The Frente Amplio candidacies for Congress for the general elections on November 29 represent a broad renewal compared to the lists presented by Sumar in 2023, given that only ten deputies who have held seats in the legislature that has just concluded are repeating.
In addition, the Minister of Culture, Ernest Urtasun, remains the only member of the minority wing of the Government who appears on the ballots, positioned as number two for the province of Barcelona.
The new figures of Frente Amplio are the candidate for the Presidency of the Government, Ada Colau, and the head of the list for Madrid, the leader of Más Madrid Emilio Delgado. The coalition thus faces a profound reconfiguration of this political space, although it combines new faces with figures who have parliamentary experience and management experience.
In 2023, the Sumar candidacy achieved 31 seats, but the plurinational group ultimately ended up with 27 after the break with Podemos at the state level. This was compounded by several resignations throughout the legislature, which allowed the entry of candidates positioned further down the lists.
In the governmental sphere, they have decided not to run on the lists the second vice president, Yolanda Díaz, who was the candidate in 2023, and the Minister of Health, Mónica García. Neither do the Minister of Youth and Childhood, Sira Rego, nor the Minister of Social Rights, Pablo Bustinduy, who acts as the campaign spokesperson for Frente Amplio, present themselves.
Among those who repeat in the candidacies are the spokesperson for the plurinational group and general coordinator of Movimiento Sumar, Verónica Barbero, the deputy of Más Madrid, Tesh Sidi, and the leader of IU, Toni Valero, who occupy the second, third, and fourth positions for Madrid.
Other deputies from the past legislature who will seek to renew their mandate are Esther Gil de Reboleño, who returns to lead the list for Cádiz; the leader of Sumar Lander Martínez, who will head the candidacy for Vizcaya; and the Secretary General of the PCE, Enrique Santiago, who will be number one for the constituency of Seville.
The two representatives of Compromís, Àgueda Micó and Alberto Ibáñez, also aspire to revalidate their seats, although the former ended up leaving the Sumar group to integrate into the Mixto. Their goal is for the Compromís-Frente Valenciano list to achieve its own group and, if that is not possible, they will negotiate with their electoral partners.
Deputies who do not continue in Congress
In the case of the Comuns, Júlia Boada and Viviane repeat on the lists of Frente Amplio, the latter in the seventh position for Barcelona. In contrast, Félix Alonso, Eloi Badia, the coordinator of the formation, Candela López, and the co-spokesperson Aina Vidal are leaving the candidacy for Congress compared to 2023. Deputy Gerardo Pisarello will also not return to Congress, although he appears at the end of the list for Barcelona, in a merely symbolic position.
The exclusion of Vidal generated discomfort among part of the membership, which translated into nearly 30% of votes against the ratification of the lists in the highest governing body. However, this Tuesday Pisarello emphasized that it was necessary to undertake a renewal of the candidacy for Congress.
The diplomat Agustín Santos also leaves the lists of Frente Amplio, who in the previous elections occupied the number two position of Yolanda Díaz on the list for Madrid.
Other parliamentarians who will not renew their seat are Rafael Cofiño, Txema Guijarro, Francisco Sierra, Carlos Martín, and Manolo Lago, who were part of Sumar in 2023; Nahuel González and Engracia Rivera, who came from the IU quota, will also not do so, nor will Alda Recas, linked to Más Madrid.
The Balearic deputy Vicenç Vidal will also not repeat, being replaced as the electoral reference of Ara Més by Carmen Gomila. The president of the Chunta Aragonesista, Jorge Pueyo, the regional leader of the formation, will also not continue, ceding the head of the list position for Zaragoza of Frente Amplio to the activist for LGTBi rights Marina Rodríguez. Deputy Laura Vergara, who replaced Pueyo when he was a candidate for the regional elections in Aragón, is also out of the lists.
Territorial renewal and new heads of list
Among the constituencies where the coalition Sumar, along with Podemos, achieved representation in 2023 and now sees a change, Galicia stands out. There, the former mayor of A Pobra do Caramiñal Xosé Lois Piñeiro and the leader of Sumar in Vigo, Gloria Alonso, lead the lists of Frente Amplio to Congress for A Coruña and Pontevedra, respectively.
In Asturias, it will be IU that heads the candidacy with Antonio González Ponte as number one, while in Murcia the list will be led by the regional coordinator of IU, Penélope Luna.
In Málaga, also at the proposal of IU, the head of the list will be the lawyer and activist of the Flotilla heading to Gaza, Rafael Borrego; in Córdoba the first position will fall to the provincial leader of IU, Sebastián Pérez; and in Granada the number one will also be a representative of this organization, the councilor in Huétor, Jesús Fernández.
In Barcelona, the list headed by Colau and Urtasun is completed with the leaders of Comuns Júlia Miralles (3), Andrés García Berrio (4), Lucía Martín (5), and Joan Mena (6), who was already a deputy between 2019 and 2023.
For his part, Boada will lead the candidacy for Girona, while in Tarragona the number one will be Ester Roca; in Lleida Montse Cortassa, councilor in Almacelles (Lleida), will head the list.
In the constituency of Las Palmas (Canary Islands) the head of the list will be the leader of Nueva Canarias Luis Campos (NC), within the coalition with Frente Amplio and Podemos under the brand Unión del Pueblo Canario.
Former leaders of Podemos and symbolic closures
In Andalusia, Frente Amplio incorporates former leaders of Podemos in prominent positions on its lists, such as the former head of the party in Almería, José Miguel Ramos, who is in fifth place for this province, and especially the former regional coordinator of the purple formation, Raquel Martínez, who will be number four on the candidacy for Congress for Málaga.
One of the striking notes of the list is the presence of the painter and sculptor Antonio López and the historic environmental leader Inés Sabanés, who will symbolically close the candidacy of Frente Amplio for Congress in Madrid in the general elections of 29N.
Another relevant name with symbolic character is that of the former Minister of Universities Joan Subirats, who will occupy one of the closing positions on the list of the Comuns for Barcelona.