1979 Valencia municipal election

Election in the Spanish municipality of Valencia 1979 Valencia municipal election City of Valencia parliamentary no 1983 Valencia municipal election 1983 All 33 seats in the City Council of Valencia 17 552,034 344,145 (62.3%) 3 April 1979 170x170px Miguel Pastor Union of the Democratic Centre (Spain) 1979 13 124,683 36.8% 170x170px Fernando Martínez Castellano Socialist Party of the Valencian Country 1979 13 122,482 36.1% 170x170px Pedro Zamora PCPV 1979 6 54,124 16.0% Mayor Mayor after election Miguel Ramón Izquierdo Valencian Regional Union Fernando Martínez Castellano PSOE A municipal election was held in Valencia on 3 April 1979 to elect the 1st City Council of the municipality. All 33 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 Valencia, the top-tier administrative and governing body was the City Council of Valencia. 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 Valencia, 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 Miguel Pastor Centrism PSOE List on Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) 50px Fernando Martínez Castellano Social democracy PCE List on Communist Party of Spain (PCE) 50px Pedro Zamora Eurocommunism URV List on Valencian Regional Union (URV) 50px Miguel Ramón Izquierdo ValencianismBlaverism Results + Summary of the 3 April 1979 City Council of Valencia election results → center|320px Parties and alliances Popular vote Seats Votes % ±pp Total +/− Union of the Democratic Centre (UCD) 124,683 36.76 n/a 13 n/a Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) 122,482 36.11 n/a 13 n/a Communist Party of the Valencian Country (PCPV) 54,124 15.96 n/a 6 n/a Valencian Regional Union (URV) 17,342 5.11 n/a 1 n/a Communist Movement of the Valencian Country (MCPV) 4,131 1.22 n/a 0 n/a Nationalist Party of the Valencian Country (PNPV) 4,010 1.18 n/a 0 n/a Workers' Revolutionary Organization (ORT) 2,838 0.84 n/a 0 n/a Workers' Communist Party (PCT) 1,820 0.54 n/a 0 n/a Communist Unification of Spain (UCE) 1,656 0.49 n/a 0 n/a Valencian Front Socialist–Republican Alliance (ARSFV) 1,394 0.41 n/a 0 n/a Republican Left (IR) 1,313 0.39 n/a 0 n/a Left Bloc for National Liberation of the Valencian Country (BEANPV) 1,181 0.35 n/a 0 n/a Liberal Party (PL) 618 0.18 n/a 0 n/a Revolutionary Communist League (LCR) 508 0.15 n/a 0 n/a Blank ballots 1,102 0.32 n/a Total 339,202 33 n/a Valid votes 339,202 98.56 n/a Invalid votes 4,943 1.44 n/a Votes cast / turnout 344,145 62.34 n/a Abstentions 207,889 37.66 n/a Registered voters 552,034 Sourceshttp://www.valencia.es/ayuntamiento/webs/estadistica/Anuario/2007/Pdf/215.pdf Municipal Elections. Valencia es www.valencia.es City Council of Valencia 5 December 2017http://www.infoelectoral.mir.es/min/busquedaAvanzadaAction.html?vuelta=1&codTipoEleccion=4&codPeriodo=197904&codEstado=99&codComunidad=17&codProvincia=46&codMunicipio=250&codDistrito=0&codSeccion=0&codMesa=0 Electoral Results Consultation. Municipal. April 1979. Valencia Municipality es Ministry of the Interior 12 November 2017http://www.historiaelectoral.com/mvalencia.html Eleccions municipals a València (1979 - 2015) ca Historia Electoral.com 30 September 2017 Popular vote #ddd 550px 500px UCD Union of the Democratic Centre (Spain) 36.76 PSOE Socialist Party of the Valencian Country 36.11 PCPV Communist Party of the Valencian Country 15.96 URV Valencian Regional Union 5.11 MCPV Communist Movement (Spain) 1.22 PNPV Nationalist Party of the Valencian Country 1.18 Others #777777 3.34 Blank ballots #DDDDDD 0.32 Seats #ddd 550px 500px UCD Union of the Democratic Centre (Spain) 39.39 PSOE Socialist Party of the Valencian Country 39.39 PCPV Communist Party of the Valencian Country 18.18 URV Valencian Regional Union 3.03 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/doc.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/doc.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 Valencia Category:Elections in Valencia Valencia