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2023 Barcelona municipal election

Election in the Spanish municipality of Barcelona From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A municipal election was held in Barcelona on 28 May 2023 to elect the 12th City Council of the municipality. All 41 seats in the City Council were up for election. It was held concurrently with regional elections in twelve autonomous communities and local elections all across Spain.

Registered1,109,116 Decrease 2.9%
Turnout672,053 (60.6%)
Decrease 5.6 pp
Quick facts All 41 seats in the City Council of Barcelona 21 seats needed for a majority, Registered ...
2023 Barcelona municipal election

← 2019
28 May 2023
2027 →

All 41 seats in the City Council of Barcelona
21 seats needed for a majority
Opinion polls
Registered1,109,116 Decrease 2.9%
Turnout672,053 (60.6%)
Decrease 5.6 pp
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader Xavier Trias Jaume Collboni Ada Colau
Party TriasxBCN–CM PSC–CP BComú–C
Leader since 12 December 2022 5 May 2014 14 March 2015
Last election 5 seats, 10.5%[a] 8 seats, 18.4% 10 seats, 20.7%
Seats won 11 10 9
Seat change Increase 6 Increase 2 Decrease 1
Popular vote 149,479 131,923 131,581
Percentage 22.5% 19.8% 19.8%
Swing Increase 12.0 pp Increase 1.4 pp Decrease 0.9 pp

  Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party
 
Leader Ernest Maragall Daniel Sirera Gonzalo de Oro
Party ERC–AM PP Vox
Leader since 27 October 2018 9 January 2023 5 January 2023
Last election 10 seats, 21.4% 2 seats, 5.0% 0 seats, 1.2%
Seats won 5 4 2
Seat change Decrease 5 Increase 2 Increase 2
Popular vote 74,804 61,362 37,990
Percentage 11.2% 9.2% 5.7%
Swing Decrease 10.2 pp Increase 4.2 pp Increase 4.5 pp

Mayor before election

Ada Colau
BComú

Mayor after election

Jaume Collboni
PSC

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Incumbent mayor Ada Colau's party, Barcelona in Common (BComú), fell to third place behind Xavier Trias-led Together for Catalonia (JxCat) alliance and the Socialists' Party of Catalonia (PSC), which scored its best result since 2011. PSC's Jaume Collboni was able to become the new city's mayor following an alliance with BComú and the surprise support of the People's Party (PP), which aimed at preventing the city's government from falling into the hands of pro-Catalan independence parties.

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 Barcelona, the top-tier administrative and governing body was the City Council of Barcelona.[3]

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).[4] The previous local elections were held on 26 May 2019, setting the date for election day on the fourth Sunday of May four years later, which was 28 May 2023.

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.[5]

Elections to the assemblies of local entities were officially called on 4 April 2023 with the publication of the corresponding decree in the BOE, setting election day for 28 May.[6]

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), as well as resident non-national European citizens, and those whose country of origin allowed reciprocal voting by virtue of a treaty.[7]

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.[8] Each municipality was a multi-member constituency, with a number of seats based on the following scale:[9]

More information Population, Councillors ...
Population Councillors
<100 3
101–250 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
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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.[10]

Outgoing council

The table below shows the composition of the political groups in the local assembly at the time of the election call.[11]

More information Groups, Parties ...
Council composition in April 2023
Groups Parties Councillors
Seats Total
Republican Municipal Group ERC 9 10
Nova 1
Barcelona in Common's Municipal Group BComú 10 10
Socialist Municipal Group PSC 7 8
Els Units 1
Together for Catalonia's Municipal Group JxCat 5 5
Citizens's Municipal Group CS 3 3
People's Party's Municipal Group PP 2 2
Brave's Municipal Group Valents 2 2
Non-Inscrits INDEP 1[b] 1
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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 Barcelona, as its population was over 1,000,001, at least 8,000 signatures were required.[13] Additionally, a balanced composition of men and women was required in the electoral lists, so that candidates of either sex made up at least 40 percent of the total composition.[14]

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

Campaign

Party slogans

More information Party or alliance, Original slogan ...
Party or alliance Original slogan English translation Ref.
ERC–AM « L’alcalde de tothom » "Everyone's mayor" [32]
BComú–C « Barcelona obre camí » "Barcelona paves the way" [32]
PSC–CP « De nou Barcelona » "Barcelona again" [32]
CS « Libérate » "Break free" [33]
Valents « Barcelona grande otra vez » "Barcelona great again" [34]
TxBCN–CM « Fem-ho » "Let's do it" [35]
PP « Recupera Barcelona » "Recover Barcelona" [32]
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Debates

More information Date, Organizer(s) ...
2023 Barcelona municipal election debates
Date Organizer(s) Moderator(s)     P  Present[c]    S  Surrogate[d]    NI  Not invited   I  Invited    A  Absent invitee 
ERC BComú PSC CS Valents TxBCN PP Audience Ref.
10 May RTVE Gemma Nierga
Quim Barnola
P
Maragall
P
Colau
P
Collboni
P
Grau
P
Parera
P
Trias
P
Sirera
3.6%
(54,000)
[36]
[37]
23 May CCMA Laura Rosel
Ariadna Oltra
P
Maragall
P
Colau
P
Collboni
P
Grau
P
Parera
P
Trias
P
Sirera
12.1%
(214,000)
[38]
[39]
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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.

Graphical summary

Local regression trend line of poll results from 26 May 2019 to 28 May 2023, with each line corresponding to a political party.

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; 21 seats were required for an absolute majority in the City Council of Barcelona.

Color key:

  Poll conducted after legal ban on opinion polls

More information Polling firm/Commissioner, Fieldwork date ...
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Voting preferences

The table below lists raw, unweighted voting preferences.

More information Polling firm/Commissioner, Fieldwork date ...
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Preferred Mayor

The table below lists opinion polling on leader preferences to become mayor of Barcelona.

Color key:

  Poll conducted after legal ban on opinion polls

More information Polling firm/Commissioner, Fieldwork date ...
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Results

More information Parties and alliances, Popular vote ...
← Summary of the 28 May 2023 City Council of Barcelona election results →
Parties and alliances Popular vote Seats
Votes % ±pp Total +/−
Trias for Barcelona–Municipal Commitment (TriasxBCN–CM)1 149,47922.45+11.94 11+6
PSC–Good for Barcelona–United–Progress Candidacy (PSC–CP) 131,92319.82+1.41 10+2
Barcelona in Common–Confluence (BComú–C) 131,58119.76−0.98 9−1
Republican Left of Catalonia–Municipal Agreement (ERC–AM) 74,80411.24−10.13 5−5
People's Party (PP) 61,3629.22+4.21 4+2
Vox (Vox) 37,9905.71+4.55 2+2
CUP–The Alternative–Municipalist Alternative (CUP–L'A–AMunt) 25,2133.79−0.10 0±0
Brave (Valents)2 15,4072.31n/a 0−3
Citizens–Party of the Citizenry (CS)2 7,2341.09n/a 0−3
Barcelona is you (BCN ets tú) 7,1961.08+1.08 0±0
Animalist Party with the Environment (PACMA)3 7,1511.07+0.25 0±0
The Greens–Green Alternative (EV–AV) 2,2580.34New 0±0
Blank Seats (EB) 1,7030.26+0.20 0±0
New Politics Primaries (NovaPrimàries)4 1,4210.21−3.53 0±0
Cannabis Party–Green Light (PC–LV) 9330.14New 0±0
National Front of Catalonia (FNC) 9230.14New 0±0
Communist Party of the Workers of Catalonia (PCTC) 7300.11New 0±0
Alliance of the Spanish Republican Left (AIREs–La Izquierda) 3680.06New 0±0
Humanist Party (PH) 3130.05New 0±0
Family and Life Party (PFyV) 2960.04+0.01 0±0
United for the International Solidarity (Unidos SI) 2290.03−0.04 0±0
We Are Identitaries (SOMI) 2000.03New 0±0
Justice and Union (JES–UEP) 1530.02New 0±0
Party of Labour–Effective Democracy–Valencian Republic (PTDCERV) 910.01New 0±0
Blank ballots 6,7881.02+0.67
Total 665,746 41±0
Valid votes 665,74699.06−0.74
Invalid votes 6,3070.94+0.74
Votes cast / turnout 672,05360.59−5.58
Abstentions 437,06339.41+5.58
Registered voters 1,109,116
Sources[11][42][43][44]
Footnotes:
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Popular vote
TriasxBCN–CM
 
22.45%
PSC–CP
 
19.82%
BComú–C
 
19.76%
ERC–AM
 
11.24%
PP
 
9.22%
Vox
 
5.71%
CUP–L'A–AMunt
 
3.79%
Valents
 
2.31%
CS
 
1.09%
BCN ets tú
 
1.08%
PACMA
 
1.07%
Others
 
1.44%
Blank ballots
 
1.02%
Seats
TriasxBCN–CM
 
26.83%
PSC–CP
 
24.39%
BComú–C
 
21.95%
ERC–AM
 
12.20%
PP
 
9.76%
Vox
 
4.88%

Aftermath

Government formation

At the first meeting of the council on 17 June 2023, Jaume Collboni of the PSC was elected as the new mayor of Barcelona after receiving the support of his own party, Barcelona en Comú and the PP for a total of 23 votes, above the threshold of 21 votes required for the mayorality not to be automatically assumed by Xavier Trias as the leader of the most-voted candidature.

More information Ballot →, 17 June 2023 ...
Investiture
Ballot → 17 June 2023
Required majority → 21 out of 41
23 / 41
checkY
16 / 41
X markN
2 / 41
X markN
Abstentions/Blank ballots
0 / 41
Absentees
0 / 41
Sources[45]
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Notes

  1. Results for Junts in the 2019 election.
  2. Marilén Barceló, former Cs councillor.[12]
  3. Denotes a main invitee attending the event.
  4. Denotes a main invitee not attending the event, sending a surrogate in their place.
  5. Within TxBCN.
  6. Alternative projection based on raw local barometer data.
  7. Within Cs.
  8. Does not include non-resident citizens.

References

Bibliography

Related Articles

Timelines

Top Qs

Fact Checks