2011 Barcelona City Council election

← 2007 22 May 2011 2015 →
All 41 seats in the City Council of Barcelona 21 seats needed for a majority
Opinion polls
Registered	1,163,594 5.7%
Turnout	616,537 (53.0%) 3.4 pp
First party Second party Third party   Leader Xavier Trias Jordi Hereu Alberto Fernández Díaz Party CiU PSC–PM PP Leader since 25 April 2002 8 September 2006 16 July 2002 Last election 12 seats, 25.5% 14 seats, 29.9% 7 seats, 15.6% Seats won 14 11 9 Seat change 2 3 2 Popular vote 174,122 134,193 104,475 Percentage 28.7% 22.1% 17.2% Swing 3.2 pp 7.8 pp 1.6 pp   Fourth party Fifth party   Leader Ricard Gomà Jordi Portabella Party ICV–EUiA–E UpB–ERC–RI.cat–DCat Leader since 8 July 2010 1999 Last election 4 seats, 9.3% 4 seats, 8.8% Seats won 5 2 Seat change 1 2 Popular vote 62,979 33,900 Percentage 10.4% 5.6% Swing 1.1 pp 3.2 pp
Mayor before election Jordi Hereu PSC Elected Mayor Xavier Trias CiU

The 2011 Barcelona City Council election, also the 2011 Barcelona municipal election, was held on Sunday, 22 May 2011, to elect the 9th City Council of the municipality of Barcelona. All 41 seats in the City Council were up for election. The election was held simultaneously with regional elections in thirteen autonomous communities and local elections all throughout Spain.

The City Council of Barcelona (Catalan: Ajuntament de Barcelona, Spanish: Ayuntamiento de Barcelona) was the top-tier administrative and governing body of the municipality of Barcelona, composed of the mayor, the government council and the elected plenary assembly.^[1] Elections to the local councils in Spain were fixed for the fourth Sunday of May every four years.^[2] Voting for the local assembly was on the basis of universal suffrage, which comprised all nationals over 18 years of age, registered and residing in the municipality of Barcelona and in full enjoyment of their political rights, 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.

Local councillors were elected using the D'Hondt method and a closed list proportional representation, with an electoral threshold of five percent of valid votes—which included blank ballots—being applied in each local council.^[1][2] Councillors were allocated to municipal councils based on the following scale:

The mayor was indirectly elected by the plenary assembly. A legal clause required that mayoral candidates earned the vote of an absolute majority of councillors, or else the candidate of the most-voted party in the assembly was to be automatically appointed to the post. In the event of a tie, the appointee would be determined by lot.^[1]

The electoral law allowed for parties and federations registered in the interior ministry, coalitions and groupings of electors to present lists of candidates. Parties and federations intending to form a coalition 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 were seeking election, disallowing electors from signing for more than one list of candidates. In the case of Barcelona, as its population was over 1,000,001, at least 8,000 signatures were required.^[2]

The table below lists voting intention estimates 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. When available, seat projections determined by the polling organisations are displayed below (or in place of) the percentages in a smaller font; 21 seats were required for an absolute majority in the City Council of Barcelona.

Color key:

  Exit poll

Polling firm/Commissioner	Fieldwork date	Sample size	Turnout							Lead
2011 municipal election	22 May 2011	—	53.0	22.1 11	28.7 14	17.2 9	10.4 5	5.6 2	1.9 0	6.6
Ipsos–Eco/FORTA[p 1][p 2]	22 May 2011	?	?	? 10/12	? 14/16	? 7/8	? 4/5	? 2/3	–	?
Ikerfel/Vocento[p 3][p 4]	14 May 2011	900	?	27.2 12	30.9 14	14.9 6/7	? 4	? 4/5	–	3.7
GESOP/El Periódico[p 5][p 6]	12–13 May 2011	800	?	23.5 12	29.0 14	15.9 7/8	9.4 4/5	6.0 2/3	2.7 0	5.5
Sigma Dos/El Mundo[p 5][p 7]	10–12 May 2011	400	?	26.2 12	32.1 14/15	17.1 7/8	8.6 4	7.8 3	–	5.9
Metroscopia/El País[p 8][p 9]	10–11 May 2011	1,000	55.0	24.7 12	29.4 15	15.4 7	9.4 4	6.7 3	–	4.7
GAD/COPE[p 10]	9 May 2011	?	?	24.5 12	30.2 14	18.1 8	8.5 4	7.9 3	–	5.7
TNS Demoscopia/Antena 3[p 11][p 12]	2–3 May 2011	750	?	24.9 11/12	32.3 15/16	16.1 7/8	10.2 4	6.9 3/4	3.7 0	7.4
GAPS/CiU[p 13][p 14]	26–29 Apr 2011	800	?	23.0– 24.6 11/12	33.4– 34.4 16/17	13.9– 14.9 6/7	8.7– 9.7 4	6.0– 7.0 2/3	–	9.8– 10.4
Noxa/La Vanguardia[p 15]	25–27 Apr 2011	600	?	24.9 11/12	31.6 14/15	18.3 8	9.6 4	6.6 3	2.2 0	6.7
Sigma Dos/El Mundo[p 16]	15–18 Apr 2011	400	?	26.2 12	32.5 15/16	19.3 8/9	6.7 3	5.4 2	–	6.3
CIS[p 17][p 18]	17 Mar–17 Apr 2011	967	?	25.2 12	33.1 16	12.4 5	8.9 4	8.5 4	4.3 0	7.9
PSOE[p 19]	1–15 Mar 2011	800	?	? 13	? 16	? 6	? 3	? 3	–	?
GESOP/El Periódico[p 20]	21–22 Feb 2011	800	?	24.6 11/12	35.3 16/17	14.3 6/7	8.0 3/4	7.5 3	–	10.7
GESOP/El Periódico[p 21][p 22]	31 Jan–1 Feb 2011	400	?[i]	18.5 9	38.0 18/19	15.5 7	8.0 3/4	8.0 3/4	–	19.5
			?[ii]	27.0 13	32.0 15	15.5 7	6.5 3	7.5 3	–	5.0
Feedback/La Vanguardia[p 23]	12–14 Jan 2011	600	60.0[i]	21.3 10	42.5 19	13.7 6	7.0 3	8.1 3	–	21.2
			60.0[ii]	33.4 15	34.3 16	13.4 6	6.4 2	5.1 2	–	0.9
Ara[p 24][p 25]	8 Dec 2010	?	?	? 9/11	? 17/19	? 6	? 4/5	? 2/3	–	?
2010 regional election[3]	28 Nov 2010	—	62.3	17.8 (9)	36.3 (18)	14.2 (7)	9.3 (4)	6.5 (3)	4.1 (0)	18.5
Sigma Dos/El Mundo[p 26][p 27]	15–18 Nov 2010	400	?	25.5 11/12	31.5 14/15	17.1 8	10.1 4	6.7 3	3.5 0	6.0
GAPS/CiU[p 28][p 29]	25–31 May 2010	817	?	20.0– 21.0 10/11	36.7– 37.7 17/19	13.2– 14.2 6/7	6.8– 7.8 2/3	6.0– 7.0 3	–	16.7
Noxa/La Vanguardia[p 30]	24–27 May 2010	1,000	?	24.7 11	39.6 17	14.9 6	9.5 4	6.7 3	1.9 0	14.9
GAPS/CiU[p 28][p 31]	28 Nov–10 Dec 2009	805	?	24.0– 25.0 11/12	32.7– 33.7 15/16	13.3– 14.3 6/7	9.2– 10.2 4/5	7.9– 8.9 3/4	1.8 0	8.7
Noxa/La Vanguardia[p 32]	18–23 Nov 2009	1,000	?	28.8 13	30.1 13	17.4 7/8	11.0 4/5	7.5 3	3.9 0	1.3
2009 EP election[4]	7 Jun 2009	—	40.5	32.7 (15)	21.7 (10)	20.7 (9)	8.0 (3)	8.4 (4)	0.4 (0)	11.0
GAPS/CiU[p 28][p 33][p 34]	10–23 Mar 2009	810	?	26.9 13	32.8 15	14.0 6	8.6 4	7.6 3	2.0 0	5.9
GESOP/El Periódico[p 35][p 36]	15 Dec 2008	?	?	27.7 13/14	27.9 13/14	15.1 7	8.0 3/4	8.0 3/4	–	0.2
GAPS/CiU[p 37]	21–30 May 2008	804	?	26.5– 27.5 12/13	28.2– 29.2 13/14	12.9– 13.9 5/7	8.7– 9.7 4/5	10.9– 11.9 4/6	1.5– 2.5 0	1.7
2008 general election[5]	9 Mar 2008	—	72.2	42.8 (18)	20.7 (9)	18.3 (8)	6.4 (3)	7.0 (3)	0.9 (0)	22.1
2007 municipal election	27 May 2007	—	49.6	29.9 14	25.5 12	15.6 7	9.3 4	8.8 4	3.9 0	4.4
^ a b Jordi Hereu as PSC candidate hypothesis. ^ a b Montserrat Tura as PSC candidate hypothesis.

← Summary of the 22 May 2011 City Council of Barcelona election results →

Parties and alliances		Popular vote			Seats
		Votes	%	±pp	Total	+/−
	Convergence and Union (CiU)	174,122	28.73	+3.27	14	+2
	Socialists' Party of Catalonia–Municipal Progress (PSC–PM)	134,193	22.14	–7.77	11	–3
	People's Party (PP)	104,475	17.24	+1.63	9	+2
	Initiative for Catalonia Greens–EUiA–Agreement (ICV–EUiA–E)	62,979	10.39	+1.04	5	+1
	Unity for Barcelona–Republican Left–Rally (UpB–ERC–RI.cat–DCat)	33,900	5.59	–3.22	2	–2
	Popular Unity Candidacy–Alternative for Barcelona (CUP–AxB)	11,833	1.95	New	0	±0
	Citizens–Party of the Citizenry (C's)	11,742	1.94	–1.94	0	±0
	Blank Seats–Citizens for Blank Votes (EB–CenB)	10,115	1.67	+1.29	0	±0
	Catalan Solidarity for Independence (SI)	6,823	1.13	New	0	±0
	The Greens–European Green Group (EV–GVE)	6,128	1.01	New	0	±0
	Pirates of Catalonia (Pirata.cat)	4,675	0.77	New	0	±0
	Anti-Bullfighting Party Against Mistreatment of Animals (PACMA)	4,308	0.71	+0.21	0	±0
	Platform for Catalonia (PxC)	3,405	0.56	+0.50	0	±0
	For a Fairer World (PUM+J)	1,593	0.26	+0.14	0	±0
	Union, Progress and Democracy (UPyD)	1,463	0.24	New	0	±0
	Pensioners in Action Party (PDLPEA)	1,382	0.23	New	0	±0
	The Barcelona of Neighborhoods (LBB)	1,189	0.20	New	0	±0
	Communist Party of the Catalan People (PCPC)	979	0.16	±0.00	0	±0
	Open Your Eyes Party (PATO)	954	0.16	New	0	±0
	Left Republican Party–Republican Left (PRE–IR)	710	0.12	–0.01	0	±0
	Humanist Party (PH)	624	0.10	+0.03	0	±0
	Family and Life Party (PFiV)	533	0.09	+0.01	0	±0
	Spanish Phalanx of the CNSO (FE–JONS)	349	0.06	New	0	±0
	Internationalist Solidarity and Self-Management (SAIn)	246	0.04	+0.01	0	±0
	Communist Unification of Spain (UCE)	219	0.04	New	0	±0
Blank ballots		27,107	4.47	+0.37
Total		606,046			41	±0
Valid votes		606,046	98.30	–1.18
Invalid votes		10,491	1.70	+1.18
Votes cast / turnout		616,537	52.99	+3.37
Abstentions		547,057	47.01	–3.37
Registered voters		1,163,594
Sources[6][7][8][9]

Opinion poll sources

Other