Local elections were held in Spain on 28 May 2023 to elect all 66,976 councillors in the 8,131 Spanish municipalities (including 50 seats in the assemblies of the autonomous cities of Ceuta and Melilla), all 1,191 provincial seats in 41 provinces (including 38 indirectly-elected provincial deputations and the three foral deputations in the Basque Country) and 233 seats in ten island councils (seven Canarian and four Balearic ones). They were held concurrently with regional elections in twelve autonomous communities.

The elections took place following a period of instability dominated by the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020 and its political and economical consequences, including the worst worldwide recession since the Great Depression resulting from the massive lockdowns enforced to reduce the spread of SARS-CoV-2, as well as the economic impact of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The People's Party (PP) emerged as the first political force and was able to flip the control of a large number of major cities, despite winning the popular vote to the ruling Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) by just three percentage points. This outcome prompted Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez to call a snap general election for July, which led to an insufficient PP victory and to Sánchez's re-election.

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 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, Ibiza and 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 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.. Subsequent by-elections were called on 3 October, for 26 November.

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..

Electoral system Voting for local assemblies and 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), 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 constituency.; ( by ). 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 <100 3 No island below 5,000inhabitants Fixed number:Ibiza: 13Menorca: 13Mallorca: 33Formentera: Same as homonymous city council 101–250 5 251–1,000 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 below 250 inhabitants were elected using open-list partial block voting, with voters in constituencies between 101 and 250 inhabitants choosing up to four candidates; and in those below 100, up to two..

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.

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..

Campaign Party slogans Party or alliance Original slogan English translation PSOE « Vota lo que piensas » "Vote for what you think" PP « Entre todos » "Between everyone" Cs « Libérate » "Free yourself" Unidas Podemos « Valentía para transformar » "Courage to transform" Vox « Vota seguro » "Vote safely"

Alleged vote-buying

During the month of May 2023, amidst the local elections campaign in Spain, numerous instances of vote-buying came to light in various municipalities across the country. These incidents implicated a wide range of political parties, including among others the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE), the People's Party (PP) and Coalition for Melilla (CpM). Despite the scandal starting in Melilla, it later expanded to other municipalities in the south of Spain.

Timetable The key dates are listed below (all times are CET. The Canary Islands use WET (UTC+0) instead):

3 April: The election decree is issued with the countersign of the Prime Minister, ratified by the King. 4 April: Publication of the election decree in the Official State Gazette (BOE) and beginning of a suspension period of events for the inauguration of public works, services or projects. 7 April: Initial constitution of provincial and zone electoral commissions. 14 April: Deadline for parties and federations intending to enter into a coalition to inform the relevant electoral commission. 24 April: Deadline for parties, federations, coalitions, and groupings of electors to present lists of candidates to the relevant electoral commission. 26 April: Submitted lists of candidates are provisionally published in the BOE. 29 April: Deadline for citizens entered in the Register of Absent Electors Residing Abroad (CERA) and for citizens temporarily absent from Spain to apply for voting. 30 April: Deadline for parties, federations, coalitions, and groupings of electors to rectify irregularities in their lists. 1 May: Official proclamation of valid submitted lists of candidates. 2 May: Proclaimed lists are published in the BOE. 12 May: Official start of electoral campaigning. 18 May: Deadline to apply for postal voting. 23 May: Official start of legal ban on electoral opinion polling publication, dissemination or reproduction and deadline for CERA citizens to vote by mail. 24 May: Deadline for postal and temporarily absent voters to issue their votes. 26 May: Last day of official electoral campaigning and deadline for CERA citizens to vote in a ballot box in the relevant consular office or division. 27 May: Official 24-hour ban on political campaigning prior to the general election (reflection day). 28 May: Polling day (polling stations open at 9 am and close at 8 pm or once voters present in a queue at/outside the polling station at 8 pm have cast their vote). Provisional counting of votes starts immediately.

Opinion polls

Results Municipal Overall