FC BARCELONA ELECTIONS 2026
FC Barcelona Presidential Elections – 1953 onwards
DEMOCRATIC TRADITION
Walter Wilt was elected as the first president of FC Barcelona in 1899, with the unanimous support of his fellow board members. During the Club’ s early years, the president was chosen through a friendly rotation among the directors in an assembly. After the Spanish Civil War, presidents were appointed directly by the Francoist regime. In 1953, voting was allowed for all male members, but in the following five electoral processes, participation was limited only to the delegated members. It was not until 1978 that the first universal suffrage elections were held, allowing all members to vote. The elections on 15 March 2026 will be the fifteenth time that the president of Barça has been elected by the club’ s membership since 1953. There were presidential elections at FC Barcelona even when there was no democracy in Spain: in 1953, 1958, 1961, 1965, 1969, and 1973. After the death of Franco, elections have taken place in 1978, 1989, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2010, 2015, and 2021. And now, on 15 March we will once again experience a day of democratic celebration and reaffirm an exemplary tradition that forms an inseparable part of FC Barcelona’ s identity.