User:NBasham1/sandbox/Madrid

Structure
Madrid's political system exists within a national framework that is heavily regulated by the national system. Local election were held for the first time in 1979 following the restoration of democracy more widely within Spain following Franco's death Elections in Madrid follow the national procedure of party-list proportional representation; this means that citizens vote for a party and council positions are distributed proportionally among that party's list of candidates. Because of its high population, Madrid's city council is made up of 57 members. Madrid's mayors are not directly elected; they are indirectly elected by the city council from the councilors who headed their party's list, with the absolute majority winner becoming mayor. If no candidate gains a majority then the councilor with the highest portion of the direct vote becomes mayor.

The mayor of Madrid selects a Governing Board from the elected councilors. The Governing Board acts as the day-to-day executive meeting weekly to discuss administration. The full assembly of the elected councilors is known as the Plenary. The mayor is able to raise certain issues such as taxation and budgeting for debate among the Plenary. Local Spanish governments are intended to have self-sufficient financial arrangement, and they are intended to finance themselves through local taxation.

Current Composition
The current composition of Madrid's City Council is the result of the city election of 2015. For the two decades prior to that election the center-right party Partido Popular (PP) had held control of Madrid. Unrest due to Spanish austerity measures had led to a grassroots movement known as Indignados. To give this movement representation in the local Madrid elections, a new party Ahora Madrid formed and gained electoral success. The PP gained a plurality of seats with 21, while Ahora Madrid gained 20. Ahora Madrid formed a coalition with the Partido Socialista Obero to elect Manuela Carmena of Ahora Madrid mayor, breaking 24 years of PP mayorship. Under this coalition, Madrid has begun to focus less on austerity, and is investing more into cultural institutions and public services