2023 Valencia municipal election

A municipal election was held in Valencia on 28 May 2023 to elect the 12th City Council of the municipality. All 33 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.

Registered579,205

1.3%

Turnout417,512 (72.1%)

5.8 pp

Quick facts All 33 seats in the City Council of Valencia 17 seats needed for a majority, Registered ...

2023 Valencia municipal election

← 2019

28 May 2023

2027 →

All 33 seats in the City Council of Valencia
17 seats needed for a majority

Opinion polls

Registered

579,205

1.3%

Turnout

417,512 (72.1%)

5.8 pp

	First party	Second party	Third party

Leader	María José Catalá	Joan Ribó	Sandra Gómez
Party	PP	Acord per Guanyar	PSPV–PSOE
Leader since	12 January 2019	7 May 2010	14 October 2018
Last election	8 seats, 21.8%	10 seats, 27.4%	7 seats, 19.3%
Seats won	13	9	7
Seat change	5	1	0
Popular vote	151,737	99,382	78,655
Percentage	36.6%	24.0%	19.0%
Swing	14.8 pp	3.4 pp	0.3 pp

	Fourth party	Fifth party

Leader	Juan Manuel Badenas	Fernando Giner
Party	Vox	CS
Leader since	10 February 2023	28 March 2015
Last election	2 seats, 7.3%	6 seats, 17.6%
Seats won	4	0
Seat change	2	6
Popular vote	52,738	9,573
Percentage	12.7%	2.3%
Swing	5.4 pp	15.3 pp

Mayor before election

Joan Ribó
Compromís

Mayor after election

María José Catalá
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 Valencia, the top-tier administrative and governing body was the City Council of Valencia.^[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
Groups		Parties		Seats	Total
	Commitment to Valencia Municipal Group		Compromís	10	10
	People's Municipal Group		PP	8	8
	Socialist Municipal Group		PSPV–PSOE	7	7
	Citizens–Party of the Citizenry Municipal Group		CS	6	6
	Vox Municipal Group		Vox	2	2

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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 Valencia, as its population was between 300,001 and 1,000,000, at least 5,000 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:

More information Candidacy, Parties and alliances ...

Candidacy		Parties and alliances	Leading candidate		Ideology	Previous result		Gov.	Ref.
Candidacy		Parties and alliances	Leading candidate		Ideology	Vote %	Seats	Gov.	Ref.
	Acord per Guanyar	List Més–Compromís (Més) Valencian People's Initiative (IdPV) Greens Equo of the Valencian Country (VerdsEquo)		Joan Ribó	Valencianism Progressivism Green politics	27.4%	10		^[15] ^[16]
	PP	List People's Party (PP)		María José Catalá	Conservatism Christian democracy	21.8%	8		^[17]
	PSPV–PSOE	List Socialist Party of the Valencian Country (PSPV–PSOE)		Sandra Gómez	Social democracy	19.3%	7		^[18]
	CS	List Citizens–Party of the Citizenry (CS)		Fernando Giner	Liberalism	17.6%	6		^[19]
	Vox	List Vox (Vox)		Juan Manuel Badenas	Right-wing populism Ultranationalism National conservatism	7.3%	2		^[20]

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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; 17 seats were required for an absolute majority in the City Council of Valencia.

Color key:

Poll conducted after legal ban on opinion polls

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

Polling firm/Commissioner	Fieldwork date	Sample size	Turnout							IDEA	Lead
Polling firm/Commissioner	Fieldwork date	Sample size	Turnout								Lead

2023 municipal election	28 May 2023	N/a	72.0	24.0 9	36.6 13	19.0 7	2.3 0	12.7 4	2.3 0	–	12.6

GAD3/RTVE–FORTA^{[p 1]}	12–27 May 2023	?	?	22.0 8	35.0 13/14	21.0 7/8	2.0 0	12.0 4	4.0 0	–	13.0
KeyData/Público^{[p 2]}	22 May 2023	?	68.8	23.9 9	35.9 13	19.7 7	–	11.2 4	–	–	12.0
NC Report/La Razón^{[p 3]}	22 May 2023	?	?	24.0 9	37.2 13	18.9 7	–	11.6 4	–	–	13.2
GIPEyOP/UV^{[p 4]}	10–20 May 2023	?	?	23.4 7/10	32.0 10/13	20.1 6/9	4.4 0/1	11.6 3/5	5.3 0/2	–	8.6
IMOP/El Confidencial^{[p 5]}	15–18 May 2023	610	?	26.6 9/10	34.9 12/13	19.7 7	2.0 0	11.6 4	2.7 0	–	8.3
Sigma Dos/El Mundo^{[p 6]}	15–18 May 2023	1,200	?	24.8 9	36.3 13	19.1 7	2.9 0	11.2 4	4.0 0	–	11.5
40dB/Prisa^{[p 7]}^{[p 8]}	12–17 May 2023	800	?	25.1 9	33.2 12	21.9 8	3.1 0	11.2 4	2.8 0	–	8.1
Sigma Dos/Las Provincias^{[p 9]}	11–17 May 2023	750	?	24.4 8/9	36.1 12/13	19.5 7	3.2 0	10.7 4	4.4 0/1	–	11.7
GIPEyOP/UV^{[p 10]}	10–17 May 2023	?	?	21.3 7/9	31.8 11/13	24.3 7/10	2.2 0	12.2 3/5	5.0 0/2	–	7.5
DYM/Henneo^{[p 11]}	10–15 May 2023	769	?	23.6 8/9	35.2 12/13	21.6 8	–	11.1 3/4	4.7 0/1	–	11.6
SocioMétrica/El Español^{[p 12]}	8–14 May 2023	?	?	24.0 9	34.8 13	20.3 7	3.0 0	12.1 4	3.6 0	–	10.8
Data10/Okdiario^{[p 13]}	8–10 May 2023	1,500	?	24.6 9	33.9 13	20.4 7	3.3 0	12.6 4	2.8 0	–	9.3
GAD3/ABC^{[p 14]}	27 Apr–8 May 2023	601	?	23.4 8/9	38.3 14	18.7 7	–	10.0 3/4	–	–	14.9
SyM Consulting/EPDA^{[p 15]}	4–7 May 2023	1,136	63.8	21.5 8	38.7 14	20.2 8	0.9 0	9.4 3	2.6 0	–	17.2
SocioMétrica^{[p 16]}	6 May 2023	?	?	23.9 9	35.2 13	18.9 7	3.1 0	12.6 4	3.1 0	–	11.3
Sigma Dos/Antena 3^{[p 17]}	26 Apr 2023	?	?	24.6 9	35.2 12/13	? 7/8	3.9 0	11.9 4	1.7 0	–	10.6
CIS^{[p 18]}^{[p 19]}	10–26 Apr 2023	1,056	?	30.4 11/12	29.0 10	19.5 7	1.9 0	11.0 4/5	4.4 0/1	–	1.4
NC Report/La Razón^{[p 20]}	24 Apr 2023	?	66.2	25.3 9	36.0 13	19.1 7	–	11.3 4	–	–	10.7
PSPV^{[p 21]}	15 Apr 2023	800	?	22.6 8	33.4 13	23.5 9	3.2 0	9.4 3	3.3 0	–	9.9
GfK/Compromís^{[p 22]}	14 Apr 2023	?	?	26.1 9/10	32.0 11/12	21.4 7/8	5.6 0/2	10.4 3/4	1.4 0	–	5.9
GAD3/CS^{[p 23]}	30 Mar–4 Apr 2023	1,004	?	22.2 8	39.3 15	18.8 7	3.1 0	9.8 3	3.5 0	–	17.1
Sigma Dos/El Mundo^{[p 24]}	27 Mar–4 Apr 2023	?	?	27.0 9/10	34.4 12/13	19.4 7	2.9 0	11.6 4	1.6 0	–	7.4
SyM Consulting/EPDA^{[p 25]}	23–27 Mar 2023	735	?	21.1 7/8	39.2 14/15	18.6 7	0.7 0	11.6 4	2.1 0	2.4 0	18.1
KeyData/Público^{[p 26]}	16 Feb 2023	?	68.5	27.5 10	34.5 13	18.5 6	2.6 0	10.7 4	3.4 0	–	7.0
PSPV^{[p 27]}	8 Feb 2023	?	?	? 7/8	? 12	? 9/10	3.0 0	? 3/4	4.0 0	–	?
PP^{[p 27]}	8 Feb 2023	?	?	? 8/9	? 13	? 7/8	2.0 0	? 3/4	3.0 0	–	?
SyM Consulting/EPDA^{[p 28]}	2–6 Feb 2023	1,104	?	21.6 7/8	39.1 14/15	19.6 7	0.8 0	11.7 4	2.2 0	4.8 0	17.5
PSPV^{[p 29]}	12 Jan 2023	?	?	? 8/9	? 12/13	? 8/9	? 0	? 3/4	4.0 0	–	?
GfK/City Council^{[p 30]}^{[p 31]}	Nov–Dec 2022	2,354	?	17.7 6/7	29.0 12	25.3 10	3.9 0	10.0 3/4	5.3 0/2	–	3.7
SyM Consulting/EPDA^{[p 32]}	8–11 Dec 2022	830	?	21.6 8	37.9 14/15	19.1 7	0.7 0	9.5 3/4	3.3 0	4.6 0	16.3
GAD3/PP^{[p 33]}	7–11 Nov 2022	1,000	?	25.2 9	34.6 13	20.5 7	2.1 0	12.4 4	3.0 0	–	9.4
Sigma Dos/El Mundo^{[p 34]}^{[p 35]}	7–10 Nov 2022	800	?	27.8 10	30.7 12	22.8 8	2.9 0	8.2 3	3.9 0	–	2.9
SyM Consulting/EPDA^{[p 36]}	2–5 Nov 2022	1,010	?	21.7 8	37.1 14	20.3 7/8	0.6 0	10.2 3/4	3.2 0	3.9 0	15.4
PSPV^{[p 37]}^{[p 38]}	12 Oct 2022	2,754	?	22.0 8	32.4 11	22.5 8	2.4 0	14.3 5	5.0 1	–	9.9
SyM Consulting/EPDA^{[p 39]}	5–8 Oct 2022	905	64.4	23.0 8/9	38.4 14/15	19.1 7	0.8 0	8.9 3	3.6 0	3.2 0	15.4
SocioMétrica/El Español^{[p 40]}^{[p 41]}	3–7 Oct 2022	600	?	21.6 7/8	31.1 12/13	22.0 8	4.4 0	13.6 5	4.6 0	–	9.1
Demoscopia y Servicios/ESdiario^{[p 42]}	3–5 Oct 2022	?	?	26.9 9/10	29.3 11/12	20.8 7	2.8 0	13.9 5	3.3 0	–	2.4
PP^{[p 43]}	16 Jul 2022	?	?	17.3 6	32.0 11/12	23.1 8/9	2.9 0	16.9 6	5.7 1	–	8.9
SyM Consulting/EPDA^{[p 44]}	13–16 Jul 2022	1,042	63.8	26.2 10	31.3 11/12	19.1 7	0.7 0	12.5 4/5	3.9 0	3.5 0	5.1
EM-Analytics/Electomanía^{[p 45]}	3–22 May 2022	1,007	?	21.5 8	29.2 11	21.2 8	4.8 0	16.6 6	4.6 0	–	7.7
Sigma Dos/Las Provincias^{[p 46]}	11–18 May 2022	750	?	27.7 10	29.4 11	18.0 6/7	4.0 0	15.4 5/6	3.1 0	–	1.7
SyM Consulting/EPDA^{[p 47]}	27–29 Mar 2022	1,017	66.7	21.6 8	28.7 10/11	19.3 7	0.7 0	20.8 7/8	3.9 0	–	7.1
SyM Consulting/EPDA^{[p 48]}	22–25 Feb 2022	968	64.0	27.7 10	22.6 8/9	21.3 7/8	1.1 0	18.9 7	3.0 0	–	5.1
SyM Consulting/EPDA^{[p 49]}	7–10 Jan 2022	764	66.3	26.0 9/10	32.7 12	18.7 7	1.3 0	12.5 4/5	4.0 0	–	6.7
GAD3/Cs^{[p 50]}	15 Oct–4 Nov 2021	400	?	20.6 7/8	29.8 11	21.8 8	5.5 1/2	15.3 5	4.4 0	–	8.0
SyM Consulting/EPDA^{[p 51]}	20–23 Oct 2021	880	64.2	26.5 10	34.3 12/13	19.8 7	1.1 0	9.5 3/5	4.4 0	–	7.8
Demoscopia y Servicios/ESdiario^{[p 52]}^{[p 53]}	29 Sep–1 Oct 2021	?	68	26.0 10	28.5 10	20.3 7	3.0 0	16.3 6	3.3 0	–	2.5
GfK/Compromís^{[p 54]}	6–17 Sep 2021	900	?	26.6	27.1	23.4	9.4	9.9	1.7	–	0.5
SyM Consulting/EPDA^{[p 55]}	8–11 Sep 2021	818	?	26.5 9/10	35.6 13/14	19.1 7	1.4 0	9.1 3	4.0 0	–	9.1
Demoscopia y Servicios/ESdiario^{[p 56]}	21–25 Jun 2021	?	?	? 10	? 10	? 7	? 0	? 6	? 0	–	Tie
SyM Consulting/EPDA^{[p 57]}	2–3 Jun 2021	818	?	26.4 9/10	33.5 12/13	19.4 7	2.0 0	10.9 4	3.9 0	–	7.1
Sigma Dos/Las Provincias^{[p 58]}^{[p 59]}	14–17 May 2021	750	?	27.1 9/10	34.8 13/14	19.6 7	4.1 0	9.3 3	3.3 0	–	7.7
SyM Consulting/EPDA^{[p 60]}	5–10 May 2021	958	63.9	28.0 10	24.5 9	19.8 7	5.4 1/2	15.0 5/6	3.6 0	–	3.5
SyM Consulting/EPDA^{[p 61]}	8–11 Apr 2021	824	?	28.9 10/11	25.7 9	20.6 7/8	7.3 2	11.0 4	3.4 0	–	3.2
SyM Consulting/EPDA^{[p 62]}	4–6 Mar 2021	738	66.3	26.5 9/10	24.4 9	19.9 7	10.6 3/4	12.7 4	3.1 0	–	2.1
Demoscopia y Servicios/ESdiario^{[p 63]}^{[p 64]}	1–5 Mar 2021	1,800	67.0	27.3 10	21.2 7	21.0 7	8.2 3	17.4 6	2.7 0	–	6.1
SyM Consulting/EPDA^{[p 65]}	10–12 Feb 2021	748	66.1	25.8 9	21.8 7/8	18.7 6/7	11.1 4	16.4 6	3.6 0	–	4.0
SyM Consulting/EPDA^{[p 66]}	14–16 Jan 2021	605	?	24.6 9	22.9 8	21.6 7/8	11.8 4	13.2 4/5	3.2 0	–	1.7
Demoscopia y Servicios/ESdiario^{[p 67]}	1–7 Oct 2020	?	68.0	27.8 10	24.3 8	20.1 7	11.0 4	11.6 4	3.1 0	–	3.5
SyM Consulting/EPDA^{[p 68]}	5–6 Jun 2020	802	?	25.9 9	28.7 10	19.2 6/7	7.0 2/3	8.4 3	7.0 2	–	2.8
November 2019 general election	10 Nov 2019	N/a	75.1	9.0 (3)	24.4 (8)	24.8 (9)	8.4 (3)	16.8 (6)	13.7 (4)	–	0.4

2019 municipal election	26 May 2019	N/a	66.3	27.4 10	21.8 8	19.3 7	17.6 6	7.3 2	4.2 0	–	5.6

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Voting preferences

The table below lists raw, unweighted voting preferences.

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

Polling firm/Commissioner	Fieldwork date	Sample size							?	N	Lead
Polling firm/Commissioner	Fieldwork date	Sample size							?	N	Lead

2023 municipal election	28 May 2023	N/a	17.2	26.2	13.6	1.7	9.1	1.7	N/a	27.9	9.0

40dB/Prisa^{[p 8]}	12–17 May 2023	800	22.4	20.5	14.7	2.1	7.6	3.5	20.4	4.0	1.9
CIS^{[p 18]}	10–26 Apr 2023	1,056	23.1	21.7	14.4	0.8	8.2	2.7	23.7	2.0	1.4
PSPV^{[p 21]}	15 Apr 2023	800	16.5	26.5	22.5	1.8	7.7	2.7	20.8		4.0
GfK/City Council^{[p 69]}	Nov–Dec 2022	2,354	11.6	19.5	15.8	2.0	7.2	3.4	23.2	11.0	3.7
Sonmerca/City Council^{[p 70]}	Sep 2020	1,320	17.7	10.9	14.9	5.5	3.8	6.4	26.4	10.3	2.8
November 2019 general election^[a]	10 Nov 2019	N/a	6.7	18.2	18.5	6.2	12.5	10.3	N/a	24.9	0.3

2019 municipal election	26 May 2019	N/a	18.1	14.4	12.8	11.6	4.8	2.8	N/a	33.7	3.7

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Preferred Mayor

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

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

Polling firm/Commissioner	Fieldwork date	Sample size							Other/ None/ Not care	?	Lead

			Ribó Compromís	Catalá PP	Gómez PSPV	Giner CS	Badenas Vox	Lima UP
40dB/Prisa^{[p 8]}	12–17 May 2023	800	30.3	23.2	12.9	2.4	6.8	2.3	9.0	13.2	7.1
GfK/Compromís^{[p 54]}	6–17 Sep 2021	900	26.0	19.0	15.0	–	–	–	40.0		7.0

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Results

More information Parties and alliances, Popular vote ...

← Summary of the 28 May 2023 City Council of Valencia election results →
Parties and alliances		Popular vote			Seats

Parties and alliances		Votes	%	±pp	Total	+/−
	People's Party (PP)	151,737	36.62	+14.84	13	+5
	Commitment to Valencia: Agreement to Win (Acord per Guanyar)	99,382	23.98	−3.46	9	−1
	Socialist Party of the Valencian Country (PSPV–PSOE)	78,655	18.98	−0.32	7	±0
	Vox (Vox)	52,738	12.73	+5.48	4	+2

	United We Can–United Left (Podem–EUPV)	9,694	2.34	−1.83	0	±0
	Citizens–Party of the Citizenry (CS)	9,573	2.31	−15.30	0	−6
	Animalist Party with the Environment (PACMA)¹	3,669	0.89	+0.06	0	±0
	United Valencia (VLC)	1,756	0.42	New	0	±0
	Blank Seats to Leave Empty Seats (EB)	867	0.21	+0.18	0	±0
	For a Fairer World (PUM+J)	538	0.13	+0.08	0	±0
	Decide (Decidix)	499	0.12	New	0	±0
	Communist Party of the Peoples of Spain (PCPE)	487	0.12	+0.05	0	±0
	Republican Left of the Valencian Country–Municipal Agreement (ERPV–AM)	363	0.09	+0.02	0	±0
	Acting With You–Party for the Society (ACPS)	332	0.08	+0.04	0	±0
	Spanish Phalanx of the CNSO (FE de las JONS)	167	0.04	+0.01	0	±0
Blank ballots		3,915	0.94	+0.55

Total		414,372			33	±0

Valid votes		414,372	99.25	−0.45
Invalid votes		3,140	0.75	+0.45
Votes cast / turnout		417,512	72.08	+5.76
Abstentions		161,693	27.92	−5.76
Registered voters		579,205

Sources^[11]^[21]^[22]
Footnotes: ¹ Animalist Party with the Environment results are compared to Animalist Party Against Mistreatment of Animals totals in the 2019 election.

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Popular vote

PP			36.62%
ApG			23.98%
PSPV–PSOE			18.98%
Vox			12.73%
Podem–EUPV			2.34%
CS			2.31%
Others			2.09%
Blank ballots			0.94%

Seats

PP			39.39%
ApG			27.27%
PSPV–PSOE			21.21%
Vox			12.12%

Aftermath

Government formation

More information Ballot →, 15 June 2019 ...

Ballot →		15 June 2019
Investiture
Required majority →		17 out of 33
	María José Catalá (PP) • PP (13)	13 / 33	Y
	Joan Ribó (Compromís) • Compromís (9)	9 / 33	N
	Sandra Gómez (PSPV) • PSPV (7)	7 / 33	N
	Juan Manuel Badenas (Vox) • Vox (4)	4 / 33	N
	Abstentions/Blank ballots	0 / 33
	Absentees	0 / 33
Sources^[23]^[24]

2023 Valencia municipal election

Overview

Date

Electoral system

Outgoing council

Parties and candidates

Opinion polls

Graphical summary

Voting intention estimates

Voting preferences

Preferred Mayor

Results

Aftermath

Government formation

Notes

References

Bibliography

Related Articles

Timelines

Top Qs

Fact Checks