1983 Valencia municipal election
8 May 1983
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All 33 seats in the City Council of Valencia 17 seats needed for a majority | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Opinion polls | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Registered | 553,067 0.2% | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Turnout | 386,699 (69.9%) 7.6 pp | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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A municipal election was held in Valencia on Sunday, 8 May 1983, to elect the 2nd City Council of the municipality. All 33 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 (Spanish: ayuntamientos), local corporations with independent legal personality composed of a mayor, a government council and an elected legislative assembly.[1][2] In the case of Valencia, the top-tier administrative and governing body was the City Council of Valencia.
Electoral system
Voting for local assemblies was on the basis of universal suffrage, which comprised all nationals over 18 years of age, registered and residing in the municipality of Valencia and in full enjoyment of their civil and political rights.[3]
Local councillors were elected using the D'Hondt method and a closed list proportional voting system, with an electoral threshold of five percent of valid votes (which included blank ballots) being applied in each municipality. Each municipality constituted a multi-member constituency, entitled a number of seats based on the following scale:[4]
| 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 vacated seats; instead, any vacancies that occurred after the proclamation of candidates and into the legislative term were to be covered by the successive candidates in the list and, when required, by the designated substitutes.[4]
The mayor was indirectly elected by the local assembly. A legal clause required candidates to earn the vote of an absolute majority of councillors, or else the candidate of the most-voted party was to be automatically appointed to the post. In the event of a tie, the appointee was to be determined by lot.[5]
Election date
The term of city councils in Spain expired four years after the date of their previous election. The election decree was required to be issued no later than the day after the date of expiry of the city councils, with election day taking place between the fifty-fifth and the seventieth day from publication.[6][7]
Elections to local councils were officially called on 10 March 1983 with the publication of the corresponding decree in the BOE, setting election day for 8 May.[8]
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 also displayed below (or in place of) the voting estimates in a smaller font; 17 seats were required for an absolute majority in the City Council of Valencia.
| Polling firm/Commissioner | Fieldwork date | Sample size | Turnout | URV | Lead | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1983 municipal election | 8 May 1983 | N/a | 69.9 | – | 48.8 18 |
7.6 2 |
1.2 0 |
37.1 13 |
11.7 |
| Sofemasa/El País[p 1][p 2] | 23–26 Apr 1983 | ? | ? | – | 51.2 21/22 |
11.0 4/5 |
– | 17.0 7/8 |
34.2 |
| 1982 general election[9] | 28 Oct 1982 | N/a | 84.6 | 3.4 (0) |
48.0 (19) |
4.5 (0) |
0.9 (0) |
35.2[a] (14) |
12.8 |
| 1979 municipal election | 3 Apr 1979 | N/a | 62.3 | 36.8 13 |
36.1 13 |
16.0 6 |
5.1 1 |
– | 0.7 |
Voting preferences
The table below lists raw, unweighted voting preferences.
| Polling firm/Commissioner | Fieldwork date | Sample size | URV | Lead | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1983 municipal election | 8 May 1983 | N/a | – | 33.7 | 5.2 | 0.9 | 25.6 | 1.3 | N/a | 31.3 | 8.1 |
| Alef–Emopública/CIS[p 3] | 17–25 Mar 1983 | 514 | 0.2 | 45.1 | 3.1 | – | 9.5 | 0.9 | 32.6 | 5.3 | 35.6 |
| 1982 general election[9] | 28 Oct 1982 | N/a | 2.8 | 39.6 | 3.7 | 0.7 | 29.1[a] | 2.4 | N/a | 15.4 | 10.5 |
| 1979 municipal election | 3 Apr 1979 | N/a | 22.6 | 22.2 | 9.8 | 3.1 | – | – | N/a | 37.9 | 0.4 |
Results
| Parties and alliances | Popular vote | Seats | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | ±pp | Total | +/− | ||
| Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) | 186,445 | 48.83 | +12.72 | 18 | +5 | |
| People's Coalition–Valencian Union (AP–PDP–UV–UL) | 141,689 | 37.11 | New | 13 | +13 | |
| Communist Party of the Valencian Country (PCE–PCPV) | 28,863 | 7.56 | −8.40 | 2 | −4 | |
| Democratic and Social Centre (CDS) | 7,360 | 1.93 | New | 0 | ±0 | |
| Valencian People's Union (UPV)1 | 5,685 | 1.49 | +0.31 | 0 | ±0 | |
| Valencian Regional Union (URV) | 4,717 | 1.24 | −3.87 | 0 | −1 | |
| Liberal Democratic Party (PDL) | 3,225 | 0.84 | New | 0 | ±0 | |
| Valencian Independent Organization (OIV) | 1,651 | 0.43 | New | 0 | ±0 | |
| Popular Struggle Coalition (CLP) | 523 | 0.14 | New | 0 | ±0 | |
| Union of the Democratic Centre (UCD) | n/a | n/a | −36.76 | 0 | −13 | |
| Blank ballots | 1,656 | 0.43 | +0.11 | |||
| Total | 381,814 | 33 | ±0 | |||
| Valid votes | 381,814 | 98.74 | +0.18 | |||
| Invalid votes | 4,885 | 1.26 | −0.18 | |||
| Votes cast / turnout | 386,699 | 69.92 | +7.58 | |||
| Abstentions | 166,368 | 30.08 | −7.58 | |||
| Registered voters | 553,067 | |||||
| Sources[10][11][12] | ||||||
Footnotes:
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Notes
References
Opinion poll sources
- ^ "Los socialistas pueden alcanzar los dos tercios del Parlamento autónomo". El País (in Spanish). 1 May 1983.
- ^ "Ficha técnica de los sondeos". El País (in Spanish). 1 May 1983.
- ^ "Preelectoral municipales y autonómicas 1983 (III). Valencia capital (Estudio nº 1351. Marzo 1983)" (PDF). CIS (in Spanish). 25 March 1983.
Other
- ^ Constitution (1978), art. 140.
- ^ LBERL (1975), basis 1.
- ^ LEL (1978), art. 6.
- ^ a b LEL (1978), arts. 5 & 10–11.
- ^ LEL (1978), art. 28.
- ^ LEL (1978), tran. prov. 2.
- ^ LEL (1983), art. 3.
- ^ Real Decreto 448/1983, de 9 de marzo, de convocatoria de Elecciones Locales (PDF) (Royal Decree 448/1983). Official State Gazette (in Spanish). 9 March 1983. Retrieved 2 January 2026.
- ^ a b "Electoral Results Consultation. Congress. October 1982. Valencia Municipality". Ministry of the Interior (in Spanish). Retrieved 12 November 2017.
- ^ "Municipal Elections. Valencia" (PDF). www.valencia.es (in Spanish). City Council of Valencia. Retrieved 5 December 2017.
- ^ "Electoral Results Consultation. Municipal. May 1983. Valencia Municipality". Ministry of the Interior (in Spanish). Retrieved 12 November 2017.
- ^ "Eleccions municipals a València (1979 - 2015)". Historia Electoral.com (in Catalan). Retrieved 30 September 2017.
Bibliography
- Constitución Española (Constitution). Official State Gazette (in Spanish). 27 December 1978 [version as of 29 December 1978]. BOE-A-1978-31229. Retrieved 27 December 2016.
- Ley 41/1975, de 19 de noviembre, de Bases del Estatuto de Régimen Local (Law 41/1975). Official State Gazette (in Spanish). 19 November 1975. BOE-A-1975-23920. Retrieved 18 December 2025.
- Ley 39/1978, de 17 de julio, de elecciones locales (Law 39/1978). Official State Gazette (in Spanish). 17 July 1978. BOE-A-1978-18636. Retrieved 17 December 2025.
- Ley Orgánica 6/1983, de 2 de marzo, por la que se modifican determinados artículos de la Ley 39/1978, de 17 de julio, de Elecciones Locales (PDF) (Organic Law 6/1983). Official State Gazette (in Spanish). 2 March 1983. BOE-A-1983-6573. Retrieved 18 December 2025.