A municipal election was held in Zaragoza on 22 May 2011 to elect the 9th City Council of the municipality. All 31 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.
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 Zaragoza, the top-tier administrative and governing body was the City Council of Zaragoza..
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 27 May 2007, setting the date for election day on the fourth Sunday of May four years later, which was 22 May 2011.
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 29 March 2011 with the publication of the corresponding decree in the BOE, setting election day for 22 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 (amended for smaller municipalities in 2011):.
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 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 Zaragoza, as its population was between 300,001 and 1,000,000, at least 5,000 signatures were required.. 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..
Below is a list of the main parties and alliances which contested the election:
Candidacy Parties andalliances Leading candidate Ideology Previous result Vote % Seats PSOE Juan Alberto Belloch Social democracy 38.1% PP Eloy Suárez ConservatismChristian democracy 33.9% CHA Juan Martín Expósito Aragonese nationalismEco-socialism 9.6% PAR Rosa Santos RegionalismCentrism 8.4% IU José Miguel Alonso SocialismCommunism 5.3% UPyD Javier Puy Social liberalismRadical centrism colspan="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; 16 seats were required for an absolute majority in the City Council of Zaragoza.
Polling firm/Commissioner Fieldwork date Sample size Turnout Lead 2011 municipal election 22 May 2011 65.1 27.1 41.3 9.2 4.5 7.9 3.6 14.2 Ikerfel/Vocento 14 May 2011 700?????? –? Iacom/El Periódico 14 May 2011?? 32.6 38.2 9.9 8.1 5.8 – 5.6 TNS Demoscopia/Antena 3 10 May 2011?? 30.5 39.6 8.3 8.9 7.2 – 9.1 A+M/Heraldo de Aragón 25 Apr–4 May 2011 1,250? 35.4 39.0 8.8 5.2 7.1 – 3.6 A+M/Heraldo de Aragón 24 Apr 2011? 68.5 35.4 36.0 9.7 5.5 7.6 – 0.6 Sigma Dos/El Mundo 15–18 Apr 2011 400? 33.8 40.7 9.8 5.3 5.4 – 6.9 CIS 17 Mar–17 Apr 2011 546? 32.5 35.7 11.1 8.4 5.5 1.8 3.2 A+M/Heraldo de Aragón 20–28 Jan 2011 1,000? 37.7 37.6 10.5 5.2 7.0 – 0.1 A+M/Heraldo de Aragón 13 Oct 2010? 67.5 38.1 32.9 10.5 8.0 7.4 – 5.2 A+M/Heraldo de Aragón 5–19 Apr 2010 800 69.5 39.6 32.9 9.8 7.9 6.0 – 6.7 Noxa/PSOE 18–23 Feb 2010 1,000? 39.2 33.1 8.7 8.3 6.3 3.7 6.1 A+M/Heraldo de Aragón 16–27 Nov 2009 800? 37.5 35.5?? 5.0 – 2.0 2009 EP election 7 Jun 2009 46.2 42.5 40.7 3.0 – 4.2 4.3 1.8 A+M/Heraldo de Aragón 23 Apr 2009??????? – Tie 2008 general election 9 Mar 2008 76.5 46.0 36.8 6.0 3.8 3.2 1.5 9.2 2007 municipal election 27 May 2007 60.1 38.1 33.9 9.6 8.4 5.3 – 4.2
Voting preferences The table below lists raw, unweighted voting preferences.
Polling firm/Commissioner Fieldwork date Sample size Lead 2011 municipal election 22 May 2011 17.4 26.5 5.9 2.9 5.1 2.3 34.9 9.1 Iacom/El Periódico 14 May 2011? 20.0 23.3 5.9 4.9 3.6 – 39.0 – 3.3 CIS 17 Mar–17 Apr 2011 546 16.8 16.3 4.0 2.0 2.6 1.1 40.1 13.2 0.5 2009 EP election 7 Jun 2009 19.5 18.7 1.4 – 1.9 2.0 53.9 0.8 2008 general election 9 Mar 2008 35.0 28.1 4.6 2.9 2.4 1.1 23.5 6.9 2007 municipal election 27 May 2007 22.8 20.3 5.7 5.0 3.2 – 39.9 2.5
Preferred Mayor The table below lists opinion polling on leader preferences to become mayor of Zaragoza.
Polling firm/Commissioner Fieldwork date Sample size Other/None/Notcare Lead CIS 17 Mar–17 Apr 2011 546 23.6 14.5 1.5 0.9 1.5 1.1 6.4 50.5 9.1
Results + ← Summary of the 22 May 2011 City Council of Zaragoza election results → Parties and alliances Popular vote Seats Votes % ±pp Total +/− People's Party (PP) 131,350 41.26 +7.32 15 +3 Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) 86,395 27.14 −10.92 10 −3 Aragonese Union (CHA) 29,402 9.24 −0.37 3 ±0 United Left of Aragon (IU) 25,197 7.92 +2.61 3 +2 Aragonese Party (PAR) 14,455 4.54 −3.82 0 −2 Union, Progress and Democracy (UPyD) 11,401 3.58 New 0 ±0 Greens–Ecolo (V–Ecolo)1 1,577 0.50 −0.18 0 ±0 The Greens–Green Group (LV–GV) 1,505 0.47 New 0 ±0 Commitment with Aragon (CCA) 1,058 0.33 New 0 ±0 Anti-Bullfighting Party Against Mistreatment of Animals (PACMA) 1,051 0.33 +0.03 0 ±0 For a Fairer World (PUM+J) 587 0.18 +0.01 0 ±0 Aragonese Land (TA) 499 0.16 New 0 ±0 Federation of Independents of Aragon (FIA) 466 0.15 New 0 ±0 Aragon United Citizens Party (pCUA) 465 0.15 −0.24 0 ±0 Communist Party of the Peoples of Spain (PCPE) 384 0.12 New 0 ±0 Family and Life Party (PFyV) 301 0.09 −0.06 0 ±0 Humanist Party (PH) 271 0.09 +0.01 0 ±0 Spanish Alternative (AES) 235 0.07 New 0 ±0 Liberal Democratic Centre (CDL) 178 0.06 −0.11 0 ±0 The Independent Voice of Aragon (L'VIA) 158 0.05 New 0 ±0 Blank ballots 11,380 3.58 +0.81 Total 318,315 31 ±0 Valid votes 318,315 98.52 −0.93 Invalid votes 4,768 1.48 +0.93 Votes cast / turnout 323,083 65.13 +5.02 Abstentions 172,979 34.87 −5.02 Registered voters 496,062 Sources
Aftermath Government formation Investiture Ballot → 11 June 2011 Required majority → 16 out of 31 Abstentions/Blank ballots Absentees Sources
Notes
References Opinion poll sources
Other
Bibliography