2019 Spanish Local Elections

The 2019 Spanish local elections were held on Sunday, 26 May 2019, to elect all 66,979 councillors in the 8,131 municipalities of Spain and all 1,038 seats in 38 provincial deputations. The elections were held simultaneously with regional elections in twelve autonomous communities, as well as elections in the three foral deputations of the Basque Country, the four island councils in the Balearic Islands, the seven island cabildos in the Canary Islands and the European Parliament.

The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE), invigorated from its general election win the previous month, emerged as the largest political party in the elections overall for the first time since 2007, scoring first place in the popular vote for the first time since 2003 and achieving its largest margin of victory over the People's Party (PP) since the 1991 elections. Conversely, the PP scored its worst result in local elections in Spain since the People's Alliance result in 1987, but managed to hold out against a surging Citizens (Cs), which secured disappointing results after falling barely one percentage point short of overcoming the PP in the April general election. The alliance of Podemos and United Left (IU), Unidas Podemos, lost much of the ground gained in the 2015 local elections, whereas results for the emerging far-right Vox were very modest.

Electoral system

Municipal elections

Municipalities in Spain were local corporations with independent legal personality. They had a governing body, the municipal council or corporation, composed of the mayor, the government council and the elected plenary assembly. Elections to the local councils in Spain were fixed for the fourth Sunday of May every four years.

Voting for the local assemblies was on the basis of universal suffrage, which comprised all nationals over 18 years of age, registered and residing in the corresponding municipality 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. Parties not reaching the threshold were not taken into consideration for seat distribution. Councillors were allocated to municipal councils based on the following scale:

Councillors of municipalities with populations below 250 inhabitants were elected under an open list partial block voting, with electors voting for individual candidates instead of parties: for up to four candidates in municipalities with populations between 100 and 250 inhabitants; and for up to two candidates in municipalities below 100. This did not apply to municipalities which, as a result of their geographical location or the convenience of a better management of municipal interests or other circumstances, made it advisable to be organized through the open council system ( es, régimen de concejo abierto), in which voters would directly elect the local major.

The mayor was indirectly elected by the plenary assembly. A legal clause required that mayoral candidates earn 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, a toss-up would determine the appointee.

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:

*At least one percent of the electors in municipalities with a population below 5,000 inhabitants, provided that the number of signers was more than double that of councillors at stake.
*At least 100 signatures in municipalities with a population between 5,001 and 10,000.
*At least 500 signatures in municipalities with a population between 10,001 and 50,000.
*At least 1,500 signatures in municipalities with a population between 50,001 and 150,000.
*At least 3,000 signatures in municipalities with a population between 150,001 and 300,000.
*At least 5,000 signatures in municipalities with a population between 300,001 and 1,000,000.
*At least 8,000 signatures in municipalities with a population over 1,000,001.

Electors were disallowed from signing for more than one list of candidates.

Deputations and island councils

Provincial deputations were the governing bodies of provinces in Spain, having an administration role of municipal activities and composed of a provincial president, an administrative body, and a plenary. Basque provinces had foral deputations instead—called ''Juntas Generales''—, whereas deputations for single-province autonomous communities were abolished and their functions transferred to the corresponding regional parliaments in 1982–1983. For insular provinces, such as the Balearic and Canary Islands, deputations were replaced by island councils in each of the islands or group of islands. For Majorca, Menorca, Ibiza and Formentera this figure was referred to in Spanish as ''consejo insular'' ( ca, consell insular), whereas for Gran Canaria, Tenerife, Fuerteventura, La Gomera, El Hierro, Lanzarote and La Palma its name was '' cabildo insular''.

Most deputations were indirectly elected by local councillors from municipalities in each judicial district. Seats were allocated to provincial deputations based on the following scale:

Island councils and foral deputations were elected directly by electors under their own, specific electoral regulations.

Opinion polls

Results

Overall

City control

The following table lists party control in provincial capitals, as well as in municipalities with a population above or around 75,000. Gains for a party are highlighted in that party's colour. The inauguration of the new municipal councils took place on 15 June 2019 (except in León and Segovia).

Deputation control

The following table lists party control in provincial deputations. Gains for a party are highlighted in that party's colour.

See also

* 2019 Balearic Island Council elections
* 2019 Basque foral elections
*2019 Canarian Island Cabildo elections

Notes

References

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2019 elections in Spain