With less than two months to go, May 28 marks the day citizens elect their representatives to the regional parliament. In Alicante province there are 141 municipalities, part of the Valencian Community which totals 542 municipalities, and the Valencian Courts mirror similar patterns seen in many autonomous regions of Spain. This week, perhaps as early as Monday, the Generalitat President Ximo Puig is expected to sign the decree calling for elections and dissolving the Valencian Parliament. That decree sets the stage for the regional elections and for the municipal ballots to proceed. Once this happens, the campaign season truly kicks off.
The decree marks a turning point: it closes the door on parliamentary or project announcements that could be construed as influencing voters. Since the reform of the regional regime, officially titled the General Election Regime Establishment Law, Article 50, such actions are no longer permissible in the run-up to elections. In the final days before the vote, public announcements flood in, and projects in progress are often showcased with maximum drama, sometimes more theatrics than substance, as has been common since 2011.
Still, the transition is seen in practice as the election call becomes the focal moment. In recent days, openings, new initiatives, commemorations, and job postings have been used by the incumbent administration to highlight management activity. In Alicante, for example, the last week of March saw the pedestrianization plan near the Town Hall nearly complete, the rehabilitation of Casa de la Misericordia, and the reform and expansion of CEIP Florida receive approvals. A nearby example was the late approval of the L’Ordana car park project in Sant Joan d’Alacant.
The regional landscape is not immune to this sense of momentum either. The southwest roundabout in Pinoso opened on March 27, and Minister Rebeca Torró’s reforms on the Elche-Santa Pola highway followed the next day. As of this week, the communications for these infrastructures are moving forward without major on-site interventions by authorities, and political leaders will have limited opportunities to visit ongoing work until after the election period ends.
Looking ahead, Regional Election Boards will be established in the coming days, and during the first two weeks of the month the election count, which closed on January 31, will be posted in Town Halls. The public will have to wait a little longer to learn who will participate in the election. Municipal nominations are scheduled to be announced between April 18 and 23, with lists published in early May.
By then, it is highly likely the composition of the majority nominations will already be clear in many municipalities. Some places already show the lineup, while others still have undefined lists. In general, where there is continuity, it is usually evident who will accompany the mayoral candidates, though exceptions exist. The actual May 12 campaign season will kick off for everyone, setting the stage for the final stretch before polling day.
INE Oversight of the Census
The census acts as a critical tool to determine how many council members will be elected in each municipality for the May 28, 2022 elections. Although the election count closed on January 31, there is often some movement in population and voter rolls in the preceding months, which can have explanations but may also trigger questions. In municipalities with small populations, a single vote can decide whether a party governs with an absolute majority or faces four years in opposition.
To ensure accuracy, the National Institute of Statistics conducts thorough checks of the records. This time, some irregularities were found in the weeks leading up to January 31 across more than 50 municipalities in Spain, prompting inquiries to justify certain entries. None of the towns in question were from Alicante or the Valencian Community; past cases, such as the 2011 incident in Benimeli, did not change election outcomes in those cases [CITATION: INE 2022].