A municipal election was held in Madrid on 27 May 2007 to elect the 8th City Council of the municipality. All 57 seats in the City Council were up for election. It was held concurrently with regional elections in thirteen autonomous communities and local elections all across Spain.

Alberto Ruiz-Gallardón's People's Party (PP) went on to win the largest victory achieved by a candidate in a municipal election in Madrid to date, with over 55% of the votes and nearly 60% of the seats. The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) plummeted barely above 1995 levels, while United Left (IU) recovered from its negative result in 2003 and gained support for the first time since 1995.

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 (), local corporations with independent legal personality composed of a mayor, a government council and an elected legislative assembly.; . 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).; . In the case of Madrid, the top-tier administrative and governing body was the City Council of Madrid..

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).. The previous local elections were held on 25 May 2003, setting the date for election day on the fourth Sunday of May four years later, which was 27 May 2007.

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..

Elections to the assemblies of local entities were officially called on 3 April 2007 with the publication of the corresponding decree in the BOE, setting election day for 27 May..

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, nor were legally incapacitated), as well as resident non-national European citizens, and those whose country of origin allowed reciprocal voting by virtue of a treaty.; ; .

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.. Each municipality was a multi-member constituency, with a number of seats 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 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..

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.. Amendments earlier in 2007 required a balanced composition of men and women in the electoral lists, so that candidates of either sex made up at least 40 percent of the total composition..

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

Candidacy Parties andalliances Leading candidate Ideology Previous result Vote % Seats PP Alberto Ruiz-Gallardón ConservatismChristian democracy 51.3% PSOE Miguel Sebastián Social democracy 36.7% IUCM Ángel Pérez SocialismCommunism 7.2%

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.

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 (28 in the 2003 election).

Polling firm/Commissioner Fieldwork date Sample size Turnout Lead 2007 municipal election 27 May 2007 65.9 55.6 30.9 8.7 24.7 Ipsos/RTVE–FORTA 27 May 2007?? 52.9 33.1 8.8 19.8 Sigma Dos/El Mundo 18 May 2007 400? 53.5 32.8 9.5 20.7 Metroscopia/ABC 14–16 May 2007? 65–70 54.5 34.5 6.0 20.0 Opina/El País 14 May 2007?? 53.0 37.0 6.5 16.0 TNS Demoscopia/Antena 3 9 May 2007?????? Sigma Dos/El Mundo 2–9 May 2007 500? 52.5 36.6 5.9 15.9 Opina/Cadena SER 6 May 2007 600? 56.3 35.4 6.4 20.9 CIS 2–4 May 2007 1,000? 52.7 34.5 7.1 18.2 Opina/El País 21–22 Mar 2007 700? 53.0 38.0 5.5 15.0 PSOE 1 Mar 2007? 70???? Metroscopia/CEIM 12 Feb–1 Mar 2007 975? 53.9 35.0 7.4 18.9 Sigma Dos/PP 14–25 Feb 2007 1,200? 52.5 36.1 6.8 16.4 Sigma Dos/El Mundo 16–21 Nov 2006 400? 57.0 32.9 5.5 24.1 Iberconsulta/La Razón 17 Sep 2006?? 53.3 34.2? 19.1 Opina/El País 26 Apr 2006 542? 51.0 38.0 8.0 13.0 Synovate/PSOE 15 May 2005 1,012????? 2004 EP election 13 Jun 2004 53.6 52.5 40.0 5.1 12.5 2004 general election 14 Mar 2004 80.8 47.6 41.8 6.3 5.8 October 2003 regional election 26 Oct 2003 66.2 51.2 36.6 8.4 14.6 2003 municipal election 25 May 2003 68.9 51.3 36.7 7.2 14.6

Voting preferences The table below lists raw, unweighted voting preferences.

Polling firm/Commissioner Fieldwork date Sample size Lead 2007 municipal election 27 May 2007 36.5 20.3 5.7 34.1 16.2 CIS 2–4 May 2007 1,000 42.1 23.1 4.8 18.5 4.1 19.0 2004 EP election 13 Jun 2004 28.1 21.4 2.7 46.4 6.7 2004 general election 14 Mar 2004 38.3 33.6 5.1 19.2 4.7 October 2003 regional election 26 Oct 2003 33.7 24.1 5.5 33.8 9.6 2003 municipal election 25 May 2003 35.2 25.2 5.0 31.1 10.0

Victory preferences The table below lists opinion polling on the victory preferences for each party in the event of a municipal election taking place.

Polling firm/Commissioner Fieldwork date Sample size Other/None Lead Opina/Cadena SER 6 May 2007 600 47.7 30.0 5.5 1.5 11.9 17.7 CIS 2–4 May 2007 1,000 46.8 27.7 4.6 8.1 12.8 19.1

Victory likelihood The table below lists opinion polling on the perceived likelihood of victory for each party in the event of a municipal election taking place.

Polling firm/Commissioner Fieldwork date Sample size Other/None Lead Opina/Cadena SER 6 May 2007 600 73.3 7.0 0.2 – 19.5 66.3 CIS 2–4 May 2007 1,000 68.7 11.3 – 0.8 19.2 57.4

Preferred Mayor The table below lists opinion polling on leader preferences to become mayor of Madrid.

All candidates

Polling firm/Commissioner Fieldwork date Sample size Other/None/Notcare Lead Opina/El País 14 May 2007? 50.0 – 27.0 – – 23.0 23.0 Opina/Cadena SER 6 May 2007 600 50.2 – 28.2 – 5.8 6.0 9.9 22.0 CIS 2–4 May 2007 1,000 49.9 – 17.7 – 2.6 17.2 12.6 32.2 Opina/El País 26 Apr 2006 542 43.2 28.2 – 6.8 – 8.9 12.9 15.0

Gallardón vs. Sebastián

Polling firm/Commissioner Fieldwork date Sample size Other/None/Notcare Lead Opina/El País 21–22 Mar 2007 700 53.0 32.1 4.9 10.0 20.9

Gallardón vs. Bono

Polling firm/Commissioner Fieldwork date Sample size Other/None/Notcare Lead PSOE Sep 2006? 37.0 43.0 20.0 6.0

Predicted Mayor The table below lists opinion polling on the perceived likelihood for each leader to become mayor.

Polling firm/Commissioner Fieldwork date Sample size Other/None/Notcare Lead Opina/Cadena SER 6 May 2007 600 82.0 – 7.2 – 0.2 0.2 10.5 74.8 Opina/El País 21–22 Mar 2007 700 78.4 – 11.9 – – 0.4 9.2 66.5 Opina/El País 26 Apr 2006 542 60.7 17.5 – 0.2 – 1.5 20.1 43.2

Results + ← Summary of the 27 May 2007 City Council of Madrid election results → Parties and alliances Popular vote Seats Votes % ±pp Total +/− People's Party (PP) 877,589 55.65 +4.35 34 +4 Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) 487,887 30.94 −5.74 18 −3 United Left of the Community of Madrid (IUCM) 136,881 8.68 +1.46 5 +1 The Greens (LV, LVM, LVCM, LV–GV)1 14,011 0.89 −1.24 0 ±0 Spanish Alternative (AES) 6,140 0.39 New 0 ±0 Anti-Bullfighting Party Against Mistreatment of Animals (PACMA) 3,167 0.20 New 0 ±0 For a Fairer World (PUM+J) 2,501 0.16 New 0 ±0 Spanish Phalanx of the CNSO (FE de las JONS) 1,920 0.12 New 0 ±0 Democratic and Social Centre (CDS) 1,681 0.11 −0.02 0 ±0 National Democracy (DN) 1,571 0.10 New 0 ±0 Family and Life Party (PFyV) 1,390 0.09 −0.09 0 ±0 The Phalanx (FE) 1,353 0.09 −0.04 0 ±0 Republican Left (IR) 1,272 0.08 −0.13 0 ±0 Communist Party of the Peoples of Spain (PCPE) 1,253 0.08 New 0 ±0 Madrid First (PM) 1,163 0.07 +0.02 0 ±0 Humanist Party (PH) 950 0.06 ±0.00 0 ±0 Liberal Democratic Centre (CDL) 834 0.05 New 0 ±0 Commoners' Land (TC) 821 0.05 ±0.00 0 ±0 Democratic Innovation (ID) 664 0.04 New 0 ±0 Authentic Phalanx (FA) 530 0.03 −0.01 0 ±0 Catholic Tercio of Political Action (TCAP) 461 0.03 New 0 ±0 Liberal Centrist Union (UCL) 318 0.02 New 0 ±0 Immigrants with Rights, Equality and Obligations (INDIO) 308 0.02 −0.01 0 ±0 Union for Leganés (ULEG) 188 0.01 New 0 ±0 European Ibero-American Alliance Party (PAIE) 151 0.01 New 0 ±0 Blank ballots 32,066 2.03 +0.43 Total 1,577,070 57 +2 Valid votes 1,577,070 99.47 −0.09 Invalid votes 8,371 0.53 +0.09 Votes cast / turnout 1,585,441 65.93 −2.97 Abstentions 819,256 34.07 +2.97 Registered voters 2,404,697 Sources

Aftermath Government formation Investiture Ballot → 16 June 2007 Required majority → 29 out of 57 Abstentions/Blank ballots Absentees Sources

Notes

References Opinion poll sources

Other

Bibliography