April 1979, 8 May 1983, 10 June 1987, 26 May 1991, 28 May 1995, 13 June 1999, 25 May 2003, 27 May 2007, 22 May 2011, 24 May 2015 and 26 May 2019; the last scheduled election was on 28 May 2023.

Results

2023 election

2019 election

2015 election

Summary of 24 May 2015 City Council of Barcelona election results
BarcelonaCouncilDiagram2015.svg
Parties and coalitionsPopular voteSeats
Votes %±pp Total+/−
Barcelona in Common (Let's Win Barcelona)–Agreement (BComú–Entesa)1176,61225.21+14.8211+6
Convergence and Union (CiU)159,39322.75−5.9810−4
Citizens–Party of the Citizenry (C's)77,27211.03+9.095+5
Republican Left of Catalonia–Municipal Agreement (ERC–BcnCO–AM)77,12011.01+5.425+3
Socialists' Party of Catalonia–Progress Candidacy (PSC–CP)67,4899.63−12.514−7
People's Party (PP)61,0048.71−8.533−6
Popular Unity Candidacy–Let's Reverse Barcelona (CUP–Capgirem)51,9457.42+5.473+3
Blank ballots6,3630.91−3.56
Total700,49641±0
Valid votes700,49699.56+1.26
Invalid votes3,0940.44−1.26
Votes cast / turnout703,59060.59+7.60
Abstentions457,55039.41−7.60
Registered voters1,161,140
Sources [3] [4] [5]
Footnotes:

Historical composition of the City Council

1901–1939

Until Primo de Rivera's dictatorship, only one half of the council was renewed at every election. The numbers below indicate the total seats after the election.

ElectionLeft and RepublicansNationalistsMonarchistOtherTotal
PRR PRDF
UFNR
ERC Other LR
LC
Other PL PLC CT Other
1901 131789350
1903 2917450
1905 311950
1909 (May) 25111450
1909 (Dec) 2913850
1911 241115(LR)50
1913 21521812150
1915 2013204250
1917 23223250
1920 16261132150
1922 142843150
1923–1931: Primo de Rivera dictatorship
1931 122511250
1934 4261040
1939–1979: Francisco Franco's Francoist Spain
Source: [6]

After 1979

Election CUP PSUC
ICV
BeC
ERC PSC Cs CiU UCD AP
PP
Total
1979 92168843
1983 32113643
1987 22117343
1991 32016443
1995 321613741
1999 232010641
2003 55159741
2007 441412741
2011 521114941
2015 31154510341
2019 1010865241
Source: [7]

See also

References

  1. Ajuntament de Barcelona. Òrgans de govern
  2. "Organic Law 5/1985, of 19 June, of the General Electoral Regime. Title III, Special Provisions for Municipal Elections".
  3. "Election Results. Municipal Elections 2015". gencat.cat (in Catalan). Generalitat of Catalonia. Retrieved 12 November 2017.
  4. "Electoral Results Consultation. Municipal. May 2015. Barcelona Municipality". Ministry of the Interior (in Spanish). Retrieved 12 November 2017.
  5. "Eleccions municipals a Barcelona (1979 - 2015)". Historia Electoral.com (in Catalan). Retrieved 30 September 2017.
  6. La Veu de Catalunya, 13-04-1931 p.1
  7. Consulta de resultados. Infoelectoral. Ministerio del Interior