Local elections were held in Spain on 25 May 2003 to elect all 65,510 councillors in the 8,108 Spanish municipalities (including 50 seats in the assemblies of the autonomous cities of Ceuta and Melilla), all 1,187 provincial seats in 41 provinces (including 38 indirectly-elected provincial deputations and the three foral deputations in the Basque Country) and 208 seats in ten island councils (seven Canarian and three Balearic ones). They were held concurrently with regional elections in thirteen autonomous communities.

Overview 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 100 inhabitants and some minor local entities.; .

Provincial deputations were the governing bodies of provinces in Spain—except for single-province autonomous communities—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 had foral deputations instead (called General Assemblies, or Juntas Generales).; ; .

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.. Subsequent by-elections were called on 2 September, for 26 October.

Electoral system Voting for local assemblies and Canarian island councils was based on universal suffrage, comprising all Spanish nationals over 18 years of age, registered and residing in the municipality or council 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 constituency.. Each municipality or council was a multi-member constituency, with a number of seats based on the following scale:.

Population Councillors Municipalities Canary Islands Balearic Islands <250 5 No island below 5,000inhabitants Fixed number:Ibiza–Formentera: 13Menorca: 13Mallorca: 33 251–1,000 7 1,001–2,000 9 2,001–5,000 11 5,001–10,000 13 11 10,001–20,000 17 13 20,001–50,000 21 17 50,001–100,000 25 21 >100,001 +1 per each 100,000 inhabitants or fraction+1 if total is an even number

Councillors in municipalities between 100 and 250 inhabitants were elected using open-list partial block voting, with voters choosing up to four candidates..

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 three-fifths of the total number of provincial seats, with the remaining ones distributed in proportion to population):.

Population Seats <500,000 25 500,001–1,000,000 27 1,000,001–3,500,000 31 >3,500,001 51

The General Assemblies of Álava, Biscay and Gipuzkoa were directly elected by voters under their own, specific electoral regulations..

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:.

At least one percent of the electors in municipalities with a population below 5,000 inhabitants, provided that the number of signers was more than double that of councillors at stake. At least 100 signatures in municipalities with a population between 5,001 and 10,000. At least 500 signatures in municipalities with a population between 10,001 and 50,000. At least 1,500 signatures in municipalities with a population between 50,001 and 150,000. At least 3,000 signatures in municipalities with a population between 150,001 and 300,000. At least 5,000 signatures in municipalities with a population between 300,001 and 1,000,000. At least 8,000 signatures in municipalities with a population over 1,000,001.

Results Municipal Overall + ← Summary of the 25 May 2003 Spanish municipal election results → Parties and alliances Popular vote Councillors Votes % ±pp Total +/− Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE)1 7,999,178 34.83 +0.43 23,224 +1,240 People's Party (PP) 7,875,762 34.29 −0.17 23,615 −1,011 People's Party (PP)2 7,775,800 33.86 −0.20 23,280 −1,019 Navarrese People's Union (UPN) 99,962 0.44 +0.01 335 +8 United Left (IU) 1,730,732 7.54 −0.05 2,601 +22 United Left (IU)3 1,394,871 6.07 −0.18 2,204 −56 Initiative–Alternative Left–Agreement for Municipal Progress (ICV–EA–EPM)4 335,861 1.46 +0.12 397 +78 Convergence and Union (CiU) 791,932 3.45 −0.18 3,687 −402 Basque Nationalist Party–Basque Solidarity (PNV–EA) 514,850 2.24 +0.31 1,671 +465 Republican Left of Catalonia–Municipal Agreement (ERC–AM) 419,961 1.83 +0.77 1,282 +605 Andalusian Party (PA)5 342,824 1.49 −0.20 693 +144 Galician Nationalist Bloc (BNG) 325,331 1.42 +0.06 595 +9 Canarian Coalition (CC) 283,701 1.24 −0.03 458 +15 Canarian Coalition (CC)6 281,527 1.23 −0.03 448 +14 Independent Herrenian Group (AHI) 2,174 0.01 ±0.00 10 +1 Valencian Nationalist Bloc–Green Left (Bloc–EV) 139,307 0.61 +0.08 298 +64 The Greens (LV) 119,201 0.52 +0.21 19 +5 Aragonese Union (CHA) 88,939 0.39 +0.13 196 +116 Valencian Union (UV) 86,539 0.38 −0.13 131 −98 Aragonese Party (PAR) 85,857 0.37 −0.04 907 −18 Regionalist Party of Cantabria (PRC) 66,592 0.29 +0.06 276 +59 Socialist Party of Andalusia (PSA) 58,931 0.26 New 57 +57 Leonese People's Union (UPL) 45,791 0.20 +0.02 230 +63 Majorcan Union (UM) 36,485 0.16 +0.04 103 +35 Canarian Nationalist Federation (FNC) 36,205 0.16 +0.05 45 +5 Canarian Nationalist Party (PNC) 13,951 0.06 +0.01 11 +9 Lanzarote Independents Party (PIL) 11,721 0.05 +0.01 27 −2 Canarian Union (UC) 8,461 0.04 New 2 +2 Independents of Fuerteventura (IF) 2,072 0.01 ±0.00 5 −4 PSM–Nationalist Agreement (PSM–EN) 35,633 0.16 −0.03 98 −14 Socialist Party of Mallorca–Nationalist Agreement (PSM–EN) 32,743 0.14 −0.04 92 −13 Socialist Party of Menorca–Nationalist Agreement (PSM–EN) 2,890 0.01 ±0.00 6 −1 Aralar (Aralar) 31,235 0.14 New 48 +48 Liberal Independent Group (GIL) 26,363 0.11 −0.30 20 −73 Democratic and Social Centre (CDS) 23,428 0.10 −0.20 54 −227 Federation of Independents of Catalonia (FIC) 23,278 0.10 −0.01 104 −76 The Greens of the Community of Madrid (LVCM) 21,672 0.09 New 2 +2 Independent Group for Almería (GIAL) 18,961 0.08 New 31 +31 Progressive Pact+Coalition of Progressive Organizations (Pacte+COP) 16,595 0.07 −0.01 39 −6 Progressive Pact (Pacte) 15,262 0.07 ±0.00 33 −4 Coalition of Progressive Organizations (COP) 1,333 0.01 ±0.00 6 −2 Commoners' Land–Castilian Nationalist Party (TC–PNC) 16,411 0.07 −0.01 42 −3 Asturian Renewal Union (URAS) 15,621 0.07 −0.10 29 −54 Spanish Democratic Party (PADE) 14,926 0.06 −0.05 34 +2 Independent Candidacy–The Party of Castile and León (CI–PCL) 13,977 0.06 +0.02 65 +47 Meeting Point for Self-Determination (AuB)7 8 13,098 0.06 −1.22 63 −827 Riojan Party (PR) 12,667 0.06 +0.01 65 +7 Independent Democratic Centre (CDI) 11,381 0.05 New 24 +24 United Extremadura (EU) 10,489 0.05 +0.01 55 +5 Convergence of Democrats of Navarre (CDN) 10,440 0.05 −0.02 17 −8 Galician Progressive Democracy (DPG) 10,373 0.05 −0.03 2 −34 Independent Solution (SI) 9,274 0.04 New 10 +10 Initiative for the Development of Soria (IDES) 4,040 0.02 New 21 +21 25 May Citizens' Alternative (AC25M) 3,022 0.01 New 5 +5 Others (lists at <0.05% not securing any provincial or island seat) 1,172,067 5.10 — 4,594 +54 Blank ballots 404,448 1.76 −0.19 Total 22,967,517 100.00 65,510 +309 Valid votes 22,967,517 98.70 −0.39 Invalid votes 302,555 1.30 +0.39 Votes cast / turnout 23,270,072 67.67 +3.68 Abstentions 11,116,390 32.33 −3.68 Registered voters 34,386,462 Sources

City control The following table lists party control in provincial capitals (highlighted in bold), as well as in municipalities above 75,000. Gains for a party are highlighted in that party's colour.