1987 Spanish local elections

1987 Spanish local elections

10 June 1987[a]
65,577 councillors in 8,062 municipal councils All 1,377 provincial/island seats in 44 provinces[b]
Registered	28,442,348 3.5%
Turnout	19,744,334 (69.4%) 0.8 pp
First party Second party Third party   Leader Felipe González Antonio Hernández Mancha Adolfo Suárez Party PSOE AP CDS Leader since 13 October 1974 8 February 1987 29 July 1982 Last election 23,729 c., 41.9% 638 p. 21,076 c., 25.7%[c] 419 p. 658 c., 1.8%[d] 23 p. Seats won 23,241 c. 588 p. 16,581 c. 336 p. 5,972 c. 116 p. Seat change 488 c. 50 p. 4,495 c. 83 p. 5,288 c. 93 p. Popular vote 7,229,782 4,080,705 1,904,984 Percentage 37.1% 20.9% 9.8% Swing 4.8 pp 4.8 pp 8.0 pp   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader Jordi Pujol Gerardo Iglesias Javier Rupérez Party CiU IU PDP Leader since 19 September 1978 10 December 1982 22 May 1987 Last election 3,329 c., 4.1% 49 p. 2,601 c., 8.5%[e] 41 p. 872 c., 0.9%[f] 21 p. Seats won 4,373 c. 67 p. 2,641 c. 47 p. 1,521 c. 20 p. Seat change 1,044 c. 18 p. 40 c. 6 p. 649 c. 1 p. Popular vote 1,004,823 1,564,964 319,519 Percentage 5.2% 8.0% 1.6% Swing 1.1 pp 0.5 pp 0.7 pp
Provincial results map for municipal elections

Local elections were held in Spain on 10 June 1987^[a] to elect all 65,577 councillors in the 8,062 Spanish municipalities,^[2] all 1,181 provincial seats in 41 provinces (including 38 indirectly-elected provincial deputations and the three foral deputations in the Basque Country) and 196 seats in ten island councils (seven Canarian and three Balearic ones). They were held concurrently with regional elections in thirteen autonomous communities, as well as the 1987 European Parliament election.

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.^[3] 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).^[4] The concejo abierto system (English: open council), under which voters directly elected the local mayor by plurality voting, was reserved for municipalities under 100 inhabitants and some minor local entities.^[5]

Provincial deputations were the governing bodies of provinces in Spain—except for single-province autonomous communities—having an administration role of municipal activities and composed of a provincial president, an administrative body, and a plenary.^[6] 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).^[7][g] The three Basque provinces had foral deputations instead (called General Assemblies, or Juntas Generales).^[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 25 days prior to the scheduled expiration date of the assemblies and published on the following day in the Official State Gazette (BOE), with election day taking place between 54 and 60 days after the decree's publication.^[10] The previous local elections were held on 8 May 1983, which meant that the chambers' terms would have expired on 8 May 1987. The election decree was required to be published in the BOE no later than 14 April 1987, setting the latest possible date for election day on 13 June 1987.

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.^[11]

Elections to the assemblies of local entities were officially called on 14 April 1987 with the publication of the corresponding decree in the BOE, setting election day for 10 June.^[12] Subsequent by-elections were called on 15 September, for 8 November.^[1]

Voting for local assemblies and Canarian 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 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-nationals whose country of origin allowed reciprocal voting by virtue of a treaty.^[13]

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 constituency.^[14] Each municipality or council was a multi-member constituency, with a number of seats based on the following scale:^[15]

Councillors in municipalities between 100 and 250 inhabitants were elected using open-list partial block voting, with voters choosing up to four candidates.^[16]

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 three-fifths of the total number of provincial seats, with the remaining ones distributed in proportion to population):^[17]

The General Assemblies of Álava, Biscay and Gipuzkoa were directly elected by voters under their own, specific electoral regulations.^[18]

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.^[19]

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:^[20]

• At least one 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 500 signatures in municipalities with a population between 10,001 and 50,000.
• At least 1,500 signatures in municipalities with a population between 50,001 and 150,000.
• At least 3,000 signatures in municipalities with a population between 150,001 and 300,000.
• At least 5,000 signatures in municipalities with a population between 300,001 and 1,000,000.
• At least 8,000 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.^[23] Gains for a party are highlighted in that party's colour.

The following table lists party control in the indirectly-elected provincial deputations.^[27] Gains for a party are highlighted in that party's colour.

The following table lists party control in the island councils.^[28][29] Gains for a party are highlighted in that party's colour.

The following table lists party control in the foral deputations.^[31] Gains for a party are highlighted in that party's colour.