Valencia City Council elections

Valencia city council elections have taken place every four years since 1979 to elect the 33 members of the local government for the city of Valencia, Spain.

The elections are held using closed list proportional representation in a single electoral district covering the entire city council area. Only parties which receive 5% or more of the total votes cast are eligible for seats which are then allocated on a proportional basis using the D'Hondt method of allocation. The Mayor of Valencia is chosen by the 33 councillors.

From 1979 to 1991 the Mayor came from the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE). From 1991 the Mayor was Rita Barberá Nolla of the People's Party (PP), the party which held an absolute majority of seats on the city council from the 1995 to 2011 local elections.

Results

1979 Local Election

Summary of the 1979 city council election result in Valencia.

Out of a total electorate of 552,034, the turnout was 344,145 (62.3%.)

Candidates for Mayor were:-

• Fernando Martínez Castellanos (PSOE)
• Miguel Pastor (UCD)
• Vicente Blasco Ibáñez (URV)

Martínez was elected Mayor with the support of the PCE. When Felipe González decided to eliminate any residual Marxism from the party’s constitution he resigned in protest in September 1979.^[1] He was replaced in October 1979 by Ricard Pérez Casado.

1983 Local Election

Summary of the 1983 city council election result in Valencia.

^*The People’s Coalition was an electoral alliance which consisted of 4 parties: the Popular Alliance, Valencian Union, Democratic Popular Party and Liberal Union.

Out of a total electorate of 553,067, the turnout was 386,699 (69.9%), a 7.6% increase on the previous election.

A few months prior to the elections, the UCD, which had won the most votes in the 1979 elections, had disbanded. In their absence, the People’s Coalition took most of the right wing vote, while the PCE declined and URV lost their solitary seat. This was the only occasion to date when the PSOE won a majority of seats on Valencia City Council. Ricard Pérez Casado was re-elected Mayor.

1987 Local Election

Summary of the 1987 city council election result in Valencia.

Out of a total electorate of 552,473, the turnout was 389,214 (71.4%), a 1.5% increase on the previous election.

The electoral alliance between the Popular Alliance, the Valencian Union and the Democratic Popular Party broke up in 1986 and all three parties contested the elections in their own right with Valencian Union finishing ahead of the Popular Alliance in terms of votes. The Communist Party of Spain (PCE) had formed an electoral alliance, United Left, with other left wing groupings the previous year and United Left in turn ran in the elections in a joint list with Unity of the Valencian People, however they were unable to increase the number of seats that the PCE had won in 1983. The main gains were made by CDS who won their first seats on the council.

Candidates for Mayor were:-

• Ricard Pérez Casado (PSOE)
• Vicente González Lizondo (UV)
• Martín Quirós (AP)
• Manuel Del Hierro (CDS)

Though PSOE had lost their overall majority, they regained the mayoralty with the support of IU and the CDS. In January 1989 Ricard Pérez Casado was replaced as Mayor by Clementina Ródenas also of the PSOE. In 1989 the Popular Alliance and the Democratic Popular Party merged with other right wing parties to form the People’s Party.

1991 Local Election

Summary of the 1991 city council election result in Valencia.

Out of a total electorate of 591,157, the turnout was 374,946 (63.4%), an 8% decrease on the previous election.

One of the main features of the election was the collapse in support for the CDS, who lost their representation on the council. As a result, all the main four groupings, the PSOE, IU, PP and UV, increased their vote share, with PP gaining 2 seats relative to the Popular Alliance’s 1987 performance and both UV and IU gaining a seat.

Candidates for Mayor were:-

• Clementina Ródenas (PSOE)
• Rita Barberà (PP),
• Vicente González Lizondo (UV)
• Manuel Moret (EUPV)
• Vicent Álvarez (UPV)
• Luis Gil (CDS)

Although the PSOE had had a slight increase in their vote share, UV councillors voted for the PP candidate, Rita Barberà. Both parties governed Valencia with a one-seat majority.

1995 Local Election

Summary of the 1995 city council election result in Valencia.

Out of a total electorate of 627,784, the turnout was 485,649 (73.1%), a 9.7% increase on the previous election.

The election saw both the People’s Party and United Left making gains at the expense of the PSOE and Valencian Union. The People’s Party almost doubled its share of the vote and made enough gains to hold an absolute majority on the city council.

Candidates for Mayor were:-

• Rita Barberà (PP)
• Aurelio Martínez (PSOE)
• Manuel Moret (EUPV)
• Juan Vicente (UV)

Rita Barberà was re-elected Mayor.

1999 Local Election

Summary of the 1999 city council election result in Valencia.

Out of a total electorate of 643,516, the turnout was 403,583 (62.7%), a 10.4% decrease on the previous election.

The election saw both the People’s Party and PSOE making gains at the expense of the Valencian Union and United Left. For the first time the People’s Party polled a majority of votes. Valencian Union narrowly missed the 5% threshold for representation on the council and lost its remaining seats.

Candidates for Mayor were:-

• Rita Barberà (PP)
• Ana Noguera (PSOE)
• Antonio Montalbán (IU)
• Társilo Piles (UV)

Rita Barberà was re-elected Mayor.

2003 Local Election

Summary of the 2003 city council election result in Valencia.

Out of a total electorate of 631,225, the turnout was 432,336 (68.5%), a 5.8% increase on the previous election.

The election saw little change relative to the previous election. PSOE made a small increase at the expense of the People’s Party and gained a seat from them.

Candidates for Mayor were:-

• Rita Barberà (PP)
• Rafael Rubio (PSOE)
• Antonio Montalbán (IU)
• José María Chiquillo Barber (UV)
• Ferran Puchades (BNV)

Rita Barberà was re-elected Mayor.

2007 Local Election

Summary of the 2007 city council election result in Valencia.

Out of a total electorate of 608,976, the turnout was 416,802 (68.4%), a 0.1% decrease on the previous election.

The election saw a continuation of the trend towards a Two-party system with United Left losing their representation on the council due to them falling below the 5% threshold for representation. This was the first occasion on which either United Left or their predecessors the Communist Party would be unrepresented. Though both main parties increased their vote share, the main beneficiaries were the People’s Party who gained both the United Left seats.

Candidates for Mayor were:-

• Rita Barberà (PP)
• Carmen Alborch (PSOE)
• Amadeu Sanchis (IU)
• Vicente González-Lizondo Sánchez (UV)
• Juan García Sentandreu (CV)

Rita Barberà was re-elected Mayor.

2011 Local Election

Summary of the 2011 city council election result in Valencia.^[2]

The turnout was 69.4%, an increase of 1% on the previous election.

The result was considered a surprise by the largest circulation daily newspaper El País,^[3] as Coalició Compromís, an electoral alliance led by the Valencian Nationalist Bloc, won their first seats on the council, while United Left returned to the council after a four-year absence.

Candidates for Mayor were:-

• Rita Barberà (PP)
• Joan Calabuig (PSOE)
• Amadeu Sanchis (IU)
• Joan Ribó (Compromís)
• Ramón Igual (UPyD)

Rita Barberà was re-elected Mayor.

2015 Local Election

Summary of the 24 May 2015 city council election result in Valencia.^[4]

The turnout was 72.1%, the highest turnout since the 1995 election.

References

• Elections in Valencia city, Generalitat Valenciana website, accessed 3 July 2010
• Valencia municipal elections, historiaelectoral.com, accessed 3 July 2010