2015 Barcelona City Council election

City Council Election
2015 Barcelona City Council election
← 2011 24 May 2015 2019 →
All 41 seats in the City Council of Barcelona
21 seats needed for a majority
Opinion polls
Registered1,161,140 0.2%
Turnout703,590 (60.6%)
7.6 pp
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader Ada Colau Xavier Trias Carina Mejías
Party BComú–E CiU C's
Leader since 5 February 2015 25 April 2002 16 December 2014
Last election 5 seats, 10.4%[a] 14 seats, 28.7% 0 seats, 1.9%
Seats won 11 10 5
Seat change 6 4 5
Popular vote 176,612 159,393 77,272
Percentage 25.2% 22.8% 11.0%
Swing 14.8 pp 5.9 pp 9.1 pp
  Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party
 
Leader Alfred Bosch Jaume Collboni Alberto Fernández Díaz
Party ERC–MES–BcnCO–A–AM PSC–CP PP
Leader since 11 July 2014 5 May 2014 16 July 2002
Last election 2 seats, 5.6% 11 seats, 22.1% 9 seats, 17.2%
Seats won 5 4 3
Seat change 3 7 6
Popular vote 77,120 67,489 61,004
Percentage 11.0% 9.6% 8.7%
Swing 5.4 pp 12.5 pp 8.5 pp
Mayor before election

Xavier Trias
CiU

Elected Mayor

Ada Colau
BComú

The 2015 Barcelona City Council election, also the 2015 Barcelona municipal election, was held on Sunday, 24 May 2015, to elect the 10th 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.

The election was won by the Barcelona en Comú (BComú) citizen platform, supported by Podemos, Initiative for Catalonia Greens–United and Alternative Left (ICV–EUiA) and Constituent Process (Procés Constituent) and led by Ada Colau popular activist and former spokeswoman of the Platform for People Affected by Mortgages (PAH). Incumbent mayor Xavier Trias of the Convergence and Union (CiU) federation, who had campaigned for a second consecutive term in office, saw his support reduced from 14 to 10 out of 41 seats in the council. Citizens (C's) became the third largest political force in the city, whereas Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC) obtained its second best historical result. On the other hand, both the Socialists' Party of Catalonia (PSC) and the People's Party (PP) were severely mauled. The PSC, which had won every municipal election in Barcelona and had controlled the local government up until 2011, fell to fifth place and below 10% of the share, while the PP achieved its worst result since the People's Alliance (AP) result in the 1987 election. The Popular Unity Candidacy (CUP) also entered the City Council for the first time in history, winning 3 seats and 7.4% of the votes.

Colau went on to become the first female mayor of Barcelona in history with the support of the BComú, ERC, the PSC and one of the CUP councillors.[1]

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.[2] Elections to the local councils in Spain were fixed for the fourth Sunday of May every four years.[3] Voting for the local assembly was on the basis of universal suffrage, which comprised all nationals over 18 years of age, registered and residing 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.[2][3] Councillors were allocated to municipal councils based on the following scale:

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

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.[2]

Parties and candidates

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 sought election, disallowing electors from signing for more than one list of candidates. For the case of Barcelona, as its population was over 1,000,001, at least 8,000 signatures were required.[3]

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

Candidacy Parties and
alliances 		Leading candidate Ideology Previous result Gov. Ref.
Votes (%) Seats
CiU Xavier Trias Catalan nationalism
Centrism 		28.73% 14 checkY
PSC–CP
List
 Jaume Collboni Social democracy 22.14% 11 ☒N
PP
List
 Alberto Fernández Díaz Conservatism
Christian democracy 		17.24% 9 ☒N
BComú–E
List
 Ada Colau Left-wing populism
Participatory democracy 		10.39%[a] 5 ☒N
ERC–MES–
BcnCO–A–AM
List
 Alfred Bosch Catalan independence
Left-wing nationalism
Social democracy 		5.59% 2 ☒N
CUP–
Capgirem–PA
List
 María José Lecha Catalan independence
Anti-capitalism
Socialism 		1.95% 0 ☒N
C's
List
  • Citizens–Party of the Citizenry (C's)
Carina Mejías Liberalism 1.94% 0 ☒N

Opinion polls

The table below lists voting intention estimates 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. 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   Exit poll

Polling firm/Commissioner Fieldwork date Sample size Turnout CiU PSC PP ERC CUP C's Podemos BComú Lead
2015 municipal election 24 May 2015 — 60.6 22.8
10 		9.6
4 		8.7
3 		[b] 11.0
5 		7.4
3 		11.0
5 		[b] 25.2
11 		2.4
TNS Demoscopia/RTVE–FORTA[p 1][4] 24 May 2015 ? ? 21.3
9/11 		11.0
4/5 		10.1
4/5 		[b] 9.6
3/4 		8.8
3/4 		10.2
4/5 		[b] 23.6
10/12 		2.3
GESOP/El Periòdic[p 2] 21–23 May 2015 1,100 ? 24.4
10/11 		12.3
5 		10.4
4/5 		[b] 9.0
4 		6.2
2/3 		9.9
4 		[b] 24.0
10/11 		0.4
GESOP/El Periòdic[p 3] 20–22 May 2015 1,000 ? 24.6
10/11 		11.9
5 		11.5
5 		[b] 9.1
4 		6.2
2/3 		8.6
3/4 		[b] 23.5
10/11 		1.1
GAD3/Antena 3[p 4] 11–22 May 2015 ? ? ?
11/12 		?
5/6 		?
4/5 		[b] ?
3/4 		?
2 		?
3/4 		[b] ?
10/11 		?
GESOP/El Periòdic[p 5] 19–21 May 2015 800 ? 24.5
10/11 		11.9
5 		11.5
5 		[b] 9.5
4 		6.2
2/3 		9.5
4 		[b] 22.0
9/10 		2.5
GESOP/El Periòdic[p 6] 19–20 May 2015 700 ? 24.5
11 		11.2
5 		11.5
5 		[b] 10.0
4/5 		5.6
2 		10.3
4/5 		[b] 21.4
9/10 		3.1
GESOP/El Periòdic[p 7] 18–19 May 2015 600 ? 23.7
11 		11.7
5 		11.9
5 		[b] 10.3
4/5 		5.6
2 		10.9
4/5 		[b] 20.5
9/10 		3.2
GESOP/El Periòdic[p 8] 17–18 May 2015 400 ? 23.0
10/11 		11.7
5/6 		11.9
5/6 		[b] 10.5
4/5 		5.0
0/2 		11.5
5/6 		[b] 21.0
9/10 		2.0
Metroscopia/El País[p 9][p 10][p 11] 8–13 May 2015 1,000 65 22.0
10 		8.2
3 		5.1
2 		[b] 12.0
5 		8.3
3 		13.9
6 		[b] 27.0
12 		5.0
MyWord/Cadena SER[p 12][p 13] 6–13 May 2015 800 ? 22.3
10/11 		11.0
5 		8.4
4 		[b] 10.7
4/5 		7.0
3 		13.3
6 		[b] 20.3
9/10 		2.0
JM&A/Público[p 14] 12 May 2015 ? ? ?
10 		?
5 		?
4 		[b] ?
5 		?
2 		?
7 		[b] ?
8 		?
Encuestamos[p 15] 1–12 May 2015 ? ? 21.3
9/10 		12.8
5/6 		9.9
3/4 		[b] 12.0
4/5 		– 14.7
6/7 		[b] 24.1
10/11 		2.7
Sigma Dos/El Mundo[p 16][p 17] 8–11 May 2015 800 ? 22.7
10/11 		13.0
6 		10.6
4/5 		[b] 9.8
4 		5.1
0/2 		13.6
6 		[b] 20.6
9 		2.1
GESOP/El Periódico[p 18][p 19] 7–8 May 2015 800 ? 22.6
10/11 		14.6
6/7 		12.5
5/6 		[b] 10.2
4/5 		5.0
0/2 		12.1
5/6 		[b] 18.9
8/9 		3.7
GAD3/ABC[p 20] 20 Apr–4 May 2015 508 ? 23.9
11/12 		11.1
5/6 		10.2
4/5 		[b] 11.5
5/6 		4.3
0 		15.3
6/7 		[b] 17.5
8/9 		6.4
JM&A/Público[p 21][p 22] 3 May 2015 ? ? 21.7
10 		11.5
5 		9.8
4 		[b] 10.2
4 		5.4
2 		13.6
6 		[b] 21.1
10 		0.6
Feedback/La Vanguardia[p 23] 24–28 Apr 2015 700 ? 24.2
10/11 		13.5
5/6 		11.1
4/5 		[b] 11.4
5 		5.4
2 		14.2
6 		[b] 17.1
7 		7.1
CIS[p 24][p 25] 23 Mar–19 Apr 2015 993 ? 18.5
8 		11.6
5 		9.1
4 		[b] 10.1
4 		7.1
3 		13.8
6 		[b] 25.9
11 		7.4
Sigma Dos/El Mundo[p 26][p 27] 24–25 Mar 2015 800 ? 21.4
9/10 		13.2
5/6 		10.3
4 		[b] 12.5
5/6 		2.7
0 		14.6
6/7 		[b] 22.3
10 		0.9
M2015[p 28] 6 Mar 2015 530 ? 20.5
9 		13.4
6 		13.2
6 		[b] 16.1
7 		5.8
2 		7.8
3 		[b] 18.1
8 		2.4
8TV[p 21][p 29] 21 Feb 2015 ? ? 23.2
11 		19.0
9 		10.6
5 		[b] 8.4
4 		2.1
0 		6.3
3 		[b] 19.0
9 		4.2
Feedback/La Vanguardia[p 30] 16–19 Feb 2015 700 55.1 25.3
11/12 		10.7
5 		13.7
6 		[b] 10.3
4/5 		4.2
0/2 		8.1
3 		[b] 21.4
10 		3.9
Llorente & Cuenca[p 31] 31 Oct 2014 ? ? ?
10/12 		?
8/10 		?
6/7 		[b] ?
4/5 		?
1/2 		– [b] ?
3/5 		?
GESOP/El Periódico[p 32][p 33] 15–18 Jul 2014 800 ? 22.3
10/11 		13.0
6 		14.0
6/7 		7.9
3/4 		14.2
7/8 		?
0 		6.3
2/3 		?
0 		7.6
3/4 		8.1
2014 EP election[5] 25 May 2014 — 51.0 20.9
(10) 		12.2
(6) 		12.0
(6) 		12.6
(6) 		21.8
(10) 		– 7.0
(3) 		4.7
(0) 		– 0.9
Feedback/La Vanguardia[p 34] 14–17 Oct 2013 800 56.7 24.9
11 		12.9
6 		14.7
6 		13.3
6 		14.8
6 		5.8
2 		8.5
4 		– – 10.1
GESOP/El Periódico[p 35] 13–15 May 2013 800 ? 24.1
11/12 		14.2
6/7 		12.0
5/6 		14.2
6/7 		10.2
4/5 		9.0
4 		9.2
4 		– – 9.9
2012 regional election[6] 25 Nov 2012 — 70.9 29.4
(14) 		12.2
(5) 		14.9
(7) 		12.0
(5) 		13.1
(6) 		4.0
(0) 		8.2
(4) 		– – 14.5
GESOP/El Periódico[p 36] 4–7 Jun 2012 800 ? 27.5
14 		20.0
10 		13.3
7 		12.2
6 		8.0
4 		– – – – 7.5
2011 general election[7] 20 Nov 2011 — 68.1 27.7
(12) 		25.7
(12) 		21.3
(10) 		10.0
(4) 		7.2
(3) 		– – – – 2.0
2011 municipal election 22 May 2011 — 53.0 28.7
14 		22.1
11 		17.2
9 		10.4
5 		5.6
2 		2.0
0 		1.9
0 		– – 6.6

Results

← Summary of the 24 May 2015 City Council of Barcelona election results →
Parties and alliances Popular vote Seats
Votes % ±pp Total +/−
Barcelona in Common (Let's Win Barcelona)–Agreement (BComú–E)1 176,612 25.21 +14.82 11 +6
Convergence and Union (CiU) 159,393 22.75 –5.98 10 –4
Citizens–Party of the Citizenry (C's) 77,272 11.03 +9.09 5 +5
ERC–MES–Barcelona Open City–Advance–AM (ERC–MES–BcnCO–A–AM) 77,120 11.01 +5.42 5 +3
Socialists' Party of Catalonia–Progress Candidacy (PSC–CP) 67,489 9.63 –12.51 4 –7
People's Party (PP) 61,004 8.71 –8.53 3 –6
Popular Unity Candidacy–Let's Reverse Barcelona (CUP–Capgirem–PA) 51,945 7.42 +5.47 3 +3
Animalist Party Against Mistreatment of Animals (PACMA) 5,720 0.82 +0.11 0 ±0
The Greens–The Ecologist Alternative (EV–AE) 5,684 0.81 New 0 ±0
Better Barcelona (RI.cat–SI)2 2,626 0.37 –0.76 0 ±0
Blank Seats (EB) 1,957 0.28 –1.39 0 ±0
Platform for Catalonia (PxC) 1,617 0.23 –0.34 0 ±0
Vox–Family and Life Party (Vox–PFiV)3 1,520 0.22 +0.13 0 ±0
United Free Citizens (CILUS) 989 0.14 New 0 ±0
Union, Progress and Democracy (UPyD) 811 0.12 –0.12 0 ±0
Communist Party of the Catalan People (PCPC) 656 0.09 –0.07 0 ±0
Spanish Phalanx of the CNSO (FE–JONS) 455 0.07 +0.01 0 ±0
Humanist Party (PH) 439 0.06 –0.04 0 ±0
United for Declaring Catalan Independence (UPDIC) 286 0.04 New 0 ±0
Libertarian Party (P–LIB) 273 0.04 New 0 ±0
Internationalist Solidarity and Self-Management (SAIn) 166 0.02 –0.02 0 ±0
The National Coalition (LCN) 99 0.01 New 0 ±0
Blank ballots 6,363 0.91 –3.56
Total 700,496 41 ±0
Valid votes 700,496 99.56 +1.26
Invalid votes 3,094 0.44 –1.26
Votes cast / turnout 703,590 60.59 +7.60
Abstentions 457,550 39.41 –7.60
Registered voters 1,161,140
Sources[8][9][10][11]
Footnotes:
Popular vote
BComú–E
 
 25.21%
CiU
 
 22.75%
C's
 
 11.03%
ERC–BcnCO–AM
 
 11.01%
PSC–CP
 
 9.63%
PP
 
 8.71%
CUP–Capgirem
 
 7.42%
Others
 
 3.33%
Blank ballots
 
 0.91%
Seats
BComú–Entesa
 
 26.83%
CiU
 
 24.39%
C's
 
 12.20%
ERC–BcnCO–AM
 
 12.20%
PSC–CP
 
 9.76%
PP
 
 7.32%
CUP–Capgirem
 
 7.32%

Notes

  1. ^ a b Results for ICV–EUiA–E in the 2011 election.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am an ao ap aq ar as at au av Within BComú.

References

Opinion poll sources
  1. ^ "BCN en Comú ganaría en Barcelona según el sondeo a pie de urna". Kantar (in Spanish). 24 May 2015.
  2. ^ "Trias y Colau llegan empatados a la meta final". El Periòdic d'Andorra (in Spanish). 23 May 2015.
  3. ^ "Nuevo empate técnico entre Trias y Colau". El Periòdic d'Andorra (in Spanish). 23 May 2015.
  4. ^ "Encuestas y resultados - elecciones autonómicas y municipales del 24 de mayo de 2015". GAD3 (in Spanish). 28 May 2015.
  5. ^ "Colau recorta distancias frente a Trias a dos días del 24-M". El Periòdic d'Andorra (in Spanish). 22 May 2015.
  6. ^ "Trias consolida su ligera ventaja sobre Colau". El Periòdic d'Andorra (in Spanish). 21 May 2015.
  7. ^ "Trias mejora ligeramente sus perspectivas cara al 24-M". El Periòdic d'Andorra (in Spanish). 20 May 2015.
  8. ^ "Empate técnico entre Trias y Colau". El Periòdic d'Andorra (in Spanish). 19 May 2015.
  9. ^ "Colau desbanca a Trias en Barcelona, donde entran hasta siete partidos". El País (in Spanish). 16 May 2015.
  10. ^ "Enquesta de les eleccions municipals a Barcelona". El País (in Catalan). 16 May 2015.
  11. ^ "Sondeo preelectoral en el municipio de Barcelona". Metroscopia (in Spanish). 18 May 2015.
  12. ^ "Trias ganaría a Colau por poco". Cadena SER (in Spanish). 18 May 2015.
  13. ^ "El ObSERvatorio de la Cadena SER. Estudio preelectoral de la ciudad de Barcelona (18/5/2015)" (PDF). MyWord (in Spanish). 18 May 2015.
  14. ^ "El PP depende de C's para gobernar en Madrid, Valencia, Sevilla y Málaga". Público (in Spanish). 15 May 2015.
  15. ^ "Ada Colau podría ser la primera alcaldesa de Barcelona". El Mundo (in Spanish). 14 May 2015. Archived from the original on 2015-05-20.
  16. ^ "Trias logra remontar a Colau". El Mundo (in Spanish). 16 May 2015.
  17. ^ "Intención de voto en el Ayto. de Barcelona. Gráfico". El Mundo (in Spanish). 15 May 2015.
  18. ^ "Trias resiste frente a Colau". El Periódico de Catalunya (in Spanish). 11 May 2015.
  19. ^ "Trias resiste frente a Colau". El Periódico de Catalunya (in Spanish). 11 May 2015.
  20. ^ "El secesionismo no suma mayoría en Barcelona, pero CiU vuelve a ganar". ABC (in Spanish). 11 May 2015.
  21. ^ a b "Ada Colau empata con Trias, Barberá se estrella en Valencia y Podemos tiene la llave en Sevilla". Público (in Spanish). 3 May 2015.
  22. ^ "Tracking de sondeos en las capitales: la derecha sólo puede esperar que Ciudadanos salve al PP". Público (in Spanish). 3 May 2015.
  23. ^ "Trias supera a Colau y emerge Ciutadans como tercera fuerza". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). 4 May 2015.
  24. ^ "Preelectoral elecciones municipales 2015. Barcelona (Estudio nº 3060. Marzo-Abril 2015)" (PDF). CIS (in Spanish). 7 May 2015.
  25. ^ "El PP se echa a la calle para recuperar a las clases medias". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). 8 May 2015.
  26. ^ "Colau ganaría en una Barcelona ingobernable". El Mundo (in Spanish). 7 April 2015.
  27. ^ "Encuesta electoral: Ayuntamiento de Barcelona. Gráfico". El Mundo (in Spanish). 7 April 2015.
  28. ^ "Sondeig de les municipals a Barcelona". Municipals2015 (in Spanish). 6 March 2015.
  29. ^ "BARCELONA, Febrero 2015. Sondeo difundido por 8TV". Público (in Spanish). 21 February 2015.
  30. ^ "Trias gana y Colau irrumpe con fuerza". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). 22 February 2015.
  31. ^ "El reparto del poder territorial en España en 2015" (PDF). desarrollando-ideas.com (in Spanish). 31 October 2014.
  32. ^ "El seísmo en la izquierda y la caída de CiU sacuden el mapa de BCN". El Periódico de Catalunya (in Spanish). 25 July 2014.
  33. ^ "Estimación de concejales" (PDF). El Periódico de Catalunya (in Spanish). 25 July 2014.
  34. ^ "Fragmentación total del voto en Barcelona". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). 20 October 2013.
  35. ^ "Trias paga el flirteo con el PP pero sigue sin oposición". El Periódico de Catalunya (in Spanish). 21 May 2013.
  36. ^ "Trias resiste el desgaste de la crisis y el PSC no remonta en la oposición". El Periódico de Catalunya (in Spanish). 20 June 2012.
Other
  1. ^ "Ada Colau, Mayor of Barcelona". Barcelona Digital City. Retrieved 2018-12-16.[permanent dead link]
  2. ^ 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.
  3. ^ 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.
  4. ^ "Colau i Trias, frec a frec, segons el sondeig de TV3". CCMA (in Catalan). 24 May 2015.
  5. ^ "Electoral Results Consultation. European Parliament. May 2014. Barcelona Municipality". Ministry of the Interior (in Spanish). Retrieved 12 November 2017.
  6. ^ "Electoral results. Parliament of Catalonia election 2012. Barcelona (Municipality)". Government of Catalonia (in Catalan). Retrieved 13 July 2020.
  7. ^ "Electoral Results Consultation. Congress. November 2011. Barcelona Municipality". Ministry of the Interior (in Spanish). Retrieved 12 November 2017.
  8. ^ "Election Results. Municipal Elections 2015. Barcelona". Government of Catalonia (in Catalan). Retrieved 12 November 2017.
  9. ^ "Local election results, 24 May 2015, in Álava, Asturias, Ávila, Badajoz, Barcelona and Biscay provinces" (PDF). Central Electoral Commission (in Spanish). Retrieved 11 February 2018.
  10. ^ "Electoral Results Consultation. Municipal. May 2015. Barcelona Municipality". Ministry of the Interior (in Spanish). Retrieved 12 November 2017.
  11. ^ "Eleccions municipals a Barcelona (1979 - 2015)". Historia Electoral.com (in Catalan). Retrieved 30 September 2017.