2019 Valencia municipal election

A municipal election was held in Valencia on Sunday, 26 May 2019, to elect the 11th City Council of the municipality. All 33 seats in the City Council were up for election. It was held concurrently with regional elections in twelve autonomous communities and local elections all across Spain, as well as the 2019 European Parliament election.

2019 Valencia municipal election

← 2015 26 May 2019 2023 →
All 33 seats in the City Council of Valencia 17 seats needed for a majority
Opinion polls
Registered	586,624 0.7%
Turnout	389,057 (66.3%) 5.8 pp
First party Second party Third party   Leader Joan Ribó María José Catalá Sandra Gómez Party Compromís PP PSPV–PSOE Leader since 7 May 2010 12 January 2019 14 October 2018 Last election 9 seats, 23.3% 10 seats, 25.8% 5 seats, 14.0% Seats won 10 8 7 Seat change 1 2 2 Popular vote 106,430 84,491 74,848 Percentage 27.4% 21.8% 19.3% Swing 4.1 pp 4.0 pp 5.3 pp   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Leader Fernando Giner José Gosálbez María Oliver Party Cs Vox Podem–EUPV Leader since 28 March 2015 21 April 2019 27 November 2018 Last election 6 seats, 15.4% 0 seats, 0.8% 3 seats, 14.5%[a] Seats won 6 2 0 Seat change 0 2 3 Popular vote 68,293 28,139 16,176 Percentage 17.6% 7.3% 4.2% Swing 2.2 pp 6.5 pp 10.3 pp
Mayor before election Joan Ribó Compromís Elected mayor Joan Ribó Compromís

The election saw the Coalició Compromís of incumbent mayor Joan Ribó score its first electoral win in the city in history, with the opposition People's Party (PP) under former regional minister María José Catalá scoring its worst result since 1987. This was also the first election since 1987 without the presence of Rita Barberá, the former PP mayor between 1991 and 2015 who had died in November 2016. The Socialist Party of the Valencian Country (PSPV–PSOE) recovered somewhat and clung into third place with 19.3% and 7 councillors. The election also resulted in a stagnation for the liberal Citizens (Cs), the entry of the far-right Vox party for the first time and the Unidas Podemos alliance—comprising both Podemos and United Left of the Valencian Country (EUPV)—not reaching the minimum five percent threshold to be entitled to seat allocation.

With the left-from-centre parties—Compromís and PSOE—securing an overall majority of seats against the combined PP–Cs–Vox bloc, Ribó was able to be re-elected for a second term in office as city mayor.

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.^[3]

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 political rights (provided that they were not sentenced—by a final court ruling—to deprivation of the right to vote), as well as resident non-national European citizens and those whose country of origin allowed Spanish nationals to vote in their own elections by virtue of a treaty.^[2][4][5]

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.^[6] Each municipality constituted a multi-member constituency, entitled a number of seats based on the following scale:^[7]

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 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.^[8]

The mayor was indirectly elected by the local assembly.^[2] 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.^[9]

Election date

The term of city councils 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 (as of 2025, this has been the year before a leap year). The election decree was required to be issued no later than the fifty-fifth day prior to the scheduled election date and published on the following day in the Official State Gazette (BOE).^[10] The previous local elections were held on 24 May 2015, setting the date for election day on the fourth Sunday of May four years later, which was 26 May 2019.

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.^[11]

Elections to local councils were officially called on 2 April 2019 with the publication of the corresponding decree in the BOE, setting election day for 26 May.^[12]

Outgoing council

The table below shows the composition of the political groups in the local assembly at the time of the election call.^[13][14]

Council composition in April 2019

Groups		Parties		Councillors
				Seats	Total
	People's Municipal Group		PP	10	10
	Commitment to Valencia Municipal Group		Compromís	9	9
	Citizens Municipal Group		Cs	5	5
	Socialist Municipal Group		PSPV–PSOE	5	5
	Valencia in Common Municipal Group		Podemos	3	3
	Non-Inscrits		INDEP	1[b]	1

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 Valencia, as its population was between 300,001 and 1,000,000, at least 5,000 signatures were required.^[16] 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.^[17]

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
	PP	List People's Party (PP)		María José Catalá	Conservatism Christian democracy	25.8%	10		[18]
	Compromís	List Valencian Nationalist Bloc (Bloc) Valencian People's Initiative (IdPV) Greens Equo of the Valencian Country (VerdsEquo)		Joan Ribó	Valencianism Progressivism Green politics	23.3%	9		[19] [20]
	Cs	List Citizens–Party of the Citizenry (Cs)		Fernando Giner	Liberalism	15.4%	6		[21]
	PSPV–PSOE	List Socialist Party of the Valencian Country (PSPV–PSOE)		Sandra Gómez	Social democracy	14.0%	5		[22] [23] [24]
	Podem–EUPV	List We Can (Podemos/Podem) United Left of the Valencian Country (EUPV) – Communist Party of the Valencian Country (PCPV) – The Dawn. Marxist Organization OM (La Aurora (om)) – Republican Left (IR) – Feminist Party of Spain (PFE)		María Oliver	Left-wing populism Direct democracy Democratic socialism	14.5% [a]	3		[25]
	Vox	List Vox (Vox)		José Gosálbez	Right-wing populism Ultranationalism National conservatism	0.8%	0		[26]

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; 17 seats were required for an absolute majority in the City Council of Valencia.

Color key:

  Poll conducted after legal ban on opinion polls

Polling firm/Commissioner	Fieldwork date	Sample size	Turnout						EUPV					Lead
2019 municipal election	26 May 2019	—	66.3	21.8 8	27.4 10	17.6 6	19.3 7	[c]	[c]	0.8 0	7.3 2	0.4 0	4.2 0	5.6
SyM Consulting/EPDA[p 1]	24–26 May 2019	781	?	19.9 7	21.7 8	15.5 6	20.1 7/8	[c]	[c]	–	7.5 2/3	–	5.5 2	1.6
ElectoPanel/Electomanía[p 2]	22–23 May 2019	?	?	19.5 7	23.8 8	18.0 6	22.1 8	[c]	[c]	–	7.7 2	1.1 0	7.0 2	1.7
ElectoPanel/Electomanía[p 3]	21–22 May 2019	?	?	19.8 7	23.9 8	17.8 6	22.0 8	[c]	[c]	–	7.4 2	1.1 0	7.1 2	1.9
ElectoPanel/Electomanía[p 4]	20–21 May 2019	?	?	19.7 7	23.5 8	17.8 6	22.2 8	[c]	[c]	–	7.5 2	1.0 0	7.3 2	1.3
ElectoPanel/Electomanía[p 5]	19–20 May 2019	?	?	19.7 7	23.4 8	18.2 6	22.4 8	[c]	[c]	–	7.2 2	1.1 0	7.2 2	1.0
GIPEyOP[p 6]	7–20 May 2019	545	?	15.4 5	25.2 9	24.8 8	18.3 6	[c]	[c]	0.3 0	8.5 3	–	6.8 2	0.4
KeyData/Público[p 7]	19 May 2019	?	69.4	18.3 7	22.7 8	19.4 7	20.0 7	[c]	[c]	0.7 0	7.7 2	–	6.3 2	2.7
ElectoPanel/Electomanía[p 8]	16–19 May 2019	?	?	19.9 7	23.3 8	17.7 6	22.6 8	[c]	[c]	–	6.8 2	1.3 0	7.4 2	0.7
IMOP/El Confidencial[p 9]	13–16 May 2019	800	73	18.3 6/7	25.5 9	18.1 6/7	18.2 6/7	[c]	[c]	–	9.2 3	–	6.9 2	7.2
ElectoPanel/Electomanía[p 10]	13–16 May 2019	?	?	19.5 7	23.1 8	18.4 6	22.3 8	[c]	[c]	–	7.3 2	1.5 0	7.0 2	0.8
Sigma Dos/El Mundo[p 11]	13–16 May 2019	400	?	20.4 7/8	24.4 8/9	16.8 5/6	23.1 8/9	[c]	[c]	–	5.0 1	–	6.1 2	1.3
ElectoPanel/Electomanía[p 12]	10–13 May 2019	?	?	19.3 7	22.0 8	19.2 6	21.1 7	[c]	[c]	–	8.8 3	1.8 0	6.5 2	0.9
SyM Consulting/EPDA[p 13]	10–12 May 2019	808	?	14.7 6	23.6 8	16.5 6	24.6 9	[c]	[c]	–	5.7 2	–	5.3 2	1.0
ElectoPanel/Electomanía[p 14]	7–10 May 2019	?	?	19.7 7	21.3 7	19.9 7	20.3 7	[c]	[c]	–	9.4 3	1.7 0	7.0 2	1.0
Sigma Dos/Las Provincias[p 15]	6–9 May 2019	500	?	20.5 7/8	23.6 8/9	15.3 5	22.9 7/8	[c]	[c]	–	6.5 2	–	8.2 2/3	0.7
Invest Group/Prensa Ibérica[p 16]	2–9 May 2019	700	?	18.1 6	23.9 8/9	15.5 5	26.7 9/10	[c]	[c]	–	5.3 1/2	–	8.3 2/3	2.8
40dB/El País[p 17]	3–8 May 2019	804	?	17.1 6	26.3 9/10	18.1 6	18.6 6/7	[c]	[c]	–	5.5 2	–	9.9 3	7.7
ElectoPanel/Electomanía[p 18]	4–7 May 2019	?	?	18.5 7	20.9 7	20.4 7	20.5 7	[c]	[c]	–	9.7 3	1.8 0	6.8 2	0.4
SyM Consulting/Valencia Plaza[p 19]	3–5 May 2019	714	?	20.1 7	22.9 8	15.8 5/6	23.2 8	[c]	[c]	–	5.1 1/2	–	9.7 3	0.3
ElectoPanel/Electomanía[p 20]	29 Apr–4 May 2019	?	?	18.3 7	20.3 7	20.8 7	20.7 7	[c]	[c]	–	9.5 3	1.9 0	6.9 2	0.1
2019 regional election	28 Apr 2019	—	77.9	18.4 (6)	20.9 (7)	18.9 (7)	19.7 (7)	[c]	[c]	1.4 (0)	10.7 (4)	0.5 (0)	6.9 (2)	1.2
April 2019 general election	28 Apr 2019	—	78.2	18.5 (6)	7.8 (2)	18.8 (7)	25.1 (9)	[c]	[c]	1.5 (0)	12.1 (4)	0.3 (0)	14.6 (5)	6.3
CIS[p 21][p 22]	21 Mar–23 Apr 2019	479	?	17.2 6/7	26.5 9/11	13.6 6/7	19.5 7	[c]	[c]	2.1 0	7.7 1/2	–	10.9 3/4	7.0
ElectoPanel/Electomanía[p 23]	31 Mar–7 Apr 2019	?	?	21.9 8	21.7 8	12.2 4	20.8 7	[c]	[c]	–	12.0 4	2.8 0	6.9 2	0.2
ElectoPanel/Electomanía[p 24]	24–31 Mar 2019	?	?	21.6 8	21.6 8	12.7 4	20.7 7	[c]	[c]	–	11.9 4	2.8 0	6.9 2	Tie
ElectoPanel/Electomanía[p 25]	17–24 Mar 2019	?	?	21.7 8	22.0 8	12.3 4	21.6 7	[c]	[c]	–	11.3 4	3.0 0	6.7 2	0.3
ElectoPanel/Electomanía[p 26][p 27]	10–17 Mar 2019	?	?	22.0 8	21.5 8	11.7 4	20.8 7	[c]	[c]	–	13.0 4	2.7 0	6.9 2	0.5
ElectoPanel/Electomanía[p 28]	3–10 Mar 2019	?	?	21.9 8	21.6 8	12.2 4	20.2 7	[c]	[c]	–	13.0 4	2.9 0	7.0 2	0.3
ElectoPanel/Electomanía[p 29]	22 Feb–3 Mar 2019	?	?	22.3 8	22.0 8	14.4 5	20.1 7	[c]	[c]	–	9.1 3	3.1 0	7.0 2	0.3
SyM Consulting/EPDA[p 30]	14–15 Feb 2019	624	?	21.5 8	23.0 8	10.7 4	15.7 6	[c]	[c]	1.3 0	14.1 5	2.3 0	7.1 2	1.5
SyM Consulting/Valencia Plaza[p 31]	15–17 Jan 2019	624	?	26.1 9/10	20.7 7	12.3 4	21.7 7/8	[c]	[c]	–	9.3 3	–	5.6 2	4.4
GfK/Compromís[p 32]	17–20 Dec 2018	908	?	16.2 5/6	27.6 10	21.4 7	17.0 6	[c]	[c]	–	6.9 2	–	8.2 2/3	6.2
SyM Consulting/EPDA[p 33]	15–17 Dec 2018	600	68.0	22.3 8/9	14.1 5	20.6 8	16.6 6/7	5.7 2	5.0 0	1.7 0	8.2 3	2.5 0	–	1.7
SyM Consulting/EPDA[p 34]	21–23 Oct 2018	716	?	20.1 8	15.9 7	11.7 5	22.6 9	10.9 4	3.6 0	3.4 0	4.2 0	3.4 0	–	2.5
Sonmerca/City Council [p 35][p 36]	11 Apr–4 May 2018	2,307	?	17.0 6	23.0 9	20.1 7	17.2 6	14.1 5	4.6 0	–	–	–	–	2.9
Sigma Dos/Las Provincias[p 37][27]	24–26 Apr 2018	500	?	21.2 7/8	24.6 9	22.7 8/9	16.8 6	7.5 2	–	–	–	–	–	1.9
SyM Consulting/Valencia Plaza[p 38]	8–11 Feb 2018	560	66.9	23.7 8/9	24.4 9	21.7 8	15.4 5/6	7.3 2	3.7 0	–	–	–	–	0.7
Sigma Dos/Las Provincias[p 39]	3–5 May 2017	500	?	30.3 10/11	24.8 9	11.7 4	18.6 6/7	8.8 3	–	–	–	–	–	5.5
2016 general election	26 Jun 2016	—	76.5	36.1 (13)	[d]	15.4 (5)	17.4 (6)	[d]	[d]	1.4 (0)	0.3 (0)	0.5 (0)	27.1 (9)	9.0
2015 general election	20 Dec 2015	—	78.7	32.2 (12)	[e]	16.5 (6)	15.5 (5)	[e]	4.7 (0)	1.1 (0)	0.4 (0)	0.5 (0)	26.8 (10)	5.4
2015 municipal election	24 May 2015	—	72.1	25.8 10	23.3 9	15.4 6	14.0 5	9.8 3	4.7 0	1.1 0	0.8 0	0.7 0	–	2.6

Voting preferences

The table below lists raw, unweighted voting preferences.

Polling firm/Commissioner	Fieldwork date	Sample size						EUPV			?	N	Lead
2019 municipal election	26 May 2019	—	14.4	18.1	11.6	12.8	[c]	[c]	4.8	2.8	—	33.7	3.7
Invest Group/Prensa Ibérica[p 16]	2–9 May 2019	700	11.7	18.4	11.3	19.9	[c]	[c]	4.3	6.8	21.3	–	1.5
April 2019 general election	28 Apr 2019	—	14.4	6.0	14.6	19.5	[c]	[c]	9.4	11.3	—	21.8	4.9
CIS[p 21]	21 Mar–23 Apr 2019	479	11.1	24.0	8.8	13.6	[c]	[c]	3.3	5.0	28.6	3.3	10.4
Sonmerca/City Council[p 35]	11 Apr–4 May 2018	2,307	8.9	12.0	10.5	9.0	7.4	2.4	–	–	34.9	10.8	1.5
Sonmerca/City Council[p 40]	22 Feb–8 Mar 2017	2,211	15.6	15.7	5.3	9.0	10.6	1.8	–	–	29.3	9.0	0.1
2016 general election	26 Jun 2016	—	27.5	[d]	11.7	13.3	[d]	[d]	0.3	20.6	—	23.5	6.9
2015 general election	20 Dec 2015	—	25.2	[e]	12.9	12.1	[e]	3.7	0.3	21.0	—	21.3	4.2
2015 municipal election	24 May 2015	—	18.4	16.7	11.0	10.0	7.0	3.4	0.6	–	—	27.9	1.7

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
Invest Group/Prensa Ibérica[p 16]	2–9 May 2019	700	7.1	22.0	44.6	26.3		22.6

Preferred Mayor

The table below lists opinion polling on leader preferences to become mayor of Valencia.

Polling firm/Commissioner	Fieldwork date	Sample size						Other/ None/ Not care	?	Lead
			Catalá PP	Ribó Compromís	Giner Cs	Gómez PSPV	Oliver UP
IMOP/El Confidencial[p 9]	13–16 May 2019	800	15.1	34.7	–	10.3	–	39.9		19.6
GfK/Compromís[p 32]	17–20 Dec 2018	908	19.3	30.9	15.1	12.3	5.2	18.3	–	11.6

Results

← Summary of the 26 May 2019 City Council of Valencia election results →

Parties and alliances		Popular vote			Seats
		Votes	%	±pp	Total	+/−
	Commitment to Valencia: Municipal Commitment (Compromís Municipal)	106,430	27.44	+4.14	10	+1
	People's Party (PP)	84,491	21.78	−3.99	8	−2
	Socialist Party of the Valencian Country (PSPV–PSOE)	74,848	19.30	+5.30	7	+2
	Citizens–Party of the Citizenry (Cs)	68,293	17.61	+2.20	6	±0
	Vox (Vox)	28,139	7.25	+6.45	2	+2
	United We Can–United Left (Podem–EUPV)1	16,176	4.17	−10.36	0	−3
	Animalist Party Against Mistreatment of Animals (PACMA)	3,209	0.83	−0.25	0	±0
	We Are Valencian in Movement (UiG–Som–CUIDES)	1,398	0.36	−0.35	0	±0
	Forward–The Eco-pacifist Greens (Avant)	687	0.18	+0.05	0	±0
	With You, We Are Democracy (Contigo)	513	0.13	New	0	±0
	Democratic People (Poble)	355	0.09	−0.60	0	±0
	Communist Party of the Peoples of Spain (PCPE)	276	0.07	−0.04	0	±0
	Republican Left of the Valencian Country–Municipal Agreement (ERPV–AM)	270	0.07	New	0	±0
	For a Fairer World (PUM+J)	184	0.05	New	0	±0
	At Once Valencian Community (aUna CV)	164	0.04	New	0	±0
	Acting With You–Party for the Society (ACPS)	157	0.04	New	0	±0
	Blank Seats (EB)	135	0.03	−0.16	0	±0
	Spanish Phalanx of the CNSO (FE–JONS)	126	0.03	New	0	±0
	Valencian Democrats (DV)	118	0.03	New	0	±0
	Libertarian Party (P–LIB)	115	0.03	−0.02	0	±0
	Centered Progressives Coalition (UPyD–CCD)2	110	0.03	−1.35	0	±0
	Let's Go (VMS)	90	0.02	New	0	±0
	Republican Alternative (ALTER)	63	0.02	New	0	±0
Blank ballots		1,526	0.39	−0.71
Total		387,873			33	±0
Valid votes		387,873	99.70	+0.52
Invalid votes		1,184	0.30	−0.52
Votes cast / turnout		389,057	66.32	−5.80
Abstentions		197,567	33.68	+5.80
Registered voters		586,624
Sources[13][28][29]
Footnotes: 1 United We Can–United Left results are compared to the combined totals of Valencia in Common and Citizen Agreement in the 2015 election. 2 Centered Progressives Coalition results are compared to Union, Progress and Democracy totals in the 2015 election.

Popular vote

Compromís			27.44%
PP			21.78%
PSPV–PSOE			19.30%
Cs			17.61%
Vox			7.25%
Podem–EUPV			4.17%
Others			2.05%
Blank ballots			0.39%

Seats

Compromís			30.30%
PP			24.24%
PSPV–PSOE			21.21%
Cs			18.18%
Vox			6.06%

Aftermath

Government formation

Investiture
Ballot →		15 June 2019
Required majority →		17 out of 33
	Joan Ribó (Compromís) • Compromís (10) • PSPV (7)	17 / 33	Y
	María José Catalá (PP) • PP (8)	8 / 33	N
	Fernando Giner (Cs) • Cs (6)	6 / 33	N
	José Gosálbez (Vox) • Vox (2)	2 / 33	N
	Abstentions/Blank ballots	0 / 33
	Absentees	0 / 33
Sources[30]

Notes

1. Results for VALC (9.8%, 3 seats) and EUPV–EV–ERPV (4.7%, 0 seats) in the 2015 election.
2. María Dolores Jiménez, former Cs councillor.^[15]
3. Within Unidas Podemos.
4. Within Podemos–Compromís–EUPV.
5. Within Podemos–Compromís.