2003 Barcelona City Council election

2003 Barcelona City Council election

← 1999 25 May 2003 2007 →

All 41 seats in the City Council of Barcelona
21 seats needed for a majority
Registered1,281,534 Red arrow down5.3%
Turnout759,197 (59.2%)
Green arrow up7.7 pp
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader Joan Clos Xavier Trias Alberto Fernández Díaz
Party PSC–PM CiU PP
Leader since 26 September 1997 25 April 2002 16 July 2002
Last election 20 seats, 45.2% 10 seats, 21.7% 6 seats, 14.9%
Seats won 15 9 7
Seat change Red arrow down5 Red arrow down1 Green arrow up1
Popular vote 254,223 162,010 121,991
Percentage 33.6% 21.4% 16.1%
Swing Red arrow down11.6 pp Red arrow down0.3 pp Green arrow up1.2 pp

  Fourth party Fifth party
 
Leader Jordi Portabella Imma Mayol
Party ERC–AM ICV–EA–EPM
Leader since 1999 1998
Last election 3 seats, 6.5% 2 seats, 7.6%[a]
Seats won 5 5
Seat change Green arrow up2 Green arrow up3
Popular vote 96,868 91,286
Percentage 12.8% 12.1%
Swing Green arrow up6.3 pp Green arrow up4.4 pp

Mayor before election

Joan Clos
PSC

Elected Mayor

Joan Clos
PSC

The 2003 Barcelona City Council election, also the 2003 Barcelona municipal election, was held on Sunday, 25 May 2003, to elect the 7th City Council of the municipality of Barcelona. All 41 seats in the City Council were up for election. The election was held simultaneously with regional elections in thirteen autonomous communities and local elections all throughout Spain.

Electoral system

The City Council of Barcelona (Catalan: Ajuntament de Barcelona, Spanish: Ayuntamiento de Barcelona) was the top-tier administrative and governing body of the municipality of Barcelona, composed of the mayor, the government council and the elected plenary assembly.[1] Elections to the local councils in Spain were fixed for the fourth Sunday of May every four years.[2] Voting for the local assembly was on the basis of universal suffrage, which comprised all nationals over 18 years of age, registered in the municipality of Barcelona and in full enjoyment of their political rights, as well as resident non-national European citizens and those whose country of origin allowed Spanish nationals to vote in their own elections by virtue of a treaty.

Local councillors were elected using the D'Hondt method and a closed list proportional representation, with an electoral threshold of five percent of valid votes—which included blank ballots—being applied in each local council.[1][2] Councillors were allocated to municipal councils based on the following scale:

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 mayor was indirectly elected by the plenary assembly. A legal clause required that mayoral candidates earned the vote of an absolute majority of councillors, or else the candidate of the most-voted party in the assembly was to be automatically appointed to the post. In the event of a tie, the appointee would be determined by lot.[1]

The electoral law allowed for parties and federations registered in the interior ministry, coalitions and groupings of electors to present lists of candidates. Parties and federations intending to form a coalition ahead of an election were required to inform the relevant Electoral Commission within ten 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 were seeking election, disallowing electors from signing for more than one list of candidates. In the case of Barcelona, as its population was over 1,000,001, at least 8,000 signatures were required.[2]

Results

Summary of the 25 May 2003 City Council of Barcelona election results
Parties and alliances Popular vote Seats
Votes % ±pp Total +/−
Socialists' Party of Catalonia–Municipal Progress (PSC–PM) 254,223 33.60 –11.59 15 –5
Convergence and Union (CiU) 162,010 21.41 –0.28 9 –1
People's Party (PP) 121,991 16.12 +1.25 7 +1
Republican Left of Catalonia–Municipal Agreement (ERC–AM) 96,868 12.80 +6.28 5 +2
Initiative–Alternative Left–Agreement for Municipal Progress (ICV–EA–EPM)1 91,286 12.07 +4.44 5 +3
The Greens–Eco-pacifists of Catalonia (EV–Eco) 5,449 0.72 New 0 ±0
The Greens and More (ViM) 3,955 0.52 New 0 ±0
The Greens–Green Alternative (EV–AV) 3,209 0.42 New 0 ±0
Another Democracy is Possible (ODeP) 1,143 0.15 New 0 ±0
Unsubmissive Seats (Ei) 731 0.10 New 0 ±0
The Phalanx (FE) 604 0.08 –0.01 0 ±0
Catalan State (EC) 582 0.08 ±0.00 0 ±0
Democratic and Social Centre (CDS) 539 0.07 –0.04 0 ±0
Humanist Party of Catalonia (PHC) 503 0.07 ±0.00 0 ±0
Platform for Catalonia (PxC) 333 0.04 New 0 ±0
Internationalist Struggle (LI (LIT–CI)) 264 0.03 New 0 ±0
European Nation State (N) 198 0.03 ±0.00 0 ±0
Blank ballots 12,679 1.68 –0.21
Total 756,567 41 ±0
Valid votes 756,567 99.65 +0.09
Invalid votes 2,630 0.35 –0.09
Votes cast / turnout 759,197 59.24 +7.71
Abstentions 522,337 40.76 –7.71
Registered voters 1,281,534
Sources[3][4][5][6]
Footnotes:
Popular vote
PSC–PM
33.60%
CiU
21.41%
PP
16.12%
ERC–AM
12.80%
ICV–EA–EPM
12.07%
Others
2.31%
Blank ballots
1.68%
Seats
PSC–PM
36.59%
CiU
21.95%
PP
17.07%
ERC–AM
12.20%
ICV–EA–EPM
12.20%

Notes

  1. ^ Aggregated data for IC–V–EPM and EUiA in the 1999 election.

References

  1. ^ a b c Ley 7/1985, de 2 de abril, Reguladora de las Bases del Régimen Local (Law 7) (in Spanish). 2 April 1985. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
  2. ^ a b c Ley Orgánica 5/1985, de 19 de junio, del Régimen Electoral General (Organic Law 5) (in Spanish). 19 June 1985. Retrieved 30 January 2020.
  3. ^ "Election Results. Municipal Elections 2003. Barcelona". Government of Catalonia (in Catalan). Retrieved 12 November 2017.
  4. ^ "Local election results, 25 May 2003" (PDF). Central Electoral Commission (in Spanish). Retrieved 16 February 2018.
  5. ^ "Electoral Results Consultation. Municipal. May 2003. Barcelona Municipality". Ministry of the Interior (in Spanish). Retrieved 12 November 2017.
  6. ^ "Eleccions municipals a Barcelona (1979 - 2015)". Historia Electoral.com (in Catalan). Retrieved 30 September 2017.