The Official State Gazette (BOE) published this Wednesday the 929 candidacies registered for the general elections next November 29. Alongside the formations with representation in Congress appear numerous parties of very diverse profile: workers', communist, centrist, anti-corruption lawyers, feminist, groups of self-employed workers, organizations of older people and even a candidacy of a single member.
Among the extra-parliamentary veterans is the Animalist Party with the Environment (PACMA), which is once again running in 36 constituencies with Asier Esparza as candidate for the Presidency of the Government. In 2023 it obtained 165,768 ballots.
For Un Mundo Más Justo (M+J), founded in 2004, it has gathered the necessary endorsements to stand in around thirty provinces for Congress. It defines itself as humanist and transversal, with the objective of combating poverty and inequalities, in addition to defending human rights and social justice.
In 13 provinces 'Escaños en blanco' will appear on the ballots, an organization born in 2010 in Badalona that promotes protest voting and proposes leaving empty the seats it obtains in the institutions. In fact, the only point in its program consists of not taking office.
Workers, communists and Falangists
The Frente Obrero is running in all the constituencies, combining the defense of the working class with a patriotic discourse opposed to immigration. In the 2023 elections it added up 46,605 votes, 0.19% of the total.
The Communist Party of the Workers of Spain (PCTE), with lists in 45 provinces, claims to be the only Marxist-Leninist party of state-wide scope and proclaims itself heir to the Communist Party of Dolores Ibárruri 'Pasionaria', to the Spanish Workers Communist Party created in 1973 by Enrique Líster and to the later Communist Party of the Peoples of Spain (PCPE).
At the opposite pole is Falange Española y de las Jons, which presents twelve candidacies and takes its national leader, Norberto Pico, as 'number one' to Congress for Madrid.
Among the new acronyms stands out Iustitia Europa, the party promoted in 2023 by lawyer Luis María Pardo, which defines itself as reformist and born of civil society. It has acted as popular prosecution in cases such as the Koldo and Leire Díez cases. It only runs in Madrid, with Pardo heading the list to Congress.
Another new development, although limited to Álava, is Justicia y Ley, registered just ten days ago and chaired by Ángel María García Fernández.
In Málaga the Agrupación de Electores José María Calvo Guerra appears again, a list in which only its promoter appears. He is not unrelated to political activity, since he has brought initiatives to the Senate against abortion and party discipline in voting.
The struggle for the center
In the centrist space is Democracia 21, recently created by the lawyer Miriam González, which is running in Madrid and Barcelona as a liberal and reformist project focused on democratic regeneration. It is running in coalition with Ciudadanos and with the independents of UCIN.
The Partido Unionista del Estado de España (PUEDE), registered in 2007, is once again standing in Asturias with its secretary general, José Luis Zapico, at the head. They maintain that they are neither on the right nor on the left, but rather as a "serene alternative". In the elections three years ago they only obtained 269 votes.
In Ávila is presented the Partido Demócrata Social Jubilados Europeos (PDSJE), known as the 'yayopartido', based in Tarragona and on the register since 2018. Heading its candidacy is Carmen Manchón, former Ciudadanos councilor in Igualada (Barcelona).
In Murcia runs Tercera Edad en Acción (3e), both for Congress and the Senate. Registered in Madrid in 2018, this organization against ageism places its president, Domingo Díaz Carrillo, as number one. In 2023 they already stood in La Rioja and Segovia.
In the Comunidad Valenciana and Tenerife one will be able to vote for Partido Autónomos, born to improve the conditions of self-employed workers and entrepreneurs. They call for depoliticizing the administration and fairer taxation.
Anti-trans feminism
Feministas al Congreso (PFAC) bursts into Álava and Vizcaya, with its president, Pilar Aguilar Carrasco, a professor who was imprisoned during the Franco regime, as head of the list. They defend classic feminism, opposed to the trans law and in favor of prohibiting prostitution and pornography.
In Tenerife Feminism8 (F8) is running, led by Nuria Morales Delgado and with Rosa María González Saenz Casas, president of the party, as number two. The formation was registered in Madrid in 2018 after the rise of the 8M mobilizations and advocates a "cross-cutting" feminism.
On this occasion the historic Feminist Party does not appear, which in 2023 carried as candidate for Madrid Lidia Falcón, veteran activist of the transition expelled from Izquierda Unida in 2020 for questioning trans identities.
Alongside them appear several strictly provincial lists, such as Alternativa Malagueña in Málaga; Unión Cartaginense in Murcia, which proposes dividing the province into three; the group Formentera Viva, headed by the former president of the Consell Llorenç Córdoba and focused on the island's new seat; or Izquierda por Almería (IPAL), which already made itself noticed in 2024 by running in Lugo in the Galician regional elections.
In the province of Valencia, three local projects will compete: Valencia Unida, led by Vicente González-Lizondo, son of the former deputy of Unió Valenciana from the 1980s; Agenda Valenciana, driven by the jurist José Ramón Chirivella; and the coalition Renacer/Renàixer, with Miguel Ramón Martí at the head.
Independents, sovereigntists and Leonese
In Catalonia, the independence platform Alhora is presented, promoted by the former councillor Clara Ponsatí, former leader of Junts with Carles Puigdemont. Its objective is to expel from the territory any presence of the State, under the slogan Fora Espanya, and generate conflict in the Congress. Convergents also appears, a centrist sovereigntist party of the former councillor Germà Gordó in the Govern of Artur Mas, which is only running in Tarragona, where it has two town halls and ten councillors, after failing to obtain endorsements in Barcelona.
In the Canary Islands, two new sovereigntist options emerge: Drago Canarias, founded by the former Podemos deputy Alberto Rodríguez, who refused to join the coalition of Frente Amplio and Podemos, and Liberación Canaria, which demands its own treasury for the archipelago and control of its waters.
In Navarra, Eguzkilore makes its debut, constituted in 2023 to promote direct democracy, the protection of children, Spain's exit from NATO and the suppression of the military polygon of the Bardenas Reales. In Zaragoza and Huesca, the Federation of Independents of Aragón (FIA) is making its debut, which focuses on the defense of the interests of workers and self-employed people.
In Castilla y León, two formations are running that claim a self-governing community of their own for León, Zamora and Salamanca: the historic Partido Regionalista del País Leonés (PREPAL) and Proyecto Alantre, of a progressive and ecologist bent, which appears only in the province of León. With a different proposal appears the Partido Nacionalista de Castilla y León-Unión Reformista Ciudadana (PANCAL-URCi), which demands more self-government for the nine provinces of the community.
In Extremadura, Nuevo Extremeñismo, of the left and sovereignist, and Juntos por Extremadura, of regionalist profile, will face off, having registered lists in the two constituencies of the region both for the Congress and for the Senate.