1987 Barcelona municipal election
10 June 1987
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All 43 seats in the City Council of Barcelona 22 seats needed for a majority | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Opinion polls | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Registered | 1,342,049 1.3% | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Turnout | 925,036 (68.9%) 1.5 pp | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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A municipal election was held in Barcelona on Wednesday, 10 June 1987, to elect the 3rd City Council of the municipality. All 43 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, as well as the 1987 European Parliament election.
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.[2][3] In the case of Barcelona, the top-tier administrative and governing body was the City Council of Barcelona.[4][5]
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 Barcelona and in full enjoyment of their political rights (provided that they were not sentenced—by a final court ruling—to deprivation of the right to vote, nor being legally incapacitated), as well as resident non-nationals whose country of origin allowed Spanish nationals to vote in their own elections by virtue of a treaty.[3][6][7]
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.[8] Each municipality constituted a multi-member constituency, entitled a number of seats based on the following scale:[9]
| 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.[10]
The mayor was indirectly elected by the local assembly.[3] 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.[11]
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 twenty-fifth day prior to the scheduled date of expiry of the city councils and published on the following day in the Official State Gazette (BOE), with election day taking place between the fifty-fourth and the sixtieth day from publication.[12] The previous local elections were held on 8 May 1983, which meant that the city councils' terms would have expired on 8 May 1987. The election decree was required to be published in the BOE no later than 14 April 1987, with the election taking place up to the sixtieth day from publication, setting the latest possible date for election day on Saturday, 13 June 1987.
Local councils could not be dissolved before the expiry 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—agree to call a by-election.[13]
Elections to local councils were officially called on 14 April 1987 with the publication of the corresponding decree in the BOE, setting election day for 10 June.[14]
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 ahead of an election were required to inform the relevant electoral commission within ten 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 of candidates. In the case of Barcelona, as its population was over 1,000,001, at least 8,000 signatures were required.[15]
Below is a list of the main parties and electoral alliances which contested the election:
| Candidacy | Parties and alliances |
Leading candidate | Ideology | Previous result | Gov. | Ref. | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vote % | Seats | ||||||||
| PSC–PSOE | List
|
Pasqual Maragall | Social democracy | 45.8% | 21 | ||||
| CiU | List |
Josep Maria Cullell | Catalan nationalism Centrism |
27.4% | 13 | ||||
| AP | List
|
Enrique Lacalle | Conservatism National conservatism |
13.0% [a] |
6 | ||||
| PDP | List |
Francisco Salvador Avila | Christian democracy | [16] [17] | |||||
| IC | List |
Eulàlia Vintró | Eco-socialism Green politics |
8.0% [b] |
3 | ||||
| ERC | List |
Albert Alay | Catalan nationalism Left-wing nationalism Social democracy |
3.9% | 0 | ||||
| CDS | List |
Antoni Fernández Teixidó | Centrism Liberalism |
0.9% | 0 | ||||
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; 22 seats were required for an absolute majority in the City Council of Barcelona.
| Polling firm/Commissioner | Fieldwork date | Sample size | Turnout | IC | Lead | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1987 municipal election | 10 Jun 1987 | N/a | 68.9 | 43.6 21 |
35.5 17 |
– | [c] | 2.3 0 |
3.4 0 |
7.6 3 |
5.2 2 |
8.1 |
| Sigma Dos/Diario 16[p 1] | 4 Jun 1987 | ? | ? | ? 19/21 |
? 14/16 |
– | [c] | – | – | ? 5/6 |
? 2/3 |
? |
| DYM/Cambio 16 | 4 Jun 1987 | ? | ? | ? 21/23 |
? 13/14 |
– | [c] | – | ? 1/2 |
? 2/4 |
? 2/3 |
? |
| ABC[p 2] | 2 Jun 1987 | ? | ? | ? 20/22 |
? 17/19 |
– | [c] | – | – | ? 3/5 |
– | ? |
| Central de Campo/PSC[p 3] | 1–2 Jun 1987 | 800 | ? | ? 23/24 |
? 14/15 |
– | [c] | – | – | ? 3/4 |
? 2 |
? |
| Demoscopia/El País[p 4] | 22–26 May 1987 | ? | 68 | 32.9 15 |
33.6 16 |
– | [c] | 2.8 0 |
5.9 2 |
15.5 7 |
7.7 3 |
0.7 |
| DYM/La Vanguardia[p 5] | 27–29 Apr 1987 | 1,001 | ? | 46.8 23 |
29.1 14 |
– | [c] | 4.2 0 |
2.7 0 |
7.6 3 |
6.8 3 |
17.7 |
| Line Staff/CiU[d][p 6] | 4–10 Apr 1987 | 1,478 | ? | 39.1 | 30.0 | – | [c] | 2.7 | 1.2 | 2.3 | 2.8 | 9.1 |
| CIS[p 7] | 25 Mar–5 Apr 1987 | 802 | ? | 48.6 25 |
29.5 15 |
– | [c] | – | – | 5.8 3 |
– | 19.1 |
| 1986 general election | 22 Jun 1986 | N/a | 67.4 | 34.4 (18) |
34.1 (18) |
14.7 (7) |
[e] | 3.1 (0) |
4.9 (0) |
[f] | 4.2[g] (0) |
0.3 |
| 1984 regional election | 29 Apr 1984 | N/a | 64.4 | 26.4 (13) |
49.0 (25) |
10.3 (5) |
5.0 (0) |
4.7 (0) |
– | [f] | – | 22.6 |
| 1983 municipal election | 8 May 1983 | N/a | 67.4 | 45.8 21 |
27.4 13 |
13.0 6 |
6.9 3 |
3.9 0 |
0.9 0 |
[f] | – | 18.4 |
Results
| Parties and alliances | Popular vote | Seats | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | ±pp | Total | +/− | ||
| Socialists' Party of Catalonia (PSC–PSOE) | 400,280 | 43.61 | −2.19 | 21 | ±0 | |
| Convergence and Union (CiU) | 325,463 | 35.46 | +8.09 | 17 | +4 | |
| People's Alliance (AP)1 | 69,419 | 7.56 | n/a | 3 | −2 | |
| Initiative for Catalonia (IC)2 | 47,406 | 5.16 | −2.83 | 2 | −1 | |
| Democratic and Social Centre (CDS) | 31,028 | 3.38 | +2.44 | 0 | ±0 | |
| Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC) | 21,236 | 2.31 | −1.55 | 0 | ±0 | |
| Green Alternative–Ecologist Movement of Catalonia (AV–MEC) | 3,916 | 0.43 | New | 0 | ±0 | |
| Ecologist Party of Catalonia–VERDE (PEC–VERDE) | 3,116 | 0.34 | New | 0 | ±0 | |
| Workers' Party of Spain–Communist Unity (PTE–UC) | 2,078 | 0.23 | New | 0 | ±0 | |
| Spanish Phalanx of the CNSO (FE–JONS) | 1,388 | 0.15 | +0.02 | 0 | ±0 | |
| Revolutionary Workers' Party of Spain (PORE) | 1,152 | 0.13 | +0.03 | 0 | ±0 | |
| Republican Popular Unity (UPR)3 | 1,069 | 0.12 | +0.03 | 0 | ±0 | |
| Humanist Platform (PH) | 948 | 0.10 | New | 0 | ±0 | |
| Communist Unification of Spain (UCE) | 869 | 0.09 | New | 0 | ±0 | |
| Internationalist Socialist Workers' Party (POSI) | 636 | 0.07 | New | 0 | ±0 | |
| Social Democratic Party of Catalonia (PSDC) | 566 | 0.06 | New | 0 | ±0 | |
| Communist Workers' League (LOC) | 428 | 0.05 | New | 0 | ±0 | |
| People's Democratic Party (PDP)1 | 0 | 0.00 | n/a | 0 | ±0 | |
| Blank ballots | 6,879 | 0.75 | +0.32 | |||
| Total | 917,877 | 43 | ±0 | |||
| Valid votes | 917,877 | 99.23 | +0.87 | |||
| Invalid votes | 7,159 | 0.77 | −0.87 | |||
| Votes cast / turnout | 925,036 | 68.93 | +1.51 | |||
| Abstentions | 417,013 | 31.07 | −1.51 | |||
| Registered voters | 1,342,049 | |||||
| Sources[18][19][20][21] | ||||||
Footnotes:
| ||||||
Aftermath
Government formation
| Investiture | |||
| Ballot → | 30 June 1987 | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Required majority → | 22 out of 43 | ||
|
20 / 43
|
||
20 / 43
|
|||
Abstentions/Blank ballots
|
2 / 43
| ||
Absentees
|
1 / 43
| ||
| Sources[18][22] | |||
Notes
- ^ a b c Within the AP–PDP–UL alliance in the 1983 election: AP (5 seats) and PDP (1 seat).[1]
- ^ a b Results for PSUC (6.9%, 3 seats) and PCC (1.1%, 0 seats) in the 1983 election.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Within IC.
- ^ Undecided and/or abstentionists excluded.
- ^ Within UEC.
- ^ a b c Within AP–PDP–UL/AP–PDP–PL.
- ^ Results for UEC in the 1986 general election.
References
Opinion poll sources
- ^ "Algunas encuestas electorales plantean un descenso exagerado del PSOE". ABC (in Spanish). 5 June 1987.
- ^ "Maragall puede perder". ABC (in Spanish). 2 June 1987.
- ^ "La última encuesta socialista da la mayoría absoluta al PSC en Barcelona". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). 4 June 1987.
- ^ "Maragall puede perder la alcaldía en beneficio de Cullell" (PDF). El País (in Spanish). 4 June 1987.
- ^ "Los sondeos de PSC y CIU discrepan sobre el resultado electoral en Barcelona". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). 10 May 1987.
- ^ "Los socialistas podrían gobernar con mayoría absoluta". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). 8 May 1987.
- ^ "Un sondeo del CIS para el Gobierno da la mayoría del PSOE en Madrid y Barcelona" (PDF). El País (in Spanish). 4 June 1987.
Other
- ^ "Juntas Electorales de Zona de Arenys de Mar, de Barcelona, de Berga, de Granollers y de L'Hospitalet de Llobregat. Candidaturas proclamadas (BOP Barcelona núm. 87, de 12 de abril de 1983)" (PDF). Official Gazette of the Province of Barcelona (in Spanish) (87): 11. 12 April 1983. ISSN 2483-8039. Retrieved 29 November 2025.
- ^ Constitution (1978), art. 140.
- ^ a b c LBRL (1985), art. 19.
- ^ LBRL (1985), add. prov. 6.
- ^ Decree 1166 of 23 May (1960), art. 2.
- ^ Constitution (1978), art. 13.
- ^ LOREG (1985), arts. 2–3 & 176.
- ^ LOREG (1985), arts. 163 & 180.
- ^ LOREG (1985), art. 179.
- ^ LOREG (1985), arts. 46, 48 & 182.
- ^ LOREG (1985), art. 196.
- ^ LOREG (1985), arts. 42 & 194.
- ^ LBRL (1985), art. 61.
- ^ Real Decreto 508/1987, de 13 de abril, de convocatoria de elecciones locales (PDF) (Royal Decree 508/1987). Official State Gazette (in Spanish). 13 April 1987. Retrieved 27 November 2025.
- ^ LOREG (1985), arts. 44 & 187.
- ^ "El PDP irá en solitario". El País (in Spanish). 14 September 1986. Retrieved 10 March 2026.
- ^ "Alzaga descarta cualquier coalición del PDP con Alianza Popular". El País (in Spanish). Valencia. 28 January 1987. Retrieved 28 November 2025.
- ^ a b Lozano, Carles. "Eleccions municipals a Barcelona (des de 1979)". Historia Electoral.com (in Catalan). Retrieved 4 November 2025.
- ^ "Resultats electorals. Eleccions Municipals 1987. Barcelona (Municipi)" (in Catalan). Government of Catalonia. Retrieved 6 November 2025.
- ^ "Elecciones celebradas. Resultados electorales" (in Spanish). Ministry of the Interior. Retrieved 5 November 2025.
- ^ "Resultados de las elecciones municipales celebradas el 10 de junio de 1987" (PDF). Official State Gazette (in Spanish) (172): 1–565. 20 July 1987. ISSN 0212-033X. Retrieved 26 November 2025.
- ^ "Maragall gobernará Barcelona en minoría al fracasar el pacto con los comunistas". El País. Barcelona. 1 July 1987. Retrieved 29 November 2025.
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.
- Decreto 1166/1960, de 23 de mayo, por el que se establece un régimen especial para el Municipio de Barcelona, conforme a lo autorizado por el artículo 94 de la vigente Ley de Régimen Local (PDF) (Decree 1166/1960). Official State Gazette (in Spanish). 23 May 1960. BOE-A-1960-9155. Retrieved 18 December 2025.
- Ley 7/1985, de 2 de abril, Reguladora de las Bases del Régimen Local (Law 7/1985). Official State Gazette (in Spanish). 2 April 1985 [version as of 3 April 1985]. BOE-A-1985-5392. Retrieved 4 November 2025.
- Ley Orgánica 5/1985, de 19 de junio, del Régimen Electoral General (Organic Law 5/1985). Official State Gazette (in Spanish). 19 June 1985 [version as of 3 April 1987]. BOE-A-1985-11672. Retrieved 4 November 2025.