More than half of voters unhappy with results of municipal elections

Spaniards have reacted with dissatisfaction to the agreements reached between political parties to instate mayors in cities and towns across Spain, after the recent elections left many local governments without a majority leader. That’s according to a post-electoral poll carried out for EL PAÍS by Metroscopia between June 15 and 17.

The conservative Popular Party (PP) lost huge ground in the May 24 municipal elections, leaving it without majorities in municipalities up and down the country. As a result, other parties were able to do deals to see their candidates voted in as mayor, despite not having been the most-voted group in some cases. The most high-profile examples of this came in Madrid, where Manuela Carmena became mayor after running with the Podemos-backed Ahora Madrid group, and in Barcelona, where former anti-eviction activist Ada Colau took city hall, running with Barcelona en Comú.

The conservative Popular Party lost huge ground in the May 24 municipal elections, leaving it without majorities in municipalities up and down the country

According to the poll, 57% of voters say they are not satisfied with the choice of mayors across Spain. However, of those respondents, 49% are happy with the mayor voted into power in their own municipality, compared to 43% who say they aren’t.

But there is no such nuance when it comes to the dissatisfaction of PP leaders who have lost power in councils where they were the most-voted group. And that feeling has trickled down to the majority of the party’s voters. A total of 82% of PP voters say they are unhappy with the election of mayors in Spain, while 64% of those who voted for Ciudadanos – an emerging center-right party, which has entered into pacts with the PP based on anti-corruption measures, among other requirements – say they are unhappy with the results.

Not so for voters of the Socialist Party (PSOE) and Podemos, however, whose agreements have held the key to power in many councils, including Madrid. Among PSOE supporters, 52% are happy with the results, as are 67% of Podemos voters.

What’s more, 88% of Podemos voters say they are satisfied with the pacts the party has reached in the wake of the elections. For PSOE voters, the figure is 75%.

88% of Podemos voters say they are satisfied with the pacts the party has reached in the wake of the elections

Again, the opinion of PP voters follows the public statements of their leaders. The agreements reached between the PSOE and emerging parties such as Podemos have been slammed by Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy (PP), who described the PSOE as “radical” and as having embraced parties of the “extreme left.” The survey revealed that 77% of PP voters deplore the pacts that the PSOE has reached.

PP voters also had harsh opinions of the electoral system itself, with 92% stating that “the most democratic result is for the party that obtained the most votes to govern, even if it didn’t achieve an absolute majority.” That statement garnered the support of 72% of Ciudadanos voters, while 52% of PSOE voters and 73% of Podemos voters disagree with it, according to the Metroscopia poll.

The one thing that voters of all four parties agree on is the objective of the pacts: to remove the Popular Party from power.