2003 Valencia municipal election

2003 Valencia municipal election
25 May 2003
All 33 seats in the City Council of Valencia
17 seats needed for a majority
Opinion polls
Registered631,225 Decrease 1.9%
Turnout432,366 (68.5%)
Increase 5.8 pp
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader Rita Barberá Rafael Rubio Antonio Montalbán
Party PP PSPV–PSOE L'Entesa
Leader since 1991 25 November 2000 19 December 1998
Last election 20 seats, 53.2% 11 seats, 29.0% 2 seats, 6.4%
Seats won 19 12 2
Seat change Decrease 1 Increase 1 Steady 0
Popular vote 220,548 132,903 31,519
Percentage 51.2% 30.8% 7.3%
Swing Decrease 2.0 pp Increase 1.8 pp Increase 0.9 pp
Mayor before election

Rita Barberá
PP

 Mayor after election

Rita Barberá
PP

A municipal election was held in Valencia on 25 May 2003 to elect the 7th City Council of the municipality. All 33 seats in the City Council were up for election. It was held concurrently with regional elections in thirteen autonomous communities and local elections all across Spain.

Overview

Under the 1978 Constitution, the governance of municipalities in Spain—part of the country's local government system—was centered on the figure of city councils (Spanish: ayuntamientos), local corporations with independent legal personality composed of a mayor, a government council and an elected legislative assembly.[1] The mayor was indirectly elected by the local assembly, requiring an absolute majority; otherwise, the candidate from the most-voted party automatically became mayor (ties were resolved by drawing lots).[2] In the case of Valencia, the top-tier administrative and governing body was the City Council of Valencia.

Date

The term of local assemblies in Spain expired four years after the date of their previous election, with election day being fixed for the fourth Sunday of May every four years. The election decree was required to be issued no later than 54 days before the scheduled election date and published on the following day in the Official State Gazette (BOE).[3] The previous local elections were held on 13 June 1999, setting the date for election day on the fourth Sunday of May four years later, which was 25 May 2003.

Local assemblies could not be dissolved before the expiration of their term, except in cases of mismanagement that seriously harmed the public interest and implied a breach of constitutional obligations, in which case the Council of Ministers could—optionally—decide to call a by-election.[4]

Elections to the assemblies of local entities were officially called on 1 April 2003 with the publication of the corresponding decree in the BOE, setting election day for 25 May.[5]

Electoral system

Voting for local assemblies was based on universal suffrage, comprising all Spanish nationals over 18 years of age, registered and residing in the municipality and with full political rights (provided that they had not been deprived of the right to vote by a final sentence, nor were legally incapacitated), as well as resident non-national European citizens, and those whose country of origin allowed reciprocal voting by virtue of a treaty.[6]

Local councillors were elected using the D'Hondt method and closed-list proportional voting, with a five percent-threshold of valid votes (including blank ballots) in each municipality.[7] Each municipality was a multi-member constituency, with a number of seats based on the following scale:[8]

Population Councillors
<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
>100,001 +1 per each 100,000 inhabitants or fraction
+1 if total is an even number

The law did not provide for by-elections to fill vacant seats; instead, any vacancies arising after the proclamation of candidates and during the legislative term were filled by the next candidates on the party lists or, when required, by designated substitutes.[9]

Parties and candidates

The electoral law allowed for parties and federations registered in the interior ministry, alliances and groupings of electors to present lists of candidates. Parties and federations intending to form an alliance were required to inform the relevant electoral commission within 10 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, disallowing electors from signing for more than one list. In the case of Valencia, as its population was between 300,001 and 1,000,000, at least 5,000 signatures were required.[10]

Below is a list of the main parties and alliances which contested the election:

Candidacy Parties and
alliances		 Leading candidate Ideology Previous result Gov. Ref.
Vote % Seats
PP
List
 Rita Barberá Conservatism
Christian democracy		 53.2% 20 Yes
PSPV–PSOE Rafael Rubio Social democracy 29.0% 11 No [11]
[12]
L'Entesa Antonio Montalbán Socialism
Communism		 6.4% 2 No [13]
[14]
UV
List
 José María Chiquillo Blaverism
Conservatism		 4.7% 0 No [15]
Bloc–EV Ferran Puchades Valencian nationalism
Progressivism
Ecologism		 3.2% 0 No [16]
[17]

Opinion polls

The tables below list opinion polling results in reverse chronological order, showing the most recent first and using the dates when the survey fieldwork was done, as opposed to the date of publication. Where the fieldwork dates are unknown, the date of publication is given instead. The highest percentage figure in each polling survey is displayed with its background shaded in the leading party's colour. If a tie ensues, this is applied to the figures with the highest percentages. The "Lead" column on the right shows the percentage-point difference between the parties with the highest percentages in a poll.

Voting intention estimates

The table below lists weighted voting intention estimates. Refusals are generally excluded from the party vote percentages, while question wording and the treatment of "don't know" responses and those not intending to vote may vary between polling organisations. When available, seat projections determined by the polling organisations are displayed below (or in place of) the percentages in a smaller font; 17 seats were required for an absolute majority in the City Council of Valencia.

Voting preferences

The table below lists raw, unweighted voting preferences.

Results

← Summary of the 25 May 2003 City Council of Valencia election results →
Parties and alliances Popular vote Seats
Votes % ±pp Total +/−
People's Party (PP) 220,54851.15−2.10 19−1
Socialist Party of the Valencian Country (PSPV–PSOE) 132,90330.82+1.87 12+1
United Left–Valencian Left: Agreement (L'Entesa) 31,5197.31+0.94 2±0
Valencian Union (UV) 15,5933.62−1.12 0±0
Valencian Nationalist Bloc–Green Left (Bloc–EV) 11,2012.60−0.61 0±0
Cannabis Party for Legalisation and Normalisation (PCLyN) 4,1770.97New 0±0
The Greens of the Valencian Country (EV–LV) 3,3690.78New 0±0
Spain 2000 (E–2000) 8190.19New 0±0
Family and Life Party (PFyV) 7320.17New 0±0
Republican Left of the Valencian Country–Municipal Agreement (ERPV–AM) 6920.16New 0±0
Alternative Citizen Initiative (ICAL) 5320.12New 0±0
Regional Party of the Valencian Community (PRCV) 5090.12New 0±0
Democratic and Social Centre (CDS) 4610.11−0.03 0±0
Federal Republican Party (PRF) 4410.10−0.02 0±0
Internationalist Socialist Workers' Party (POSI) 3540.08New 0±0
Humanist Party (PH) 3000.07−0.02 0±0
Blank ballots 7,0071.63−0.22
Total 431,157 33±0
Valid votes 431,15799.72+0.08
Invalid votes 1,2090.28−0.08
Votes cast / turnout 432,36668.50+5.78
Abstentions 198,85931.50−5.78
Registered voters 631,225
Sources[18][19][20][21]
Popular vote
PP
 
 51.15%
PSPV–PSOE
 
 30.82%
L'Entesa
 
 7.31%
UV
 
 3.62%
Bloc–EV
 
 2.60%
Others
 
 2.87%
Blank ballots
 
 1.63%
Seats
PP
 
 57.58%
PSPV–PSOE
 
 36.36%
L'Entesa
 
 6.06%

Aftermath

Government formation

Investiture
Ballot → 14 June 2003
Required majority → 17 out of 33
  • • PP (19)
19 / 33
 check
Rafael Rubio (PSPV)
12 / 33
 X mark
Antonio Montalbán (L'Entesa)
2 / 33
 X mark
Abstentions/Blank ballots
0 / 33
Absentees
0 / 33
Sources[22]

Notes

  1. ↑ Does not include non-resident citizens.

References

Opinion poll sources

  1. 1 2 "Preelectoral elecciones autonómicas, 2003. CA Valenciana (Estudio nº 2491. Marzo-Abril 2003)". CIS (in Spanish). 17 May 2003.
  2. ↑ "La guerra pasa factura electoral al PP". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). 18 May 2003.
  3. ↑ "Valencia". El Periódico de Catalunya (in Spanish). 5 May 2003. Archived from the original on 2003-06-22.
  4. ↑ "Los valencianos mantienen su apoyo al PP tras irse Zaplana". El Periódico de Aragón (in Spanish). 5 May 2003.
  5. ↑ "VOX PUBLICA". El Periódico de Aragón (in Spanish). 5 May 2003.
  6. ↑ Vázquez, Cristina (1 May 2003). "El PP pierde la mayoría absoluta en Valencia, según el PSPV". El País (in Spanish).
  7. ↑ Vázquez, Cristina (25 February 2003). "Pla dice que el PP va a la baja". El País (in Spanish).

Other

  1. ↑ Constitution (1978), art. 140; LBRL (1985), art. 19.
  2. ↑ LBRL (1985), art. 19; LOREG (1985), art. 196.
  3. ↑ LOREG (1985), arts. 42 & 194.
  4. ↑ LBRL (1985), art. 61.
  5. ↑ Royal Decree 374/2003 (2003), art. 1.
  6. ↑ Constitution (1978), art. 13; LBRL (1985), art. 19; LOREG (1985), arts. 2–3 & 176.
  7. ↑ LOREG (1985), arts. 163 & 180.
  8. ↑ LOREG (1985), art. 179.
  9. ↑ LOREG (1985), arts. 46, 48 & 182.
  10. ↑ LOREG (1985), arts. 44 & 187.
  11. ↑ Ferrandis, Joaquín (26 November 2000). "Rafael Rubio gana la secretaría del PSPV en Valencia y Pedro Grande en La Ribera Alta". El País (in Spanish). Valencia. Retrieved 1 December 2025.
  12. ↑ Ferrandis, Joaquín; Moltó, Ezequiel (3 June 2002). "Rubio gana las primarias socialistas de Valencia con el 65% y Bernal las de Alicante con el 52%". El País (in Spanish). Valencia / Alicante. Retrieved 1 December 2025.
  13. ↑ Moltó, Ezequiel (27 February 2002). "La Entesa se abre a otros partidos de izquierda y grupos ecologistas". El País (in Spanish). Alicante. Retrieved 11 November 2025.
  14. ↑ "EU aprueba la Entesa a falta de que sea ratificada en referéndum". El País (in Spanish). Valencia. Agencias. 10 March 2002. Retrieved 11 November 2025.
  15. ↑ "Chiquillo da por iniciada en UV la campaña electoral del año 2003". El País (in Spanish). Valencia. EFE. 27 January 2002. Retrieved 11 November 2025.
  16. ↑ Olivares, Miguel (24 January 2000). "Mayor cierra el congreso constituyente del Bloc con sendos ataques a regionalistas y socialistas". El País (in Spanish). Valencia. Retrieved 11 November 2025.
  17. ↑ "Puchades será el candidato del Bloc a la alcaldía de Valencia". El País (in Spanish). Valencia. 6 October 2002. Retrieved 11 November 2025.
  18. ↑ Lozano, Carles. "Eleccions municipals a València (des de 1979)". Historia Electoral.com (in Catalan). Retrieved 4 November 2025.
  19. ↑ "Consultes electorals. 1. Eleccions municipals" (PDF). City Council of Valencia (in Catalan). Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 December 2017. Retrieved 27 November 2025.
  20. ↑ "Elecciones celebradas. Resultados electorales" (in Spanish). Ministry of the Interior. Archived from the original on 5 August 2024. Retrieved 5 November 2025.
  21. ↑ "Acuerdo de 20 de junio de 2003, de la Junta Electoral Central, por el que se procede a la publicación del resumen de los resultados de las elecciones locales convocadas por Real Decreto 374/2003, de 31 de marzo, y celebradas el 25 de mayo, según los datos que figuran en las actas de proclamación remitidas por cada una de las Juntas Electorales de Zona" (PDF). Official State Gazette (in Spanish) (158 (Supplement)): 1–700. 3 July 2003. ISSN 0212-033X. Retrieved 6 November 2025.
  22. ↑ Alberola, Miquel (14 June 2003). "Alcanzar el pleno empleo". El País. Valencia. Retrieved 9 November 2025.

Bibliography

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