Local government Under the
1978 Constitution, the governance of
municipalities in Spain 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). The
concejo abierto system (), under which voters directly elected the local mayor by
plurality voting, was reserved for municipalities under 25 inhabitants and some
minor local entities.
Provincial deputations were the governing bodies of
provinces in Spain, having an administration role of municipal activities and composed of a provincial president, an administrative body, and a plenary. For insular provinces, such as the
Balearic and
Canary Islands, deputations were replaced by island councils in each of the islands or group of islands. For
Gran Canaria,
Tenerife,
Fuerteventura,
La Gomera,
El Hierro,
Lanzarote and
La Palma, this figure was referred to in Spanish as
cabildo insular, whereas for
Mallorca,
Menorca and
Ibiza–
Formentera, its name was
consejo insular (). The three
Basque provinces and
Navarre had
foral deputations instead (called
General Assemblies—or
Juntas Generales—in the Basque Country).
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). 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. Subsequent
by-elections were called on 21 April (for 26 June) and 28 July (for 2 October). Local and island
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 constituency. Each municipality or council was a
multi-member constituency, with a number of seats based on the following scale: Most provincial deputations were indirectly elected by applying the D'Hondt method and a three percent-threshold of valid votes to municipal results—excluding candidacies not electing any councillor—in each
judicial district. Seats were allocated to provincial deputations based on the following scale (with each judicial district being assigned an initial minimum of one seat and a maximum of one-third of the total number of provincial seats, with the remaining ones distributed in proportion to population): The foral deputation of
Navarre and the General Assemblies of
Álava,
Biscay and
Gipuzkoa were
directly elected by voters under their own, specific electoral regulations. The law provided for
by-elections to fill
vacant seats only when results in a constituency were annulled by a final
sentence following an
electoral petition, or in cases where elections were not held due to a lack of candidates; otherwise, 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==