A municipal election was held in Madrid on 25 May 2003 to elect the 7th City Council of the municipality. All 55 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.

The People's Party (PP) under President of the Community of Madrid Alberto Ruiz-Gallardón, who was succeeding the retiring José María Álvarez del Manzano, managed to revert the near-tie situation predicted by opinion polls between his party and the PSOE-IU bloc. Gallardón went on to win a comfortable absolute majority both in votes and seats, reverting the 1999 result in which it had seemed that party's support had begun to decline. The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) under Trinidad Jiménez obtained its best result since it was ousted from power in 1989, despite it not being enough to recover the mayoralty. United Left (IU) continued on its long-term decline and lost another seat, scoring its worst result since 1987.

A remarkable event for this election was that both main parties' contenders (Ruiz-Gallardón and Jiménez) were cousins, despite belonging to opposing parties.

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 Madrid, the top-tier administrative and governing body was the City Council of Madrid. ( by ).

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 13 June 1999, setting the date for election day on the fourth Sunday of May four years later, which was 25 May 2003.

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 1 April 2003 with the publication of the corresponding decree in the BOE, setting election day for 25 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:.

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 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 Madrid, as its population was over 1,000,001, at least 8,000 signatures were required..

Below is a list of the main parties and alliances which contested the election:

Candidacy Parties andalliances Leading candidate Ideology Previous result Vote % Seats PP Alberto Ruiz-Gallardón ConservatismChristian democracy 49.5% PSOE Trinidad Jiménez Social democracy 36.0% IUCM Inés Sabanés SocialismCommunism 8.7% LV José María Mendiluce Green politics 0.7%

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; 28 seats were required for an absolute majority in the City Council of Madrid (27 in the 1999 election).

Polling firm/Commissioner Fieldwork date Sample size Turnout LV Lead 2003 municipal election 25 May 2003 68.9 51.3 36.7 7.2 1.6 14.6 Sigma Dos/Antena 3 25 May 2003????? –? Ipsos–Eco/RTVE 25 May 2003????? –? Insight/La Razón 19 May 2003?? 47.2 39.8 9.1 – 7.4 Opina/El País 18 May 2003?? 47.0 40.0 7.0 – 7.0 Demoscopia/PP 17 May 2003?? 48.5–50.0 38.5–39.5 6.5–7.5 3.0–4.0 10.0–10.5 Sigma Dos/El Mundo 8–13 May 2003 500? 47.5 39.7 8.3 2.4 7.8 Vox Pública/El Periódico 12–13 May 2003 801? 46.5–47.5 40.0–41.0 7.0–8.0 2.0–3.0 6.5 CIS 22 Mar–28 Apr 2003 714 76.7 45.4 35.9 10.3 – 9.5 Ipsos–Eco/ABC 22–24 Apr 2003?? 47.0 40.7 6.7 – 6.3 IMOP/PSOE 11 Mar 2003 513 66 45.1 41.4 6.2 2.0 3.7 Sondaxe/La Voz de Galicia 18 Jan 2003?? 54.4 36.5 7.2 – 17.9 Opina/El País 25–26 Nov 2002 800? 49.0 42.0 6.0 1.5 7.0 Demoscopia/CEIM 18–25 Oct 2002 2,471? 54.1 35.2 5.2 4.8 18.9 Opina/El País 29 Sep 2002?? 49.0 42.0 6.5 – 7.0 Ipsos–Eco/ABC 6–13 Sep 2002?? 49.0 37.7 7.6 – 11.3 Inner Line/PSOE 29 Jun 2002 1,200? 46.0–47.0 40.0–41.0 8.0–9.0 – 6.0 Demoscopia/IU 27 Jun 2002 1,200 65.7 48.0 39.1 11.0 – 8.9 Inner Line/PSOE 23 May–8 Jun 2001 1,200? 47.0 40.0 10.0 – 7.0 2000 general election 12 Mar 2000 74.2 55.4 30.9 8.8 0.7 24.5 1999 municipal election 13 Jun 1999 60.0 49.5 36.0 8.7 0.7 13.5

Voting preferences The table below lists raw, unweighted voting preferences.

Polling firm/Commissioner Fieldwork date Sample size LV Lead 2003 municipal election 25 May 2003 35.2 25.2 5.0 1.1 31.1 10.0 Vox Pública/El Periódico 12–13 May 2003 801 37.7 30.7 5.7 2.7 17.7 3.0 7.0 CIS 22 Mar–28 Apr 2003 714 32.8 26.8 8.5 – 19.8 6.0 6.0 Demoscopia/CEIM 18–25 Oct 2002 2,471 39.0 24.9 4.5 3.5 18.9 7.4 14.1 2000 general election 12 Mar 2000 40.9 22.8 6.5 0.5 25.8 18.1 1999 municipal election 13 Jun 1999 29.5 21.5 5.2 0.4 40.0 8.0

Victory preferences The table below lists opinion polling on the victory preferences for each party in the event of a municipal election taking place.

Polling firm/Commissioner Fieldwork date Sample size Other/None Lead Ipsos–Eco/ABC 22–24 Apr 2003? 42.6 34.2 5.6 1.8 15.7 8.4

Victory likelihood The table below lists opinion polling on the perceived likelihood of victory for each party in the event of a municipal election taking place.

Polling firm/Commissioner Fieldwork date Sample size Other/None Lead Ipsos–Eco/ABC 22–24 Apr 2003? 56.2 23.3 1.0 19.5 32.9 Ipsos–Eco/ABC 6–13 Sep 2002? 54.4 18.1 0.6 26.8 36.3

Preferred Mayor The table below lists opinion polling on leader preferences to become mayor of Madrid.

Polling firm/Commissioner Fieldwork date Sample size Other/None/Notcare Lead Vox Pública/El Periódico 12–13 May 2003 801 42.8 28.2 4.7 2.0 8.3 13.9 14.6 Opina/El País 25–26 Nov 2002 800 41.3 27.1 – – 31.6 14.2

Predicted Mayor The table below lists opinion polling on the perceived likelihood for each leader to become mayor.

Polling firm/Commissioner Fieldwork date Sample size Other/None/Notcare Lead Vox Pública/El Periódico 12–13 May 2003 801 59.1 18.0 0.5 0.2 1.3 20.9 41.1 Opina/El País 25–26 Nov 2002 800 58.9 10.8 – – 30.3 48.1

Results + ← Summary of the 25 May 2003 City Council of Madrid election results → Parties and alliances Popular vote Seats Votes % ±pp Total +/− People's Party (PP) 874,264 51.30 +1.82 30 +2 Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) 625,148 36.68 +0.68 21 +1 United Left of the Community of Madrid (IUCM) 123,015 7.22 −1.45 4 −1 The Greens (LV) 26,448 1.55 +0.85 0 ±0 The Greens of the Community of Madrid (LVCM) 9,944 0.58 New 0 ±0 Republican Left (IR) 3,553 0.21 New 0 ±0 Family and Life Party (PFyV) 3,094 0.18 New 0 ±0 The Phalanx (FE) 2,174 0.13 +0.02 0 ±0 Democratic and Social Centre (CDS) 2,136 0.13 −0.32 0 ±0 Independent Spanish Phalanx (FEI) 1,113 0.07 −0.01 0 ±0 Humanist Party (PH) 1,022 0.06 −0.07 0 ±0 Madrilenian Independent Regional Party (PRIM) 903 0.05 −0.06 0 ±0 Commoners' Land–Castilian Nationalist Party (TC–PNC) 820 0.05 −0.02 0 ±0 Another Democracy is Possible (ODeP) 810 0.05 New 0 ±0 Spanish Democratic Party (PADE) 801 0.05 ±0.00 0 ±0 Authentic Phalanx (FA) 635 0.04 New 0 ±0 Immigrants with Rights, Equality and Obligations (INDIO) 479 0.03 New 0 ±0 Republican Federation (FR) 478 0.03 New 0 ±0 Blank ballots 27,304 1.60 −1.30 Total 1,704,141 55 +2 Valid votes 1,704,141 99.56 +0.14 Invalid votes 7,472 0.44 −0.14 Votes cast / turnout 1,711,613 68.90 +8.86 Abstentions 772,715 31.10 −8.86 Registered voters 2,484,328 Sources

Aftermath Government formation Investiture Ballot → 14 June 2003 Required majority → 28 out of 55 Abstentions/Blank ballots Absentees Sources

Notes

References Opinion poll sources

Other

Bibliography