2023 – election year in Spain
Political power at stake around the country as electoral races get underway
ELECTIONS are taking place at all levels of government in Spain this year, with the political map of the country hanging in the balance.
The first date at the polls is May 28 for the local and regional elections.
This will see 12 regional governments up for grabs – including Valencia which has been governed by the left-wing coalition fronted by Ximo Puig’s Socialist party (PSOE) since 2015. The Partido Popular (PP) will be hoping to wrest power back from the so-called ‘Botànic’ pact which also includes regional nationalist party Compromís and the ‘purple party’, Podemos.
The PP had ruled in the region for a 20-year spell starting in 1995, when the former mayor of Benidorm Eduardo Zaplana took over at the head of the regional executive.
The right-wing party is this time fronted by Alicante’s Carlos Mazón, while Ximo Puig is aiming for a historic third term in the ‘Generalitat’.
In the local elections a total of 8,131 municipalities around Spain are up for grabs.
British residents – along with other European nationals – have the right to vote in the poll for the town halls, as long as they registered before the deadline, which was back in January.
The large numbers of Britons in some municipalities in Alicante province – who represent significant percentages of populations in places such as Rojales, San Fulgencio, Orihuela, Llíber, and others – mean that their votes could have a direct impact on which party wins power in these expatriate strongholds. More than 35 million voters have the right to participate in the local and regional elections.
At a town hall level across Spain, the Socialists – who appear at the ballot box as the PSPV-PSOE in the Valencia region – enjoyed the greatest share of power at a local level during the past legislature, according to figures compiled by state news agency EFE.
They had 22,341 councillors at town halls, compared with the 20,336 of their traditional rivals, the PP (who go under the acronym PPCV in the Valencia region).
EFE point out that one of the factors which could have an impact on the May elections is loss of support at a national level for the centre party Ciudadanos (Cs).
They had the third largest number of councillors in town halls in Spain following the vote in 2019, with 2,787 – they also had 173 mayors around the country.
EFE note that Cs are currently ‘facing a delicate situation’, which has meant that less than half the number of candidates are standing for the office of mayor this time round.
With these votes up for grabs, the move to the left or right for some Cs voters will have a bearing on results in May.
Further to the left, alliances are being formed very much on a local level.
For example, in Torrevieja, the parties Izquierda Unida, Podemos, Alternativa Republicana and Alianza Verde have come together under the name Sumando por Torrevieja.
The far-right party Vox is more than doubling the number of candidates it is presenting for mayorships around the country – up from 752 in 2019 to 1,936 this year, according to EFE.
A general election is also due to take place at the end of 2023, although no date has yet been set.
Pundits have noted that the current coalition of PSOE and Unidas Podemos, fronted by Pedro Sánchez, is likely to run its full term.
This means the nation would
go to the polls at the very latest by December 10.
Election interviews
In an effort to inform readers about the options in their municipalities, Costa Blanca News is interviewing candidates in towns with the largest populations of Britons.
Most of these fall in the south of Alicante province – but this week we have posed questions to candidates in Jávea.
Read the interviews on pages 16 and 17.