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2023 Madrid municipal election

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

A municipal election was held in Madrid on 28 May 2023 to elect the 12th City Council of the municipality. All 57 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.

Registered2,386,293 Decrease 0.5%
Turnout1,651,560 (69.2%)
Increase 1.0 pp
Quick facts All 57 seats in the City Council of Madrid 29 seats needed for a majority, Registered ...
2023 Madrid municipal election

← 2019
28 May 2023
2027 →

All 57 seats in the City Council of Madrid
29 seats needed for a majority
Opinion polls
Registered2,386,293 Decrease 0.5%
Turnout1,651,560 (69.2%)
Increase 1.0 pp
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader José Luis Martínez-Almeida Rita Maestre Reyes Maroto
Party PP MM–VQ PSOE
Leader since 28 April 2017 30 July 2020 30 November 2022
Last election 15 seats, 24.3% 19 seats, 31.0% 8 seats, 13.7%
Seats won 29 12 11
Seat change Increase 14 Decrease 7 Increase 3
Popular vote 729,304 313,712 274,786
Percentage 44.5% 19.1% 16.8%
Swing Increase 20.2 pp Decrease 11.9 pp Increase 3.1 pp

  Fourth party Fifth party
 
Leader Javier Ortega Smith Begoña Villacís
Party Vox CS
Leader since 18 April 2019 2 March 2015
Last election 4 seats, 7.7% 11 seats, 19.2%
Seats won 5 0
Seat change Increase 1 Decrease 11
Popular vote 148,994 47,429
Percentage 9.1% 2.9%
Swing Increase 1.4 pp Decrease 16.3 pp

Mayor before election

José Luis Martínez-Almeida
PP

Mayor after election

José Luis Martínez-Almeida
PP

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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 Madrid, the top-tier administrative and governing body was the City Council of Madrid.[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][12]

More information Groups, Parties ...
Council composition in April 2023
Groups Parties Councillors
Seats Total
More Madrid Municipal Group Más Madrid 16 16
People's Party's Municipal Group PP 15 15
Citizens–Party of the Citizenry Municipal Group CS 11 11
Socialist Municipal Group in Madrid PSOE 8 8
Vox Municipal Group Vox 4 4
Mixed Group RM 2[a] 3
INDEP 1[b]
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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 Madrid, as its population was over 1,000,001, at least 8,000 signatures were required.[16] 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.[17]

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

More information Candidacy, Parties and alliances ...
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In March 2021, four Más Madrid city councillors, including former lieutenant mayor Marta Higueras, split into the Mixed Group to form "Recover Madrid" (Spanish: Recupera Madrid), a platform aiming at "preserving the original project" of former mayor Manuela Carmena under a more moderate and pragmatic line,[30] draining material and economic resources from the Más Madrid group,[31] and becoming involved in controversial choices—such as the approval of Mayor José Luis Martínez-Almeida's 2022 budget—which saw one of Recupera Madrid's councillors, Felipe Llamas, resigning from his post in disagreement.[32][33] The platform announced its intention to run in the election, selecting Luis Cueto as their candidate.[34][35]

On 12 September 2022, Podemos announced its intention to contest the 2023 Madrid municipal election after not having done in the 2019 election, with athlete Roberto Sotomayor as the party's candidate.[28]

Campaign

Party slogans

More information Party or alliance, Original slogan ...
Party or alliance Original slogan English translation Ref.
MM–VQ « Lo va a hacer Rita » "Rita will get it done"[d] [36]
PP « Momento Madrid » "Madrid Momentum" [37]
CS « Somos de Villa » "We are of Villa"[e] [38]
PSOE « Reyes de Madrid » "Reyes of Madrid"[f] [39]
Vox « Cuida Madrid, cuida lo tuyo » "Take care of Madrid, take care of your own" [40]
Podemos–IU « Hay que arreglar Madrid corriendo » "We must fix Madrid quickly"[g] [41]
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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; 29 seats were required for an absolute majority in the City Council of Madrid.

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 Madrid.

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 Madrid election results →
Parties and alliances Popular vote Seats
Votes % ±pp Total +/−
People's Party (PP) 729,30444.49+20.24 29+14
More Madrid–Greens Equo (MM–VQ) 313,71219.14−11.85 12−7
Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) 274,78616.76+3.01 11+3
Vox (Vox) 148,9949.09+1.42 5+1
United We Can (Podemos–IU–AV)1 80,2194.89+2.26 0±0
Citizens–Party of the Citizenry (CS) 47,4292.89−16.28 0−11
Animalist Party with the Environment (PACMA)2 8,5300.52+0.02 0±0
Professionals for Madrid–Recover Madrid (Profesionales) 6,4420.39New 0±0
For a Fairer World (PUM+J) 2,6470.16+0.09 0±0
Blank Seats to Leave Empty Seats (EB) 2,4960.15New 0±0
Feminist Party of Spain (PFE) 2,0690.13New 0±0
Seniors in Action (3e) 1,6320.10New 0±0
Cannabis Party–Green Light (PC–LV) 1,4360.09New 0±0
Communist Party of the Workers of Spain (PCTE) 1,1400.07+0.03 0±0
Spanish Phalanx of the CNSO (FE de las JONS) 9700.06+0.01 0±0
Humanist Party (PH) 8150.05+0.01 0±0
Communist Party of the Peoples of Spain (PCPE) 7420.05±0.00 0±0
Castilian Party–Commoners' Land (PCAS–TC) 7330.04−0.05 0±0
Madrid Capital Coalition (CMC) 3960.02New 0±0
Union for Leganés (ULEG) 3350.02+0.01 0±0
Progress of Cities (Progreso de Ciudades) 3070.02New 0±0
Blank ballots 14,0930.86+0.43
Total 1,639,227 57±0
Valid votes 1,639,22799.25−0.39
Invalid votes 12,3330.75+0.39
Votes cast / turnout 1,651,56069.21+0.98
Abstentions 734,73330.79−0.98
Registered voters 2,386,293
Sources[11][42][43]
Footnotes:
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Popular vote
PP
 
44.49%
MM–VQ
 
19.14%
PSOE
 
16.76%
Vox
 
9.09%
Podemos–IU
 
4.89%
CS
 
2.89%
Others
 
1.87%
Blank ballots
 
0.86%
Seats
PP
 
50.88%
MM–VQ
 
21.05%
PSOE
 
19.30%
Vox
 
8.77%

Aftermath

Government formation

More information Ballot →, 17 June 2023 ...
Investiture
Ballot → 17 June 2023
Required majority → 29 out of 57
29 / 57
checkY
12 / 57
X markN
11 / 57
X markN
5 / 57
X markN
Abstentions/Blank ballots
0 / 57
Absentees
0 / 57
Sources[44]
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Notes

  1. José Manuel Calvo and Luis Cueto, former Más Madrid councillors.[13][14]
  2. Results for IU–MpM in the 2019 election.
  3. The slogan makes a reference to the Spanish proverb "Que lo haga Rita [la cantaora]" in reference to Rita Giménez
  4. The slogan plays with the surname of the candidate, Villacís, as "Villa" is the title given to the city of Madrid.
  5. The slogan plays with the name of the candidate, Reyes, meaning also "Monarchs" in Spanish.
  6. The slogan plays with the meaning of corriendo, which in English translates both as "quickly" and "by running", the later being a reference to the candidate's background as an athlete.
  7. Does not include non-resident citizens.

References

Bibliography

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