1979 Spanish local elections

1979 Spanish local elections

3 April 1979[a]
67,505 councillors in 7,870 municipal councils All 1,635 provincial/island seats in 50 provinces[b]
Registered	26,591,013
Turnout	16,650,095 (62.6%)
First party Second party Third party   Leader Adolfo Suárez Felipe González Santiago Carrillo Party UCD PSOE PCE Leader since 3 May 1977 13 October 1974 3 July 1960 Seats won 29,288 c. 873 p. 12,069 c. 362 p. 3,725 c. 71 p. Popular vote 5,067,634 4,621,672 2,142,049 Percentage 30.9% 28.2% 13.0%   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader Manuel Fraga Jordi Pujol Carlos Garaikoetxea Party CD CiU EAJ/PNV Leader since 9 October 1976 19 September 1978 1977 Seats won 2,383 c. 38 p. 1,782 c. 45 p. 1,093 c. 99 p. Popular vote 504,780 509,128 361,160 Percentage 3.1% 3.1% 2.2%
Provincial results map for municipal elections

Local elections were held in Spain on 3 April 1979^[a] to elect all 67,505 councillors in the 7,870 Spanish municipalities,^[2] all 1,450 provincial seats in 47 provinces (including 43 indirectly-elected provincial deputations and the four foral deputations in the Basque Country and Navarre) and 185 seats in ten island councils (seven Canarian and three Balearic ones).

While the national ruling Union of the Democratic Centre (UCD) emerged as the largest party overall, an alliance between the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) and the Communist Party of Spain (PCE) saw municipal control over the main urban areas switching to left-wing parties.^[3]

Under the 1978 Constitution, the governance of municipalities in Spain 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.^[4] 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).^[5] The concejo abierto system (English: open council), under which voters directly elected the local mayor by plurality voting, was reserved for municipalities under 25 inhabitants and some minor local entities.^[6]

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.^[7] 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 Gran Canaria, Tenerife, Fuerteventura, La Gomera, El Hierro, Lanzarote and La Palma, this figure was referred to in Spanish as cabildo insular, whereas for Mallorca, Menorca and Ibiza–Formentera, its name was consejo insular (Catalan: consell insular).^[8] The three Basque provinces and Navarre had foral deputations instead (called General Assemblies—or Juntas Generales—in the Basque Country).^[9]

The term of local assemblies in Spain expired four years after the date of their previous election. The election decree was required to be issued no later than the day after the expiration date of the assemblies, with election day taking place 65 days after the decree's publication in the Official State Gazette (BOE).^[10]

Elections to the assemblies of local entities were officially called on 27 January 1979 with the publication of the corresponding decree in the BOE, setting election day for 3 April.^[11] Subsequent by-elections were called on 21 April (for 26 June) and 28 July (for 2 October).^[1]

Voting for local assemblies and island councils was based on universal suffrage, comprising all Spanish nationals over 18 years of age, registered and residing in the municipality or council and with full civil and political rights.^[12]

Local and island 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 constituency. Each municipality or council was a multi-member constituency, with a number of seats based on the following scale:^[13]

Most provincial deputations were indirectly elected by applying the D'Hondt method and a three percent-threshold of valid votes to municipal results—excluding candidacies not electing any councillor—in each judicial district. Seats were allocated to provincial deputations based on the following scale (with each judicial district being assigned an initial minimum of one seat and a maximum of one-third of the total number of provincial seats, with the remaining ones distributed in proportion to population):^[14]

The foral deputation of Navarre and the General Assemblies of Álava, Biscay and Gipuzkoa were directly elected by voters under their own, specific electoral regulations.^[15]

The law provided for by-elections to fill vacant seats only when results in a constituency were annulled by a final sentence following an electoral petition, or in cases where elections were not held due to a lack of candidates; otherwise, 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.^[16]

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:^[17]

• At least two percent of the electors in municipalities with a population 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 with a population between 5,001 and 10,000.
• At least 200 signatures in municipalities with a population between 10,001 and 50,000.
• At least 500 signatures in municipalities with a population between 50,001 and 150,000.
• At least 1,000 signatures in municipalities with a population between 150,001 and 300,000.
• At least 2,000 signatures in municipalities with a population between 300,001 and 1,000,000.
• At least 5,000 signatures in municipalities with a population over 1,000,001.

The following table lists party control in provincial capitals (highlighted in bold), as well as in municipalities above 75,000.^[20]

The following table lists party control in the indirectly-elected provincial deputations.^[26]

The following table lists party control in the island councils.^[26][28][29]

The following table lists party control in the foral deputations.^[26][30]