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2007 Spanish local elections

← 2003 27 May 2007 2011 →
66,131 councillors in 8,111 municipal councils 1,038 seats in 38 provincial deputations
Opinion polls
Registered	35,153,523 2.2%
Turnout	22,488,232 (64.0%) 3.7 pp
First party Second party Third party   Leader Mariano Rajoy José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero Gaspar Llamazares Party PP–UPN–EU PSOE–PSC–ExC IU–ICV–EUiA–Aralar Leader since 2 September 2003 22 July 2000 29 October 2000 Last election 23,615 c., 34.3%[b] 23,257 c., 34.9%[c] 2,624 c., 7.5%[a] Seats won 23,348 24,029 2,628 Seat change 322 772 4 Popular vote 7,916,075 7,760,865 1,559,774 Percentage 35.6% 34.9% 7.0% Swing 1.3 pp 0.0 pp 0.5 pp   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader Artur Mas Josep-Lluís Carod-Rovira Anxo Quintana Party CiU ERC–AM BNG Leader since 27 November 2004 July 2004 23 November 2003 Last election 3,687 c., 3.4% 1,282 c., 1.8% 595 c., 1.4% Seats won 3,387 1,591 661 Seat change 300 309 66 Popular vote 723,325 347,601 315,279 Percentage 3.3% 1.6% 1.4% Swing 0.1 pp 0.2 pp 0.0 pp
Provincial results map for municipal elections

The 2007 Spanish local elections were held on Sunday, 27 May 2007, to elect all 66,131 councillors in the 8,111 municipalities of Spain and all 1,038 seats in 38 provincial deputations.^[1][2] The elections were held simultaneously with regional elections in thirteen autonomous communities, as well as local elections in the three foral deputations of the Basque Country and the ten island councils in the Balearic and Canary Islands.

The results saw few changes overall; most incumbent governments retained their majority, with only a few exceptions. The PP government in the Balearics fell, and a coalition led by PSOE took power. While the elections were seen as a first indication of how the 2008 Spanish general election might turn out, the results proved to be inconclusive. In 2003, the PSOE had a slight edge with 34.8 against the PP's 34.3; in this election, the PP had 35.6 to the PSOE's 34.9. Turnout was slightly lower, with 63.8 instead of 67.7 four years earlier.

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 a mayor, deputy mayors and a plenary assembly of councillors. Voting for the local assemblies was on the basis of universal suffrage, with all nationals over eighteen, registered in the corresponding municipality and in full enjoyment of all political rights entitled to vote. The mayor was in turn elected by the plenary assembly, with a legal clause providing for the candidate of the most-voted party to be automatically elected to the post in the event no other candidate was to gather an absolute majority of votes.

Local councillors were elected using the D'Hondt method and a closed list proportional representation, with a threshold of 5 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 between 100 and 250 inhabitants were elected under an open list partial block voting, with electors voting for individual candidates instead of parties and for up to four candidates. Additionally, municipalities below 100 inhabitants, as well as those whose geographical location or the best management of municipal interests or other circumstances made it advisable, were to be organized through the open council system (Spanish: régimen de concejo abierto), in which voters would directly elect the local major.^[3][4][5]

The electoral law provided that parties, federations, coalitions and groupings of electors were allowed to present lists of candidates. However, groupings of electors were required to secure the signature of a determined amount of the electors registered in the municipality for which they sought election:

• At least 1 percent of the electors in municipalities 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 between 5,001 and 10,000.


• At least 500 signatures in municipalities between 10,001 and 50,000.


• At least 1,500 signatures in municipalities between 50,001 and 150,000.


• At least 3,000 signatures in municipalities between 150,001 and 300,000.


• At least 5,000 signatures in municipalities between 300,001 and 1,000,000.


• At least 8,000 signatures in municipalities over 1,000,001.

Electors were barred from signing for more than one list of candidates. Concurrently, parties and federations intending to enter in coalition to take part jointly at an election were required to inform the relevant Electoral Commission within ten days of the election being called.^[3][4]

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: their functions transferred to the corresponding regional parliaments. 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 (Catalan: 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.^[3][4]

Opinion polls

Polling firm/Commissioner	Fieldwork date	Sample size	Turnout					Lead
2007 local elections	27 May 2007	N/A	64.0	34.9	35.6	5.4	3.3	0.7
Metroscopia/ABC[p 1]	16–18 Apr 2007	1,002	65	38.3	36.2	5.7	–	2.1
2003 local elections	25 May 2003	N/A	64.0	34.8	34.3	6.1	3.4	0.5

Municipal elections

Overall

City control

The following table lists party control in provincial capitals, as well as in municipalities above or around 75,000.^[8] Gains for a party are highlighted in that party's colour.

Provincial deputations

Summary

Deputation control

The following table lists party control in provincial deputations.^[2] Gains for a party are highlighted in that party's colour.

Notes

References

Opinion poll sources

Other