1979 Seville municipal election

Election in the Spanish municipality of Seville 1979 Seville municipal election Seville parliamentary no 1983 Seville municipal election 1983 All 31 seats in the City Council of Seville 16 427,951 243,827 (57.0%) 3 April 1979 170x170px Rafael López Palanco Union of the Democratic Centre (Spain) 1979 9 65,725 27.1% 170x170px Antonio Rodríguez Almodóvar Spanish Socialist Workers' Party of Andalusia 1979 8 60,116 24.8% 170x170px Luis Uruñuela PSA–PA 1979 8 56,957 23.5% 170x170px Alonso Balosa Communist Party of Andalusia 1979 6 44,704 18.4% Mayor Mayor after election José Ramón Pérez de Lama Independent politician Luis Uruñuela PSA–PA A municipal election was held in Seville on 3 April 1979 to elect the 1st City Council of the municipality. All 31 seats in the City Council were up for election. It was held concurrently with 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 (es ayuntamientos), local corporations with independent legal personality composed of a mayor, a government council and an elected legislative assembly.Constitution 1978 art. 140; LBERL 1975 bases 1 & 4. 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).LEL 1978 art. 28. In the case of Seville, the top-tier administrative and governing body was the City Council of Seville. Date The term of local assemblies 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 expiration date of the assemblies, with election day taking place 65 days after the decree's publication in the Official State Gazette (BOE).LEL 1978 art. 3 & trans. prov. 2. Elections to the assemblies of local entities were officially called on 27 January 1979 with the publication of the corresponding decree in the BOE, setting election day for 3 April.Royal Decree 117/1979 1979 arts. 1–2 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 civil and political rights.LEL 1978 art. 6. 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:LEL 1978 arts. 5 & 10–11. 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.LEL 1978 art. 11. 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 Seville, as its population was between 300,001 and 1,000,000, at least 2,000 signatures were required.LEL 1978 arts. 14–15. Below is a list of the main parties and alliances which contested the election: Candidacy Parties andalliances Leading candidate Ideology Gov. Government Ref. References UCD List on Union of the Democratic Centre (UCD) 50px Rafael López Palanco Centrism PSOE List on Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) 50px Antonio Rodríguez Almodóvar Social democracy PSA–PA List on Socialist Party of Andalusia–Andalusian Party (PSA–PA) 50px Luis Uruñuela Andalusian nationalismSocialismMarxism PCE List on Communist Party of Spain (PCE) 50px Alonso Balosa Eurocommunism Results + Summary of the 3 April 1979 City Council of Seville election results → center|315px Parties and alliances Popular vote Seats Votes % ±pp Total +/− Union of the Democratic Centre (UCD) 65,725 27.09 n/a 9 n/a Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) 60,116 24.78 n/a 8 n/a Socialist Party of Andalusia–Andalusian Party (PSA–PA) 56,957 23.48 n/a 8 n/a Communist Party of Spain (PCE) 44,704 18.43 n/a 6 n/a Party of Labour of Andalusia (PTA) 3,747 1.54 n/a 0 n/a Democratic Coalition (CD) 2,850 1.17 n/a 0 n/a New Force (FN) 2,243 0.92 n/a 0 n/a Communist Organization of Spain (Red Flag) (OCE–BR) 1,745 0.72 n/a 0 n/a Spanish Communist Workers' Party (PCOE) 1,576 0.65 n/a 0 n/a Communist Unification of Spain (UCE) 982 0.40 n/a 0 n/a Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (historical) (PSOEh) 891 0.37 n/a 0 n/a Revolutionary Communist League (LCR) 456 0.19 n/a 0 n/a Communist Movement–Organization of Communist Left (MCA–OIC) 290 0.12 n/a 0 n/a Workers' Revolutionary Organization (ORT) 0 0.00 n/a 0 n/a Blank ballots 325 0.13 n/a Total 242,607 31 n/a Valid votes 242,607 99.50 n/a Invalid votes 1,220 0.50 n/a Votes cast / turnout 243,827 56.98 n/a Abstentions 184,124 43.02 n/a Registered voters 427,951 SourcesLozano Carles https://www.historiaelectoral.com/msevilla.html Elecciones municipales en Sevilla (desde 1979) es Historia Electoral.com 4 November 2025https://infoelectoral.interior.gob.es/es/elecciones-celebradas/resultados-electorales/ Elecciones celebradas. Resultados electorales es Ministry of the Interior 5 November 2025 18 December 2025 https://web.archive.org/web/20251218194252/https://infoelectoral.interior.gob.es/es/elecciones-celebradas/resultados-electorales/ dead http://www.sevilla.org/ayuntamiento/competencias-areas/area-de-hacienda-y-administracion-publica/servicio-estadistica/atribuciones-del-servicio/anuarios/historico/anuario-1999 Anuario Estadístico de la ciudad de Sevilla 1999 es City Council of Seville 7 December 2017 https://web.archive.org/web/20171207192616/http://www.sevilla.org/ayuntamiento/competencias-areas/area-de-hacienda-y-administracion-publica/servicio-estadistica/atribuciones-del-servicio/anuarios/historico/anuario-1999 7 December 2017 dead Popular vote #ddd 550px 500px UCD Union of the Democratic Centre (Spain) 27.09 PSOE Spanish Socialist Workers' Party of Andalusia 24.78 PSA–PA Andalusian Party 23.48 PCE Communist Party of Andalusia 18.43 PTA Party of Labour of Spain 1.54 CD Democratic Coalition (Spain) 1.17 Others #777777 3.37 Blank ballots #DDDDDD 0.13 Seats #ddd 550px 500px UCD Union of the Democratic Centre (Spain) 29.03 PSOE Spanish Socialist Workers' Party of Andalusia 25.81 PSA–PA Andalusian Party 25.81 PCE Communist Party of Andalusia 19.35 Aftermath Government formation Investiture Ballot → 21 April 1979 Required majority → 16 out of 31 Luis Uruñuela (PSA) • PSA (8) • PSOE (8) • PCE (6) 22 31 Andalusian Party 125px 15 Rafael López Palanco (UCD) • UCD (9) 9 31 Union of the Democratic Centre (Spain) 125px 15 Abstentions/Blank ballots 0 31 gray 125px Absentees 0 31 black 125px SourcesGonzález Reina Juan Jesús 2018 Evolución del primer ayuntamiento democrático de la ciudad de Sevilla https://unirioja.es es Historia Actual Online 45 131–143 1696-2060 References Bibliography y Ley 41/1975, de 19 de noviembre, de Bases del Estatuto de Régimen Local Law 41/1975 19 November 1975 Official State Gazette BOE-A-1975-23920 es https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-1975-23920 18 December 2025 LBERL 1975 y Ley 39/1978, de 17 de julio, de elecciones locales Law 39/1978 17 July 1978 Official State Gazette BOE-A-1978-18636 es https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-1978-18636 17 December 2025 LEL 1978 y Constitución Española Constitution 27 December 1978 version as of 29 December 1978 Official State Gazette BOE-A-1978-31229 es https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-1978-31229&tn=1&p=19781229 27 December 2016 Constitution 1978 y Real Decreto 117/1979, de 26 de enero, de convocatoria de Elecciones Locales Royal Decree 117/1979 26 January 1979 Official State Gazette BOE-A-1979-2570 es https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-1979-2570 2 January 2026 Royal Decree 117/1979 1979 Municipal election Seville Category:Elections in Seville Seville