Spanish municipal elections, 2011

Spanish municipal elections, 2011

22 May 2011

All 68,230 seats in 8,116 local councils Turnout 22,968,281 (66.2%) 2.2 pp   First party Second party Third party   Leader Mariano Rajoy José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero Cayo Lara Party PP PSOE IU Leader since 2 September 2003 22 July 2000 14 December 2008 Last election 23,348 c., 35.6% 24,029 c., 34.9% 2,034 c., 5.5% Seats won 26,507 21,766 2,249 Seat change 3,159 2,263 215 Popular vote 8,476,138 6,275,314 1,437,061 Percentage 37.5% 27.8% 6.4% Swing 1.9 pp 7.1 pp 0.9 pp   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader Artur Mas i Gavarró Rosa Díez Iñigo Urkullu Party CiU UPyD EAJ-PNV Leader since 7 January 2002 26 September 2007 1 December 2007 Last election 3,387 c., 3.3% Did not stand 1,043 c., 1.4% Seats won 3,867 152 882 Seat change 480 152 161 Popular vote 779,188 464,824 327,184 Percentage 3.5% 2.1% 1.5% Swing 0.2 pp New party 0.1 pp

The 2011 Spanish municipal elections were held on Sunday, 22 May in Spain, to elect the 68,230 councillors of all 8,116 local councils.^[1] Regional elections were held the same day in 13 of the 17 autonomous communities; Andalusia, Catalonia, Galicia, and the Basque Country having separate electoral cycles.^[2]

The days before the elections were marked by the protests which had been held in different cities across Spain since 15 May.

The elections resulted in a landslide victory for the opposition People's Party (PP) and other centre-right parties, which won control of all of Spain's largest cities. In Barcelona, held by PSOE-sister party, the Socialists' Party of Catalonia (PSC), since the first local elections in 1979, was won for the first time by the nationalist Convergence and Union (CiU), which also won in Girona. The PSOE only won only in 5 out of Spain's 50 provincial capitals. In the popular vote, it scored its worst result in nationwide-held local elections, with a mere 27.8%, 10 points behind the PP, which obtained 37.5%.

Following the election, the PSOE named Deputy Prime Minister Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba as prime ministerial candidate for the next general election, initially scheduled for March 2012, and finally held in November 2011.^[1]

Electoral system

The number of seats in each city council is determined by the population count. According to the municipal electoral law, the population-seat relationship on each municipality is to be established on the following scale:

Inhabitants	Seats
<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

Additionally, for populations greater than 100,000, 1 seat is to be added per each 100,000 inhabitants or fraction, according to the most updated census data, and adding 1 more seat if the resulting seat count gives an even number.

All city council members are elected in single multi-member districts, consisting of the municipality's territory, using the D'Hondt method and a closed-list proportional representation system. Voting is on the basis of universal suffrage in a secret ballot. Only lists polling above 5% of valid votes in all of the municipality (which include blank ballots—for none of the above) are entitled to enter the seat distribution.

The Spanish municipal electoral law establishes a clause stating that, if no candidate is to gather an absolute majority of votes to be elected as mayor of a municipality, the candidate of the most-voted party will be automatically elected to the post.^[3]

Results

Overall

Summary of the 22 May 2011 municipal election results

Party		Vote			Councillors
		Votes	%	±pp	Won	+/−
	People's Party (PP)	8,476,138	37.54	1.92	26,507	3,159
	Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE)	6,275,314	27.79	7.13	21,766	2,263
	United Left (IU)	1,437,061	6.36	0.88	2,249	215
	Convergence and Union (CiU)	779,188	3.45	0.20	3,867	480
	Union, Progress and Democracy (UPyD)	464,824	2.06	New	152	152
	Basque Nationalist Party (EAJ-PNV)	327,184	1.45	0.06	882	161
	Gather-Basque Solidarity (Bildu-EA)	313,238	1.39	0.64	1,139	452
	Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC)	271,503	1.20	0.36	1,392	199
	Galician Nationalist Bloc (BNG)	261,466	1.16	0.26	589	72
	Initiative for Catalonia Greens (ICV)	242,021	1.07	0.09	400	51
	Andalusian Party (PA)	230,492	1.02	0.04	469	56
	Canarian Coalition (CC-PNC-CCN)	202,720	0.90	0.08	392	12
	Compromise Coalition (Compromís)	180,832	0.80	0.32	344	67
	Asturian Forum (FAC)	121,713	0.54	New	158	158
	Navarrese People's Union (UPN)	88,156	0.39	New	323	323
	Aragonese Party (PAR)	77,593	0.34	0.08	991	8
	Regionalist Party of Cantabria (PRC)	70,634	0.31	0.02	319	16
	Platform for Catalonia (PxC)	66,007	0.29	0.23	67	50
	Popular Unity Candidates (CUP)	62,409	0.28	0.20	101	81
	Aragonese Union (CHA)	53,149	0.24	0.02	185	43
	New Canarias (NCa)	51,220	0.23	0.01	53	1
	Yes to Navarre 2011 (Na-Bai 2011)	36,262	0.16	0.08	70	63
	Aralar (Aralar)	32,660	0.14	0.11	42	9
	Catalan Solidarity for Independence (SI)	31,793	0.14	New	47	47
	Liberal Democratic Centre (CDL)	27,220	0.12	0.06	52	13
	Others	1,813,743	8.03		5,674	166
	Blank ballots	584,469	2.59	0.67
Total		22,581,120	100.00		68,230	2,099
Valid votes		22,581,120	98.31	0.52
Invalid votes		387,161	1.69	0.52
Votes cast / turnout		22,968,281	66.16	2.19
Abstentions		11,745,532	33.84	2.19
Registered voters		34,713,813
Source: Ministry of the Interior

Municipal governments

Shift of control

The following table shows Spanish municipalities over 50,000 inhabitants as well as provincial capitals; the latter of which are marked in bold. Note that the party shown is not necessarily the one that won the election in each council, but rather, the one whose candidate was elected to the mayoralty.

Municipality	Population	Community	Outgoing party (as of 2011)		Incoming party (as of 2011)
Madrid	3,273,049	Community of Madrid		PP		PP
Barcelona	1,619,337	Catalonia		PSC-PSOE		CiU
Valencia	809,267	Valencian Community		PP		PP
Seville	704,198	Andalusia		PSOE		PP
Zaragoza	675,121	Aragón		PSOE		PSOE
Málaga	568,507	Andalusia		PP		PP
Murcia	441,345	Region of Murcia		PP		PP
Palma de Mallorca	404,681	Balearic Islands		PSOE		PP
Las Palmas	383,308	Canary Islands		PSOE		PP
Bilbao	353,187	Basque Country		PNV		PNV
Alicante	334,418	Valencian Community		PP		PP
Córdoba	328,547	Andalusia		IU		PP
Valladolid	315,522	Castile and León		PP		PP
Vigo	297,124	Galicia		PSOE		PSOE
Gijón	277,198	Asturias		PSOE		FAC
Hospitalet de Llobregat	258,642	Catalonia		PSC-PSOE		PSC-PSOE
A Coruña	246,047	Galicia		PSOE		PP
Granada	239,154	Andalusia		PP		PP
Vitoria	238,247	Basque Country		PSOE		PP
Elche	230,822	Valencian Community		PSOE		PP
Oviedo	225,155	Asturias		PP		PP
Santa Cruz de Tenerife	222,643	Canary Islands		CC		CC
Badalona	218,886	Catalonia		PSC-PSOE		PP
Cartagena	214,165	Region of Murcia		PP		PP
Tarrasa	212,724	Catalonia		PSC-PSOE		PSC-PSOE
Jerez de la Frontera	208,896	Andalusia		PSOE		PP
Sabadell	207,338	Catalonia		PSC-PSOE		PSC-PSOE
Móstoles	206,015	Community of Madrid		PP		PP
Alcalá de Henares	204,120	Community of Madrid		PP		PP
Fuenlabrada	198,973	Community of Madrid		PSOE		PSOE
Pamplona	197,488	Navarre		UPN		UPN
Almería	190,013	Andalusia		PP		PP
Leganés	187,227	Community of Madrid		PSOE		PP
San Sebastián	185,506	Basque Country		PSOE		EHB
Santander	181,589	Cantabria		PP		PP
Castellón de la Plana	180,690	Valencian Community		PP		PP
Burgos	178,574	Castile and León		PP		PP
Albacete	170,475	Castile-La Mancha		PSOE		PP
Getafe	169,130	Community of Madrid		PSOE		PP
Alcorcón	168,299	Community of Madrid		PSOE		PP
Salamanca	154,462	Castile and León		PP		PP
Logroño	152,650	La Rioja		PP		PP
San Cristóbal de la Laguna	152,222	Canary Islands		CC		CC
Badajoz	150,376	Extremadura		PP		PP
Huelva	149,310	Andalusia		PP		PP
Lleida	137,387	Catalonia		PSC-PSOE		PSC-PSOE
Marbella	136,322	Andalusia		PP		PP
Tarragona	134,933	Catalonia		PSC-PSOE		PSC-PSOE
León	134,012	Castile and León		PSOE		PP
Cádiz	125,826	Andalusia		PP		PP
Dos Hermanas	125,086	Andalusia		PSOE		PSOE
Mataró	122,905	Catalonia		PSC-PSOE		CiU
Parla	120,182	Community of Madrid		PSOE		PSOE
Santa Coloma de Gramanet	119,056	Catalonia		PSC-PSOE		PSC-PSOE
Torrejón de Ardoz	118,441	Community of Madrid		PP		PP
Jaén	116,790	Andalusia		PSOE		PP
Algeciras	116,417	Andalusia		PSOE		PP
Alcobendas	110,080	Community of Madrid		PP		PP
Ourense	108,673	Galicia		PSOE		PSOE
Reus	106,622	Catalonia		PSC-PSOE		CiU
Torrevieja	101,091	Valencian Community		PP		PP
Telde	100,900	Canary Islands		NC		PP
Barakaldo	99,321	Basque Country		PSOE		PSOE
Lugo	97,635	Galicia		PSOE		PSOE
San Fernando	96,689	Andalusia		PSOE		PP
Girona	96,236	Catalonia		PSC-PSOE		CiU
Santiago de Compostela	94,824	Galicia		PSOE		PP
Cáceres	94,179	Extremadura		PP		PP
Lorca	92,694	Region of Murcia		PP		PP
Coslada	91,218	Community of Madrid		PSOE		PP
Talavera de la Reina	88,986	Castile-La Mancha		PSOE		PP
El Puerto de Santa María	88,503	Andalusia		PP		PSOE
Las Rozas de Madrid	88,065	Community of Madrid		PP		PP
Cornellá de Llobregat	87,240	Catalonia		PSC-PSOE		PSC-PSOE
Orihuela	87,113	Valencian Community		PP		LV
Roquetas de Mar	85,808	Andalusia		PP		PP
El Ejido	85,389	Andalusia		PdeAL		PP
Ceuta	84,963	Ceuta		PP		PP
Melilla	84,509	Melilla		PP		PP
Avilés	84,202	Asturias		PSOE		PSOE
Guadalajara	83,789	Castile-La Mancha		PP		PP
Pozuelo de Alarcón	82,804	Community of Madrid		PP		PP
Toledo	82,489	Castile-La Mancha		PSOE		PSOE
Sant Boi de Llobregat	82,411	Catalonia		PSC-PSOE		PSC-PSOE
Palencia	82,169	Castile and León		PSOE		PP
Pontevedra	81,981	Galicia		BNG		BNG
Sant Cugat del Vallés	81,745	Catalonia		CiU		CiU
Rivas-Vaciamadrid	80,483	Community of Madrid		IU		IU
Getxo	80,277	Basque Country		PNV		PNV
Torrent	79,843	Valencian Community		PP		PP
Gandía	79,430	Valencian Community		PSOE		PP
Arona	79,377	Canary Islands		CC		CC
Chiclana de la Frontera	78,591	Andalusia		PSOE		PP
San Sebastián de los Reyes	78,157	Community of Madrid		PP		PP
Mijas	76,362	Andalusia		PSOE		PP
Manresa	76,209	Catalonia		PSC-PSOE		CiU
Vélez-Málaga	75,623	Andalusia		PSOE		PP
Ciudad Real	74,345	Castile-La Mancha		PP		PP
Ferrol	73,638	Galicia		PSOE		PP
Rubí	73,591	Catalonia		PSC-PSOE		PSC-PSOE
Fuengirola	71,783	Andalusia		PP		PP
Alcalá de Guadaíra	71,740	Andalusia		PSOE		PSOE
Benidorm	71,198	Valencian Community		PP		PSOE
Majadahonda	69,439	Community of Madrid		PP		PP
Ponferrada	68,767	Castile and León		PP		PP
Torremolinos	66,957	Andalusia		PP		PP
Sanlúcar de Barrameda	66,541	Andalusia		PSOE		PSOE
Vilanova i la Geltrú	66,532	Catalonia		PSC-PSOE		CiU
Sagunto	66,259	Valencian Community		PP		PP
Estepona	66,150	Andalusia		PSOE		PP
Zamora	65,998	Castile and León		PP		PP
Valdemoro	65,922	Community of Madrid		PP		PP
Paterna	65,921	Valencian Community		PP		PP
Molina de Segura	65,815	Region of Murcia		PP		PP
Santa Lucía de Tirajana	64,845	Canary Islands		NC		NC
La Línea de la Concepción	64,645	Andalusia		PP		PSOE
Viladecans	64,077	Catalonia		PSC-PSOE		PSC-PSOE
El Prat de Llobregat	63,434	Catalonia		ICV-EUiA		ICV-EUiA
Castelldefels	62,250	Catalonia		PSC-PSOE		PP
Alcoy	61,417	Valencian Community		PP		PSOE
Benalmádena	61,383	Andalusia		PP		PSOE
Linares	61,306	Andalusia		PSOE		PSOE
Irun	60,938	Basque Country		PSOE		PSOE
Motril	60,884	Andalusia		PP		PP
Collado Villalba	59,900	Community of Madrid		PSOE		PP
Granollers	59,691	Catalonia		PSC-PSOE		PSC-PSOE
Cerdanyola del Vallès	58,407	Catalonia		PSC-PSOE		PSC-PSOE
Ávila	58,245	Castile and León		PP		PP
Arrecife	58,156	Canary Islands		PP		PP
Mérida	57,127	Extremadura		PSOE		PP
Cuenca	56,189	Castile-La Mancha		PP		PSOE
Torrelavega	55,888	Cantabria		PSOE		PP
Segovia	55,748	Castile and León		PSOE		PSOE
Aranjuez	55,054	Community of Madrid		PSOE		PP
Elda	54,815	Valencian Community		PP		PP
San Vicente del Raspeig	54,088	Valencian Community		PP		PP
San Bartolomé de Tirajana	53,288	Canary Islands		PP		PP
Arganda del Rey	53,135	Community of Madrid		PP		PP
Mollet del Vallés	52,459	Catalonia		PSC-PSOE		PSC-PSOE
Huesca	52,347	Aragón		PSOE		PP
Puertollano	52,300	Castile-La Mancha		PSOE		PSOE
Siero	51,730	Asturias		PSOE		FAC
Calviá	51,462	Balearic Islands		PP		PP
Vila-real	51,367	Valencian Community		PP		PSOE
Utrera	51,177	Andalusia		PA		PA
Soria	39,838	Castile and León		PSOE		PSOE
Teruel	35,241	Aragón		Independent		PP
Total	24,732,111

Summary

Shift of city council control (provincial capitals and >50,000 inhab.)

Party		Shift		Total	+/−	% of population
		Gains	Losses
	People's Party (PP)	36	8	88	28	65.64
	Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE)	7	41	37	34	17.39
	Convergence and Union (CiU)	6	±0	7	6	8.77
	Canarian Coalition (CC)	±0	±0	3	±0	1.84
	Basque Nationalist Party (EAJ-PNV)	±0	±0	2	±0	1.75
	Asturias Forum (FAC)	2	±0	2	2	1.33
	Navarrese People's Union (UPN)	±0	±0	1	±0	0.80
	Basque Country Unite (EHB)	1	±0	1	1	0.75
	United Left (IU)	±0	1	2	1	0.58
	The Greens (LV)	1	±0	1	1	0.35
	Galician Nationalist Bloc (BNG)	±0	±0	1	±0	0.33
	New Canarias (NC)	±0	1	1	1	0.26
	Andalusian Party (PA)	±0	±0	1	±0	0.21
Total				147	±0

Footnotes

1. Ross-Thomas, Emma (4 April 2011). "Spain's Deficit Fight Risks Setback as Zapatero Bows Out of 2012 Election". Bloomberg.
2. "FACTBOX-Spain regional and municipal elections May 22". Reuters. 2011-05-11. Retrieved 2011-05-22.
3. "Organic Law 5/1985, of 19 June, of the General Electoral Regime. Title III, Special Provisions for Municipal Elections.".

External links

• (Spanish) El Pais election results website