Andalucian Political Parties

Andalucian Political Parties

by Chris Chaplow and Daniel Brierley

The most recent regional parliament elections for Andalucia took place on the 19th June 2022. The previous elections were held in December 2018. Here is an overview of the main parties or coalitions that are or have been active in the last ten years in Andalucian politics.

PSOE - PARTIDO SOCIALISTA OBRERO ESPAÑOL 

The Spanish Workers' Socialist Party is centre-left and its Andalucian branch is very appealing to many workers across this region, in particular those in the inland rural areas and some of the cities. The party has a well established infrastructure and has proved to be very electorally successful in Andalucia, governing the region for thirty years since its creation in 1982 until December 2018.  In 2015 the PSOE won 47 of 109 seats in the Andalalucia regonal parliament governing in coilition with Cand in 2018 they won 33 seats of the 55 required to form a majority government.

PP - Partido Popular

The "Popular Party" is Spain's conservative party, existing on the centre right of the political spectrum. This party had been trying to win a majority in the Andalucian Parliament and form a government, but had been unable to win sufficient support. Coastal cities and towns in Andalucia are considered to be closer to the Popular Party. The party has difficulty connecting with a working class that has traditionally made up the bulk of Andalucian society. In 2015 the PP won 33 seats in Andalucia.

In the December 2018 called three months earlier that the usual four year term they dropped to 26 seats. However the PP formed a coalition government with the C's after signing a 48 point plan.

In the June 2022 Manuel Moreno following a sound management of the Covid Pandemic more than doubled the PPs seats to 58. This majority abled the PP govern Andalucia alone for the first time in history.

C's - CIUDADANOS

Ciudadanos is relatively new centrist party whose origins lie in Catalunia as a platform of intellectuals who felt they were not represented by the traditional parties. On 7th June 2005 they presented their first manifesto and their objective to form a political party. In July 2006 they celebrated their first congress. Nationally C's had 350 groups, and 75,000 registered members and 2 MEPs. In 2015 they won 9 seats in Andalalucia, forming a coilition with PSOE and then enjoyed further successes in 2018 when they won 21 seats, forming a coilition with PP. However, in Andalucia's last elections in 2022, they won no seats with only 3.3% of the popular vote.

IU - United Left

United Left" is formed of groups of the communist party and other far left factions under a united front. While some towns might be headed by United Left, this party had been considered the third force in Andalucia politics up to 2015 when it won 5 seats dropping into forth place. After the 2015 elections the UI combined with Podemos Andalucia to form the Adelante Andalucia (Andalucia Forward) party. Since 2020 they have no longer been a part of the electoral alliance.

PODEMOS

Podemos is the far-left political party (translated into English as 'We Can') founded last year by charismatic political science lecturer Pablo Iglesias, elected to the European Parliament in May 2014 when Podemos burst onto the political scene. Teresa Rodriguez, a Spanish language and literature teacher from Rota (Cadiz), was among the founding leaders. After the 2015 elections Podemos Andalucia combined with IU to form Adelante Andalucia (Andalucia Forward), a left-wing electoral alliance. During the 2022 regional elections, Podemos Andalucia joined forces with other left wing political parties in an electorial alliance called Por Andalucia. Individually Podemos Andalucia won 3 seats in the Andalucia Parliament, whilst the combined efforts of the parties in the Por Andalucia returned 5 seats in total.

Adelante Andalucia

During the 2018 regional election, Adelante Andalucia was formed as a left wing electoral alliance between Podemos and the IU party. The alliance was led by the former party leader of Podemos Andalucia, Teresa Rodriguez, and they won 17 seats in 2018.

In 2021, Adelante Andalucia was refounded as an electoral alliance for the upcoming regional elections in 2022 with Teresa Rodriguez as leader of the organisation. This time, however, the alliance did not include the IU party but instead Anticapitalistas, Primavera Andaluza, Defender Andalucia and the Andalucian Left. In 2022 Adelante Andalucia won only 4.58% of the vote affording them 2 seats in the Andalucian regional parliament.

Por Andalucia

In April 2022, ahead of the regional elections for the Parliament of Andalucia scheduled for later in the year, Por Andalucia was formed as an electoral alliance by parties to the left of the mainstream left-wing party, PSOE, in an attempt to avoid wasted votes by presenting a joint list of candidates. The parties who took part in the alliance were: Podemos Andalucia, UI, Verdes Equo, Alliance Verdes, Más País and the Andalucian People's Initiative. Through their collective efforts they won 5 seats at the 2022 regional elections.

VOX

Right wing Vox party fielded candidates in all 8 provinces in 2015 under leadership of Francisco Serrano but with less than half a percent of the popular vote won no seats. In 2018 VOX had rocketed to 11% of the popular vote and won 12 seats entering a regional parliaament for the first time. In June 2022 under leadership of this was increased to 14 seats, under leadership of Macarena Olono. Shortly after the constitution of the 12th Andalucia Parliament on 14 July 2022, she retired from politics "due to health issues".

PA - PARTIDO ANDALUCISTA

This Andalucista regional party was a minority force in Andalucia politics and has lost ground since the 2008 elections when it joined forces with the PSA (Partido Socialista de Andalucia, or Andalucian Socialists) as well as other smaller parties to form the Coalición Andalucísta (CA) and lost all of its representatives in the regional parliament. The party disbanded in 2014

UPyD - UNION PROGRESISTA Y DEMOCRATICA

The Union, Progress and Democracy Party, formed in 2007, is a social liberal party that rejects nationalism (including Basque and Catalan) and wants to adopt a system of European federalism, along with a proportional voting system. Its roots lie in the Basque Country and anti-ETA civic associations. Prominent members include former PSOE MEP Rosa Diez. The party is not defined as left or right with active members on both ends of the spectrum. The party gined 2% of the popular vote in 2015 and 0.2% in 2018 gaining no seats in either year.  

Parties in the 2015 elections

One must appreciate that there are actually hundreds of small parties that persent in the Andalucia Regional elections. Here is a lit of the parties with candidates presenting in all eight Andalucian provinces in the 2015 election.

Falange Española de las JONS (FE de las JONS): Nemesio Romero Estévez.

Partido Animalista Contra el Maltrato Animal (PACMA): Francisco Javier Sanabria Moya.

Partido Comunista de los Pueblos de España (PCPE): José Martínez León.

Recortes Cero: Francisco Javier Arias Carmon.

VOX: Francisco Serrano

Parties with candidates presenting in at least one province.

Cámbialo: Manuel Emilio Ruiz Álvarez.

Ciudadanos Libres Unidos (CILUS): Alfonso González Gallego.

Escaños en Blanco (EB): María del Carmen Carmona Delgado (Córdoba) y Francisco Javier Pascial Ortolá (Granada).

Local y global (L.Y.G.): José Guillermo Chacón Montes.

Neodemocratas: David Ingelmo Rodríguez.

Partido Bienestar de la Gente (PBG): José Manuel Motos Galera.

Partido Regionalista por Andalucía Oriental (PRAO): Miguel Ángel Rus Casado.

Partido Republicano Independiente Solidario Andaluz (RISA): Antonio Ángel Pérez Rodríguez.

Partido del Trabajo y la Justicia (PTJ): Blas Manuel Soriano González.

Por un Mundo Más Justo (PUM+J):

Pueblo Nacionalista de Andalusí (PNdA): Francisco Fuentes Sier.

Socialistas y Republicanos (SYR): José María Ollero Centeno.