Spanish local elections, 2007

Spanish local elections, 2007
Spain
27 May 2007

66,131 seats in 8,111 local councils
1,038 seats in 38 provincial deputations
153 seats in 3 Juntas Generales in the Basque Country
153 seats in 7 cabildos in the Canary Islands
Registered 35,153,523 Increase2.2%
Turnout 22,488,232 (64.0%)
Decrease3.7 pp
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero Mariano Rajoy Artur Mas
Party PSOE PP CiU
Leader since 22 July 2000 2 September 2003 7 January 2002
Last election 23,224 seats, 34.8% 23,615 seats, 34.3% 3,687 seats, 3.4%
Seats won 24,029 23,348 3,387
Seat change Increase805 Decrease267 Decrease300
Popular vote 7,760,865 7,916,075 723,325
Percentage 34.9% 35.6% 3.3%
Swing Increase0.1 pp Increase1.3 pp Decrease0.1 pp

  Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party
 
Leader Gaspar Llamazares Josep-Lluís Carod-Rovira Josu Jon Imaz
Party IU ERC EAJ/PNV
Leader since 29 October 2000 July 2004 18 January 2004
Last election 2,198 seats, 6.1% 1,282 seats, 1.8% 892 seats, 1.8%
Seats won 2,034 1,591 1,043
Seat change Decrease164 Increase309 Increase151
Popular vote 1,217,030 347,601 310,036
Percentage 5.5% 1.6% 1.4%
Swing Decrease0.6 pp Decrease0.2 pp Decrease0.4 pp

The 2007 Spanish local elections were held on Sunday, 27 May 2007, throughout all 8,111 Spain municipalities, simultaneously with regional elections in 13 of the 17 autonomous communities—all except for Andalusia, the Basque Country, Catalonia, and Galicia. All 65,869 councillors were up for election, as well as 153 seats of the 3 Basque Juntas Generales, 153 seats of the 7 Canarian cabildos and the indirectly-elected 1,038 seats of the 38 provincial deputations.

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 Spanish general election, 2008 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

Local councils

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

Population Seats
<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 was 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 were 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 was 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) were entitled to enter the seat distribution.

The Spanish municipal electoral law established a clause stating that, if no candidate was to gather an absolute majority of votes to be elected as mayor of a municipality, the candidate of the most-voted party would be automatically elected to the post.[1]

Provincial deputations

The provincial deputations were elected indirectly by a council which in turn was elected from the judicial districts. The apportionment of deputies per province depends on population and was given as follows:

Population Seats
<500,000 25
500,001–1,000,000 27
1,000,001–3,500,000 31
>3,500,000 51

Results

Municipal elections

Summary of the 27 May 2007 Spanish local election results

Parties and coalitions Votes Councillors
# % Swing Councillors +/−
People's Party PP 7,916,075 35.62 +1.33 23,348 −267
Spanish Socialist Workers' Party PSOE 7,760,865 34.92 +0.09 24,029 +805
United Left IU 1,217,030 5.48 −0.59 2,034 −164
Convergence and Union CiU 723,325 3.25 −0.19 3,867 −300
Republican Left of Catalonia ERC 347,601 1.56 −0.27 1,591 +309
Galician Nationalist Bloc BNG 315,279 1.42 0.00 661 +66
Basque Nationalist Party PNV 310,036 1.39 −0.39 1,043 +151
Initiative for Catalonia Greens ICV 258,179 1.17 −0.30 451 +54
Andalusian Party PA 234,885 1.06 −0.39 469 −56
Canarian Coalition CC 217,407 0.98 −0.26 404 −54
Compromís pel País Valencià CPV 105,754 0.48 −0.13 277 −21
Basque Nationalist Action EAE-ANV 94,253 0.42 +0.42 432 +432
Aragonese Party PAR 94,079 0.42 +0.05 983 +76
Others 1,959,138 8.81 6,966
Blank ballots 427,061 1.92 +0.16
Total 22,225,879 100.00 66,131 +621
Valid votes 22,225,879 98.83 +0.13
Invalid votes 262,353 1.17 −0.13
Votes cast / turnout 22,488,232 63.97 −3.70
Abstentions 12,665,291 36.03 +3.70
Registered voters 35,153,523
Source: Ministry of the Interior

References

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