United Left Alliance for Spanish Elections

Alberto Garzon and Pablo Iglesias

Spain’s two biggest left wing movements, Podemos (‘We Can’ in Spanish) and the Izquierda Unida (United Left – IU), have announced the formation of an electoral bloc for the June 26^th general election.  In the lists of candidates submitted, Podemos will be allocated six seats for each one for IU, which most commentators think is a fair assessment of the relative strength of the two movements.

In a poll of IU members, the party – with about 20,000 members voting – agreed by an overwhelming 85% vote to go ahead with the joint platform, announced by party leaders Pablo Iglesias (Podemos) and Alberto Garzon (IU) on 4 May. In the last general election in December 2015 Podemos won 69 seats, while IU gained just two.

Polls suggest that a joint slate would win the left alliance 23% of the vote, putting it ahead of the Socialist Party (PSOE) but behind the right-wing Partido Popular (People’s Party).

According to Pablo Iglesias, “This is something historic in Spain. We will have a political space created for different forces, forces which respect each other and walk united, and because of this strength we can win against the People’s Party.”

In December Podemos (and its regional affiliates in Galicia, Catalonia and Valencia) won 5.19million votes. The United Left won almost a million votes (923,133) and the PSOE 5.5 million, with the People’s Party on 7.2 million.

IU leader Alberto Garzon said, “I am one of those who believe we would at least come second, but that we would also be in a position to challenge for first place.”

Relations between the IU and Podemos have in the past been fraught, with the IU accusing Podemos of ‘stealing our clothes’. Now the militant left has a united position to campaign around, it opens up the possibility of a considerably improved vote and longer-term collaboration. On May Iglesias said, “Alberto represents the future. I can see myself building a future with Alberto”.

In building the left alliance Iglesias and Garzon are responding to a widespread sentiment in favour of a united, militant left wing, alternative. At the end of April more than 100 well-known Spanish artists and intellectuals, including Alberto San Juan, Coque Malla, Luis Tosar, Iciar Bollain, El Gran Wyoming, Carlos Fernandez Liria, Jose Luis Gordillo and Alberto Santamaria, issued a manifesto calling on Podemos and IU to stand together in the elections.