Local elections were held in Spain on 28 May 1995 to elect all 65,869 councillors in the 8,067 Spanish municipalities (including 50 seats in the assemblies of the autonomous cities of Ceuta and Melilla), all 1,187 provincial seats in 41 provinces (including 38 indirectly-elected provincial deputations and the three foral deputations in the Basque Country) and 198 seats in ten island councils (seven Canarian and three Balearic ones). They were held concurrently with regional elections in thirteen autonomous communities.
Overview Local government
Under the 1978 Constitution, the governance of municipalities in Spain 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).; . The concejo abierto system (), under which voters directly elected the local mayor by plurality voting, was reserved for municipalities under 100 inhabitants and some minor local entities.; .
Provincial deputations were the governing bodies of provinces in Spain—except for single-province autonomous communities—having an administration role of municipal activities and composed of a provincial president, an administrative body, and a plenary.; . For insular provinces, such as the Balearic and Canary Islands, deputations were replaced by island councils in each of the islands or group of islands. For Gran Canaria, Tenerife, Fuerteventura, La Gomera, El Hierro, Lanzarote and La Palma, this figure was referred to in Spanish as cabildo insular, whereas for Mallorca, Menorca and Ibiza–Formentera, its name was consejo insular ().; . The three Basque provinces had foral deputations instead (called General Assemblies, or Juntas Generales).; ; .
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 26 May 1991, setting the date for election day on the fourth Sunday of May four years later, which was 28 May 1995.
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 4 April 1995 with the publication of the corresponding decree in the BOE, setting election day for 28 May.. Subsequent by-elections were called on 12 September, for 5 November.
Electoral system Voting for local assemblies and Canarian island councils was based on universal suffrage, comprising all Spanish nationals over 18 years of age, registered and residing in the municipality or council 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-nationals whose country of origin allowed reciprocal voting by virtue of a treaty or within the framework of Community Law.; ; .
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 constituency.. Each municipality or council was a multi-member constituency, with a number of seats based on the following scale:.
Population Councillors Municipalities Canary Islands Balearic Islands <250 5 No island below 5,000inhabitants Fixed number:Ibiza–Formentera: 13Menorca: 13Mallorca: 33 251–1,000 7 1,001–2,000 9 2,001–5,000 11 5,001–10,000 13 11 10,001–20,000 17 13 20,001–50,000 21 17 50,001–100,000 25 21 >100,001 +1 per each 100,000 inhabitants or fraction+1 if total is an even number
Councillors in municipalities between 100 and 250 inhabitants were elected using open-list partial block voting, with voters choosing up to four candidates..
Most provincial deputations were indirectly elected by applying the D'Hondt method and a three percent-threshold of valid votes to municipal results—excluding candidacies not electing any councillor—in each judicial district. Seats were allocated to provincial deputations based on the following scale (with each judicial district being assigned an initial minimum of one seat and a maximum of three-fifths of the total number of provincial seats, with the remaining ones distributed in proportion to population):.
Population Seats <500,000 25 500,001–1,000,000 27 1,000,001–3,500,000 31 >3,500,001 51
The General Assemblies of Álava, Biscay and Gipuzkoa were directly elected by voters under their own, specific electoral regulations..
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:.
At least one percent of the electors in municipalities with a population below 5,000 inhabitants, provided that the number of signers was more than double that of councillors at stake. At least 100 signatures in municipalities with a population between 5,001 and 10,000. At least 500 signatures in municipalities with a population between 10,001 and 50,000. At least 1,500 signatures in municipalities with a population between 50,001 and 150,000. At least 3,000 signatures in municipalities with a population between 150,001 and 300,000. At least 5,000 signatures in municipalities with a population between 300,001 and 1,000,000. At least 8,000 signatures in municipalities with a population over 1,000,001.
Opinion polls The table 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. 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.
Polling firm/Commissioner Fieldwork date Sample size Turnout Lead 1995 local elections 28 May 1995 69.9 30.8 35.3 11.7 4.5 Demoscopia/El País 10–15 May 1995 16,700? 28.0 36.9 13.3 8.9 1991 local elections 28 May 1995 62.8 38.3 25.7 8.0 12.6
Results Municipal Overall + ← Summary of the 28 May 1995 Spanish municipal election results → Parties and alliances Popular vote Councillors Votes % ±pp Total +/− People's Party (PP) 7,820,392 35.27 +9.56 24,772 +5,229 People's Party (PP) 7,743,656 34.93 +9.59 24,479 +5,181 Navarrese People's Union (UPN) 76,736 0.35 −0.01 293 +48 Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE)1 6,838,607 30.84 −7.88 21,189 −4,176 United Left (IU) 2,589,780 11.68 +3.71 3,493 +962 Convergence and Union (CiU) 975,037 4.40 −0.46 4,265 −95 Basque Nationalist Party (EAJ/PNV) 313,318 1.41 −0.18 1,015 +22 Andalusian Party (PA) 260,249 1.17 −0.65 345 −195 Canarian Coalition (CC) 247,219 1.12 −0.15 429 +65 Canarian Coalition (CC)2 211,882 0.96 +0.28 372 +126 Canarian Initiative (ICAN)3 21,140 0.10 −0.45 30 −83 Nationalist Canarian Centre (CCN) 10,915 0.05 New 19 +19 Independents of Gran Canaria (IGC) 3,282 0.01 −0.03 8 +3 Galician Nationalist Bloc (BNG) 208,098 0.94 +0.37 428 +187 Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC) 204,906 0.92 +0.43 525 +297 Popular Unity (HB) 184,742 0.83 −0.23 621 −80 Basque Solidarity (EA) 133,576 0.60 −0.10 406 +13 Valencian Union–Independents–Centrists (UV–FICVA–CCV) 129,759 0.59 −0.40 215 −120 Aragonese Party (PAR) 116,447 0.53 −0.15 1,050 −171 Andalusian Progress Party (PAP) 86,895 0.39 New 79 +79 Valencian People's Union–Nationalist Bloc (UPV–BN) 84,462 0.38 +0.09 168 +76 Democratic and Social Centre (CDS) 81,560 0.37 −3.51 261 −2,678 Platform of Independents of Spain (PIE) 79,338 0.36 New 206 +206 Union for the Progress of Cantabria (UPCA) 41,628 0.19 −0.19 170 −115 Nationalists of the Balearic Islands (PSM–ENE) 40,246 0.18 +0.04 97 +31 Socialist Party of Mallorca–Nationalists of Majorca (PSM–NM) 37,230 0.17 +0.06 91 +37 Socialist Party of Menorca–Nationalists of the Islands (PSM–NI)4 2,352 0.01 –0.01 6 –5 Nationalist and Ecologist Agreement (ENE) 664 0.00 –0.01 0 –1 Liberal Independent Group (GIL) 36,438 0.16 +0.05 43 +24 Leonese People's Union (UPL) 34,715 0.16 +0.11 138 +110 Regionalist Party of Cantabria (PRC) 33,221 0.15 +0.05 88 +19 Basque Citizen Initiative (ICV–Gorordo) 32,129 0.14 New 5 +5 Extremaduran Coalition (CEx)5 28,060 0.13 +0.05 139 +72 Aragonese Union (CHA) 27,648 0.12 +0.07 39 +23 Nationalist Canarian Platform (PCN) 26,956 0.12 +0.05 44 −10 Party of Gran Canaria (PGC) 14,018 0.06 New 2 +2 Lanzarote Independents Party (PIL) 10,493 0.05 −0.01 31 −14 Independents of Fuerteventura (IF) 2,445 0.01 ±0.00 11 +2 Convergence of Democrats of Navarre (CDN) 24,186 0.11 New 42 +42 The Greens–Green Group (LV–GV) 23,415 0.11 New 1 +1 Alavese Unity (UA) 21,562 0.10 −0.01 37 −2 Federation of Independents of Catalonia (FIC) 19,718 0.09 New 177 +177 Majorcan Union (UM)6 18,713 0.08 +0.03 44 +23 Portuese Independents (IP) 16,522 0.07 +0.04 16 +8 The Greens (LV) 13,490 0.06 −0.38 4 −1 Asturianist Party (PAS)7 13,414 0.06 ±0.00 6 ±0 Andalusian Federation of Independents (FADI) 12,964 0.06 New 58 +58 Riojan Party (PR) 11,842 0.05 +0.01 103 +21 Galician Nationalist Convergence (CNG) 11,551 0.05 −0.23 21 −116 The Alternative Greens (LVA)8 11,519 0.05 −0.03 0 ±0 Coalition for Gran Canaria (CGC) 10,970 0.05 New 6 +6 Independent Group of Ávila (AIAV) 10,547 0.05 New 115 +115 Independent Solution (SI) 10,310 0.05 −0.07 61 ±0 Regionalist Unity of Castile and León (URCL)9 10,004 0.05 +0.02 98 +62 Independent Herrenian Group (AHI) 1,724 0.01 ±0.00 8 ±0 Independent Sorian Alternative (ALSI) 1,715 0.01 New 2 +2 Others (lists at <0.05% not securing any provincial or island seat) 948,641 4.28 — 4,840 −1,003 Blank ballots 323,712 1.46 +0.33 Total 22,171,945 100.00 65,869 −439 Valid votes 22,171,945 99.32 +0.02 Invalid votes 152,907 0.68 −0.02 Votes cast / turnout 22,324,852 69.87 +7.09 Abstentions 9,628,960 30.13 −7.09 Registered voters 31,953,812 Sources
City control The following table lists party control in provincial capitals (highlighted in bold), as well as in municipalities above 75,000. Gains for a party are highlighted in that party's colour.