| Bilbao City Council Bilboko Udala | |
| Type: | Local government |
| Jurisdiction: | Municipality of Bilbao |
| Employees: | 2,431 employees (2012)[1] |
| Budget: | €512.8 million (2014)[2] |
| Chief1 Name: | Juan Mari Aburto |
| Chief1 Position: | Mayor |
| Website: | www.bilbao.eus |
The Bilbao City Council is the ayuntamiento of Bilbao (Spain). Its headquarter, the Bilbao City Hall, is located in the Ernesto Erkoreka Plaza. The city council is made up of an executive body and a normative municipal plenary. The executive body consists of the mayor and the Governing Junta of the Town of Bilbao . The council performs executive and administrative tasks, and functions in correspondence with the mayor. The junta consists of no more than nine people, its members can be appointed by the mayor.[3]
The constituent is elected every four years by universal suffrage. The electoral census is made up of all registered residents in Bilbao over the age of 18 as well as nationals of Spain and other member states of the European Union. According to the General Electoral Regime Law,[4] the number of eligible councilors is based on the population of the municipality.
The municipal plenary serves to represent the citizenry in the municipal government. It is responsible for the debate and adoption of government policies including: regulations, laws, municipal budgets, urban planning plans, service management, etc. The plenary is made up of 29 councilors and is chaired by the mayor.[5]
These are the mayors who have governed the city council since 1979:[6]
| Mayors of Bilbao | From | To | Party | |
| Jon Castañares Larreategui | 19 April 1979 | 22 May 1983 | EAJ-PNV | |
| José Luis Robles Canibe | 23 May 1983 | 19 July 1987 | EAJ-PNV | |
| 20 July 1987 | 17 December 1990 | EAJ-PNV | ||
| Jesús María Duñabeitia | 20 December 1990 | 14 June 1991 | EAJ-PNV | |
| Josu Ortuondo Larrea | 17 June 1991 | 2 July 1999 | EAJ-PNV | |
| Iñaki Azkuna Urreta | 3 July 1999 | 20 March 2014 | EAJ-PNV | |
| Ibon Areso Mendiguren | 21 March 2014 | 12 June 2015 | EAJ-PNV | |
| Juan María Aburto Rike | 13 June 2015 | Incumbent | EAJ-PNV |
| Elections | 1979 | 1983 | 1987 | 1991 | 1995 | 1999 | 2003 | 2007 | 2011 | 2015 | 2019 | |
| Political party | Mayor | Mayor | Mayor | Mayor | Mayor | Mayor | Mayor | Mayor | Mayor | Mayor | Mayor | |
| EAJ-PNV | 13 | 11 | 9 | 11 | 9 | 8 | 11 | 13 | 15 | 13 | 14 | |
| PSE-EE / PSOE | 4 | 9 | 7 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 5 | |
| EH Bildu / Bildu | 4 | 4 | 4 | |||||||||
| EP / Udalberri | 2 | 3 | ||||||||||
| PP / AP / CP | 4 | 2 | 4 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 4 | 3 | ||
| Ganemos | 2 | — | ||||||||||
| IU-EB | — | — | 2 | 1 | 3 | 2 | — | |||||
| EA | 3 | 2 | — | 1 | 2 | — | ||||||
| EH / HB | 6 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 4 | ||||||
| ICV-EHE | 5 | 2 | ||||||||||
| EE | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | ||||||||
| UCD | 5 |
The councillors form political groups, which are distributed according to their aligned ideologies in the 2019 municipal elections:
| Current distribution of the Bilbao City Council | |||||
| Candidacy | List | Votes | % | Mayor | |
| Euzko Alderdi Jeltzalea-Partido Nacionalista Vasco (EAJ-PNV) | Juan María Aburto Rike | 71.822 | 42,69 | 14 | |
| Partido Socialista de Euskadi-Euskadiko Ezkerra (PSE-EE) | Alfonso Gil Invernón | 26.783 | 15,92 | 5 | |
| Euskal Herria Bildu (EH Bildu) | Jone Goirizelaia Ordorika | 25.138 | 14,94 | 4 | |
| Elkarrekin Podemos | Ana Viñals Blanco | 17.661 | 10,50 | 3 | |
| Partido Popular (PP) | Raquel González Díez-Andino | 15.441 | 9,18 | 3 | |
Areas
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The annual reports by Transparency International pointed out in 2008, 2009, and 2010, that the City Council was the most "transparent" in Spain in terms of institutional communication, citizen relations, services, public works, and the economy.[8] [9] [10] [11]
In 2010, Bilbao was awarded the Lee Kuan Yew World City Prize, in recognition of the City Council's leadership.[12]