Results breakdown of the 1983 Spanish local elections (La Rioja)

The 1983 Spanish local elections were held on Sunday, May 8, 1983, throughout Spain, to elect the 67,055 members of the local councils of the 7,847 municipalities of Spain. In La Rioja, these elections determined the composition of the municipal councils in the region's 174 municipalities. This was the first local election held in La Rioja after the approval of its Statute of Autonomy in 1982.

The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) emerged as the dominant force, securing the highest number of council seats and effectively winning control of most of the major municipalities. The right-of-center People's Alliance (AP), later to become the People's Party (PP), performed respectably, maintaining a significant presence in many rural areas and challenging the PSOE in key cities. The Union of the Democratic Centre (UCD), the party that had governed Spain during the transition to democracy, suffered a massive collapse, losing almost all of its representation at the local level. This decline reflected the UCD's broader disintegration at the national level. Other minor parties, including regionalist and communist parties, also secured limited representation in some municipalities.

The overall result reflected a broader national trend of Socialist dominance in the immediate post-transition period. The election solidified the PSOE's control over La Rioja at the local level, influencing the subsequent political landscape of the region. The results also demonstrated the waning influence of the UCD and the emerging rivalry between the PSOE and the People's Alliance, which would become the dominant political forces in Spain for decades to come.

Detailed data on specific municipalities, seat distributions, and vote percentages can be found in archival records from the Spanish Ministry of the Interior and regional election authorities.